Archie’s doing a lot of telling me what she knows I want to hear.  Sadly, it appears that very little of it is the true state of affairs.

She’s being pulled out for a maths group with a handful of other kids.  She was telling me about this the other day and said she’d been working with square numbers which she enjoys even if she has known about them for quite some time.  She proudly told me that she got all of the them right and that the teacher they worked with told her how good she was at math.

Nope.  Didn’t happen.  She did get them all right but the teacher didn’t compliment her.

She’s been finishing her work and has been the first one finished.  This is a HUGE step for Archie who is constantly being told off at school for not producing.  Anyway, I thought that things were going well.

The other day after a school, a number of Archie’s friends came out with her with stickers on their chests.  I asked Archie what they were for and she said for finishing their work.  Why didn’t you get one?  Because I never do mum.

Archie’s folder hasn’t moved from the place where it was on the teacher’s desk 2 weeks ago.  Archie’s substitute teacher has told me that she’s struggling with basic concepts that I know she isn’t. 

Archie and I were discussing all of this (especially the stretching of the truth bit) yesterday and she said she was invisible to the teachers.

She’s not a teacher pleaser.  She doesn’t get her work done quickly and then race up for a sticker or a pat on the head.  She doesn’t get acknowledged for trying.  She doesn’t get acknowledged for knowing ‘stuff’.  Thankfully we don’t have behavioural issues as she’s more likely to vague out than act up – so instead of being recognised in any way she gets mostly ignored.  Coupled this with a curriculum that’s inappropriate and a teacher who can’t control the kids in her class, fragile social groups, an understanding of human nature well beyond her years and it makes for a pretty sad little person.

This is what happened to me.  You try…you get ignored…you stop trying.  Either way the outcome is the same.  She’s not learning.  I’m trying to juggle my life, my school, the needs of the other family members, and teaching Archie new information before and after school.

I know that last years teacher, God love her, was confused because Archie didn’t fit the ‘gifted child’ category that Mrs T had learnt about.  This is what amazes me.  You are gifted therefore you’re all the same. 

Here’s news.  We’re not.  There are a vast range of differences between people on the gifted spectrum.  Just like there’s a vast range of differences between people on the less abled spectrum.  Just because 10 people are 6ft tall doesn’t mean they’re all the same in every aspect.  They just happen to have commonalities.  And the problem for kid’s like Archie is that most teachers will never have seen one before.  They’ll have seen lots of bright children.  Lots of kids that want to get their work done and love stickers and A’s and all the rest.  But they wont’ come across many (if any) kids who are light years ahead of their peers and learn for the love of learning – not for any extrinsic award.

I’m over it.  I’m over the whole education system.  I’m over fighting.  I don’t want another 8 years of this.  I’m tired of it already.

Archie’s Mum

Archie’s school bell goes at 14:55 and she normally comes straight out.  Yesterday I sat and waited patiently for her.  And waited.  And waited some more.  By 10 past she still wasn’t out and the playground was almost empty.  Seeing as we were now going to be late to get TeenQueen I figured I’d better go and find out what the hold up was.

Archie and one of her ‘friends’ were chatting with the new teacher, Ms W.  Her friend B waved at me and gave me a hug and Ms. W.   immediately assumed that I was B’s mother.  A shake of the head and a smile and I say nope, that one’s mine and point to Archie.

“OH, YOU’RE Archie’s Mum!”.  Hmmm….I’m not sure if it was said in surprise (as in you’re not what I expected) or if she felt sorry for me :-) 

She’s being good to Archie so far.  Archie collects bit of paper in her desk and it appears that the old teacher let her do it without clearing out her desk for the whole year.  Not good.  Yesterday she couldn’t find a book she needed.  Instead of getting angry Mrs. W. suggested that she and Archie clean it out together.  And they did.  She also mentioned that Archie’s desk looked like a stick-nest rat’s nest!  Looking at images of one this morning I can only imagine.

Archie said that she’s got ‘the folder’ on her desk so hopefully she’s had a flick through it.  She’s also trying to get Archie to look up when she talks – I told her that if she can work out how to do that she’d be the first in 8 years!  Oh, and Archie pulled her copy of Eragon/Eldest to read in reading time yesterday.  Apparently the teacher was a little shocked but didn’t stop her from reading it (lucky for her!).

Anyway, so far so good.  It’ll be a real shame if she’s great with Archie as she’s only there until a permanent replacement is found.

Archie’s Mum

Archie’s new teacher started yesterday.  The jury is still out as to whether Archie is going to like her or not but she seemed relatively pleased with the start yesterday.  She apparently doesn’t take any rubbish from the kids so it will be nice to see some discipline put back into the class.  She’s also organising a class time table so structure should rear her head again too.

The only thing that Archie was confused about was whether she liked the teacher’s attitude towards reading.

