KOLE KOLE KOLE

Yesterday (the 7th day of school) Kole came to the car and broke out sobbing saying that he didn't ever want to go back to school again! The mother bear in me immediately wanted to harm whoever had made him so sad. In an effort to get to the heart of the problem I kept talking to him until he calmed down enough to tell me what had happened. I thought surely some kid had bullied him or something of the sort. Not the the case actually...his teacher had pulled him in line by clapping her hands in the air in front of him. Must have really thrown him for a loop. Listening to him tell his side of the event, I was sure I was going in to the school the next day and telling the Principal that she needed to move him to another teacher's class ASAP! Well, as it turns out Kole has been driving his teacher crazy by talking and disrupting the other students while she is trying to teach, She has a few " rascal" boys she says in this class on top of Kole too. Robert and I arranged to meet with her after school and see what was the best course of action. As always I tend to leap before I look with the whole move my kid idea. Mrs Bussler was very easy to talk to and she does have Kole's best interest at heart. She was very frustrated with his behavior but she had some interesting things to say about him that took me off guard...things like"He is a natural born leader...smart as a whip that boy...too smart for his own good...maybe he should be tested for highly capable...." I was blown away, this is a kid that was in title one reading in second grade! He has certainly come into his own in some ways but so immature in others..that's a boy for you! We came up with as plan and she was so impressed with Robert and I and the ideas that we gave her to deal with Kole. She said and I quote"You should write a parenting book!" She was even taking notes! I wouldn't go that far to say we could write a book HA! I am so not any where near that great of a mom but it really boosted my self esteem to hear such praise from a teacher...a teacher that was having trouble with my KID! In the end we figured out that Kole is getting done with his work first and so darn fast that he is bored and trying to help his friends get done or just chatting cause he is bored. Mrs. Bussler is going to focus on helping him dig deeper and think about the work more than the other students...get more out of him, challenge him. She has committed to trying to establish a good rapport with him and following through with some heavy consequences(ie: sending him to the principals office to write 50 sentences if he falls out of line...the principal and I came up with that one!) if he steps out of bounds...3 strikes and your in doing lines Kole. I am so impressed with the dedication and commitment that the teachers at La Center have for their/our kids. It is so good for Kole to have another adult in his life that he has to listen to and that has a great influence over him and that can offer him her 30 years of teaching experience. The whole part of this that was astounding to me was that the principal, who has dealt with Robert and I before over Kyzen's needs, knew so much about Kole. She really nailed his personality...she definitely takes the time to get to know the kids in her school. She watches them and spends time with them...all 500 of them, that is quite a feat! I feel very blessed to have this support from the school and the teachers(That's going to be GTD #5)