first parents evening...what should I be asking?

[ilikenoodles]

Hi
My Reception age DS has his first parents evening coming up on Thurday and I am wondering wether there are some questions I need to be asking...

As far as I am aware he is a quite advanced reader and they have cottoned on to this fairly quickly and put him on suitable books, he's on turquoise level and they have been great, as in, giving him non fiction, fiction etc. with little hints and instructions for us in his reading log eg. "get him to use the contents page and glossary" or "brilliant reading but could improve expression" so far so good, his maths and interest in numbers is good too....thing is, I'm not a "smart" person, not school smart anyway : ) my older DS is a typical boy and has to be forced kicking and screaming to do anything to do with reading or writing etc. So really my little 4 year old is an enigma to us, I don't know whether he is actually really clever or what, not sure what to ask at parents evening and worried I'll come across a bit "thick"

Thanks for reading!

[LeeCoakley]

As they seem to be on the ball with the academic side I would concentrate on other aspects. Does he mix well with other children? What activities interest him the most? Is there anything we should be working on at home (independence with dressing, doing his laces,etc) That sort of thing.

[ilikenoodles]

Thanks very much. Yes there are definately lots of areas we could be working on, he's more chuffed about being able to put on his own socks and shoes in school than getting a reading certificate - he's never been much into climbing/running/riding a bike....don't know whether to encourage these things more or except that kids are different and mabe it's just not him. He doesn't like dinosaurs, ben 10, spiderman, cars, bob the builder, insects or most thing associated with young boys. He is the absolute opposite to his brother and it almost feels like he's been raised by different parents!

[KitKatGirl1]

Agree with leeCoakley; concentrate on the social and independence side and making sure he's settled and happy. School sound like they're on top of the academic side.

The best parents' evening we ever had with our son was in yr4. He's always been pretty switched on academically and the teacher just said: 'See if you can work on throwing and catching a ball with him so he's more confident in PE. No worries in any other area.' A great school if they can look at the whole child!

[ilikenoodles]

Thanks KitKat,
I think he's settled in fine, which has been a major surprise - he's not that physically outgoing so we'll try and encourage more active stuff, for his confidence more than anything. the school have been great in that they have recognised his interest in reading and so on but they don't make a big deal of it and he's learning about so much more than that - he's well behaved but maybe a little too introverted - hopefully he'll lighten up and play tag and stuff as the year goes on!

[leesmum]

ilikenoodles your Ds sounds just like mine, doing very well in reception, he's on reading stage 7 but like yours is just about getting to grips with dressing himself. He's happy in school but only plays with one little girl, we too have an older boy and ours are very different also. I think i have spent a lot of time comparing them (which is wrong) and have realised that they are completely different people and just because my Ds2 has no interest in a bike/football or action figures it's ok because he is happy doing his own little thing :)

[ilikenoodles]

Thanks leesmum! He's just the way he is!...interestingly, although he is a good reader and so on, I don't think he'd come across to other people as being all that advanced, he hasn't really got a big vocab, he's not very "deep" as some would describe their "bright" children on MN, so I supppose he just picked up reading and maths quickly because he honed in on that interest from an early age which wouldn't automatically make him a "gifted" child or whatever...whats your son like?

[leesmum]

It sounds like our two could be twins!! Ds2 although very bright was late at everything walking/talking/toilet training and even now it's still hard to have a proper conversation with him. I think my son must want to learn some things and not others (like putting his own shoes on or wiping his own bum!!!) he is fascinated with numbers and can pretty much tell the time...and this was because he was asking me nearly every 5 min but in other ways he still seems very babyish.

[ilikenoodles]

yep, I reckon I sometimes expect too much of him, forgetting he is still only 4 and the youngest in his class, he knows verbs and adjectives and stuff but I'm like "can you not just say hi to the lolly pop lady because it's polite, you do see her everyday"! He's not shy, I just don't buy it, dunno what it is x

[ilikenoodles]

just had parents evening...mind went blank as usual! Just let the teacher talk really. Apparently she was a tiny bit worried about him socially at first as he tended to entertain himself but he has come on loads since starting and is "actively" seeking people out to play with. She has put him on G&T for reading and shockingly for writing...showed me loads of independent written work - didn't know he could write like that at all, not interested in it at home!

one thing though....maybe being paranoid...she did mention how literal he was, like when she says that after lunch they are going to be doing xyz and then it doesn't happen cos something else crops up - he wants to know why, asks loads of questions about it. He is the sort of kid who if you said "liar liar pants on fire" would look down at his legs to check...or if you said "it's raining cats and dogs"......
normal? donno

[MadameCastafiore]

I asked are they happy, how are their social skills and do you find them to be 'nice' children for mine.

[ilikenoodles]

totally agree madame