Her classroom has a small bookshelf.  The children are free to grab a book during free time or when their work is finished and take it back to their desk.  New Teacher has said she’ll be bringing cushions in for the kids to lounge around on (inviting trouble if you ask me!) and she’s going to obtain more books.  The children are encouraged to bring their own book in though so Archie has taken Eldest in to finish off.

What confused her though is the teacher has said they’ll get 5 minutes first thing after lunch to read.  A bit short according to Archie but better than nothing.  New Teacher then went on to say that if they didn’t behave, they would get another 5 minutes of reading time.

WTF?  Archie and I don’t understand why reading is being used a form of punishment?  Am I so out of touch with the ‘normal’ world that I fail to see that as completely backward?  Don’t we (as a planet) have issues with literacy and a reluctance by a lot of children, especially boys, to read? 

So – should reading be used as a behaviour modification tool?  Archie and I vote no although she is now secretly hoping that the boys are true to form and muck up so that she gets extra reading time

Archie’s Mum

Where did that weekend go?  It seems like we hardly have the time to take a breath before we’re launched full throttle into the next week!

We achieved heaps of things on the weekend.  Saturday morning was given over to cleaning up after a week of laziness.  Our initial plan had been to meet with our educational psych for a catch up on Saturday and then a day trip to visit my folks on Sunday.  Plans changed though so that we were meeting with our psych on Sunday so we headed to the folks Saturday afternoon.  Hubby and I had words about my thesis.  I’m obsessing over small details at the moment and getting stressed by the big details at the same time. 

Me and the group are nowhere near ready to present to the cognitive scientists next Tuesday.  Nowhere near it.  But that’s what we’re doing.  I’ve spent the whole weekend trying to mush my project up into something presentable and I’m desperately hoping that my latest list of questions will satisfy my supervisor.  Anyway, I spent a fair bit of time on Saturday afternoon/evening chatting with my old man about the project and he really helped me express what I was thinking. 

I rang our psych Saturday night to organise a time to meet on Sunday and left a voicemail message for her.  I was pretty despondent by lunchtime on Sunday when I’d not heard back from her.  Around 2ish she rings me and asks why I didn’t call her!  Huh?  Voicemail never went through apparently!

So hubby and I raced home to pick up the MENSA application we need her to sign for Archie and then went and picked her up and whisked her off for coffee.  We had an amazing few hours with her.  I always feel reinvigorated when I’ve spent time with her.  She reminds me of why I’m doing this…why it’s important.  We had a quick chat about my current Honours project and decided that I just need to do it and then pretty much write it off but hopefully she’ll help guide me with a project for next year.

My only other really exciting news is that there’s a conference in July of next year and I mentioned that I’m looking at going to it.  Next thing you know I’m being told I WILL be going to it and that she’ll introduce me to her circle of friends – which includes some of the biggest names in gifted education in Australia.  So I’m feeling very blessed to have such an incredible mentor in my life.

All else is just bubbling along.  I’m looking at an online language program for Archie to try and enrich her at home.  SwitchedOnMom uses Powerspeak so I’m having a go at their free trial to see whether it suits Archie.

Oh, I just remember, Archie and I are off to see David Helfgott in August performing a solo recital.  We thought that seeing as she had just started Piano perhaps this opportunity will inspire her to keep going!  So it’s going to be a girls night out and we might even grab a meal out before the show.

Time to go get my girls from school.

Archie’s Mum

Firstly, welcome to the new site!  I’m still working on the theme so it’s not quite how I want it.  I have some great links that aren’t showing up where I want them to but I’ll get onto that tomorrow probably. 

As for the post that made me spin off to this blog, I have an appointment tomorrow afternoon with the school principal to discuss what’s been happening to Archie.  I spent ages on the phone to Mrs T this morning going over what needs to be said and what assurances I need.  She and I decided it would be best if she didn’t come in with me – not at this point anyway.

I’m also catching up with our wonderful educational psychologist this weekend.  I spoke to her hoping to hear words of wisdom but instead she informed me that she’s pulling her youngest out of THE SYSTEM at the end of June.  ARGH wrong answer!!!  I should have known she’d do that to me.  I recall emailing her at the end of the 2nd year of my degree saying I was over it thinking she’d tell me to stick it out and it was only just one more year etc, etc, etc.  Instead she told me she’d dropped out at the end of her 2nd year and gone and travelled.  I should learn not to ask her questions eh?

Archie’s been sick with a stomach virus all weekend but has perked right back up again this afternoon.  It’s time like this when I realise that she is still such a small little person and she looks very much like a little 8 year old.  Oh, except she wanted to know why her vomit was green.  So we googled bile.  That’s normal isn’t it? 

She talked non-stop on the way to pick her big sister up from school this afternoon.  It was great to hear her talking like she normally does.

Archie’s Mum