Well, I’m not one to brag, so I’m not sure I should write this down, but I think some record of it should exist; if only so we can laugh at it in years to come in a “to think, your teacher said that!” sort of way. It the middle of Jeannie’s parents evening, her teacher referred to her as a genius.
Okay, it was only in reference to Jeannie’s bedroom being such a mess (she is not like this at school apparently) but it was pleasing to hear that she is doing so well. This is her first proper year at school and she had fit in really well. Apparently, some of the other children have found it hard to settle down to working all day as last year (in Reception) there was a lot more play. Jeannie on the other hand found last year quite boring, and is enjoying school much more.
Her reading as we know is very good (reading age about 8 or 9) and she has already met this years targets to reading (so her current target is part of Year 2). Her teacher is determined to get a Year 3 level piece of work out of her by the end of the school year.
Of course, it is not all perfect all the way down the line. Her handwriting has some odd non-conformities such as her “d” being the same height as her “a”’s for example. However, this isn’t just a thing she has got wrong. Her teacher is sure she knows how to do it properly, she just doesn’t want to. When told about it, she will just smile. And it is such a mischievous smile. In a way, I think this is better than her being a perfect little girl. She is quite the stubborn one too.
Her maths is strictly average, but she always adds interesting points to the class discussion. I think this comes from her asking the most awkward questions at the most inappropriate times, like when we were with some quite religious friends and she asked me “Which is older, the Dinosaurs or Adam and Eve?” Not knowing our friends really well, I didn’t know how best to answer it without causing possible offence.
“However, this isn’t just a thing she has got wrong. Her teacher is sure she knows how to do it properly, she just doesn’t want to. When told about it, she will just smile.”
Heh, this sounds so familiar. More than one of my nieces/nephews exhibit the same kind of single-minded stubbornness.
One does a similar thing with letters, except he does his letter “s” the wrong way round (i.e. mirror image). Whenever he’s corrected, his answer is always “Yes, but this is the way that I do it.”
Another insists on using the wrong names for things or people, with a smirk on her face that dares you to correct her. If you do, she blatantly argues you down. She is right, no debate.