I went to my daughter’s second trimester conference last week. She continues to do well in first grade. Organization and attention are real challenges, but she’s getting the concepts. One of the only areas where she wasn’t meeting the standard was writing.
“Do I think she can write a How-to paper or a short story? Sure. She’s just never finished a piece of writing before. She gets too distracted.”
I wasn’t surprised to hear her teacher say this, but I was frustrated that it was the first time I was hearing about it.
“When she doesn’t finish her writing in class can you please send it home? I’ll make sure she gets it done and brings it back to you.”
He agreed.
Last weekend I found a cover made out of construction paper in her backpack. Inside were three pages stapled together. She had written one line.
“We’re supposed to write a paper about cats and dogs. Our opinion about them.”
So we sat down and she wrote her paper. Here it is, my daughter’s first complete essay, an opinion piece about two popular pets.
A translation (from Spanish):
“I like cats and dogs”
by, —–
I think cats and dogs are good. Both are furry and cute and playful.
Cats are sleepy in the sun. They can eat a lot! They love to catch mice! They are grumpy.
Dogs are fun. They like to play with balls. You can walk with a dog.
I couldn’t have said it better myself. 😉
Yes, child, cats are grumpy!!! 😂 (But you know I love them to pieces!!)
This is wonderful!
So, because she gets distracted and doesn’t finish in the time allotted, she doesn’t get to practice the skills? I’m so glad you realized this and came up with a solution. Because that’s a great essay!
Yeah, I think he isn’t as concerned about her because he knows she can do it and has a lot of kids who can’t actually do it, so they are probably getting more attention. Also, she REALLY struggles to complete work. If you aren’t sitting next to her reminding her to continue working she will just doodle on her paper. I can’t expect him to sit with her while she writes the whole paper, not when he has 20 other students to deal with. There is only so much one teacher can do.
Would the teacher be amenable to letting her use her headphones in class? Maybe that would help so she doesn’t have extra work at home.
I haven’t asked. She has a pair of noise-cancelling headphones for aftercare and they do help. They have also mysteriously disappeared twice… they aren’t cheap so the idea of buying a fourth pair for class doesn’t make me especially excited. Plus, I know she’ll have to put them on herself, which she probably won’t do and they will also cause a distraction, which her teacher hates. I don’t know. I should look into it.
I used to lose things a lot when I was younger. I still do! It drove everyone crazy. It’s probably not worth it to buy a fourth pair. Cute essay!
I did too! And I still do! I really need to write a post about how much I love my tile. I LOVE IT SO MUCH! I want it on all.the.things.
I love it! G also has had trouble with writing, I’m like look kid, that’s the one damn thing I enjoy doing, you best get on board. I’m hoping she’ll enjoy it more when opinion is involved, she’s full of those. 😂
That’s adorable!