Quinn (proud mom alert)

Quinn finishes term 3 (of 4) of Grade 1 today. I am interested to see what his report looks like for this term.
We have had some issues with him, being the youngest child in the school, and not always managing to complete the volume of work set, or stay undistracted for the length of time it takes. His teacher was pretty much fixated on his age as the reason, and we had to see her 3 times to discuss this.

Each time we saw her she was clear that he is bright and there is no issue with him understanding the work, but he just seems physically unable to complete work (writting and colouring) at speed, and he likes to chat and explore. She thought this would have been better had he been older. We didn't agree because he was already showing some signs of boredom, and since he is easily understanding the work, surely a year later he would be MORE bored?

In the last meeting (which I missed), she altered her opinion. This time she has said that it is in fact not his age which is the problem, and again she reitterated his intelligence and said there is no learning problem. She said she has 2 boys in the class who do have actual learning difficulties, and that Quinn is not like them at all. She has often said his general knowledge is very good, and he can answer extrapolation questions which often no one else can

She has now said it is:
1. not age
2. not maturity
3. no need for repeating grade 1

She thinks it is a "concentration on the task at hand" factor, she thinks he is bright and that his distractedness is due to him thinkng and focusing on things he shouldn't be at the time e.g. She gives him the reading book for homework, and asks him to just put it into his bag. Instead, she says he starts reading while he is walking, and before he gets to his desk and is absorbed to the point of excluding the rest of the world. She recognises that he thrives in one-on-one situations, but that it is not possible to for her to do so with a 23:1 pupil:teacher ratio, she needs him to conform and just get on with it.

Examples of things he does:
* forgetting things
* leaving things behind / losing them
* untidy workspace
* swinging on his chair
* making a stationery castle with his pens & glue instead of packing them away (LMAO)
* Drawing a cannon, and bombs and full navy fleet on the picture of the boat instead of just colouring it in etc.

It is good to hear that he is not, naughty, or deliberately disruptive or trying to bother anyone, but he just gets absorbed into his own thinking and creativity.

We have noticed that since this last meeting with her (and she may have adjusted her attitude to him as a result?), he seems to be coping fine and thriving. He is completing his work often, and not getting consitently kept in at break and after school to finish tasks. He just seems to be doing well.

Yesterday he told me that he was declared the 'cleverest in the class' after he was the only one to get all the sums on a particular worksheet correct. He told me he wasn't the fastest, but he was the only one with all the right answers. Which afterall is more important :)

Well done Quinn!

Update: Quinn came home with his term 3 report on Friday and he did very well. He previously had 3 marks indicating 'Able to fulfill the requirements of the Learning Outcome at a basic level with support' (2') and 16 'Able to fulfill the requirements of the Learning Outcome' (3's) He now had 14 3's and 6 'Learning Outcomes are consistently fulfilled at a high level at a basic level with support' (4's).

He has maintained his marks or bettered them in all areas, and his only 2 lower areas were for completing work in the given time, and using expressive fluent language (?huh?), the rest was all above average. So a good result. :)