In my previous posts, I mentioned about how Chesska struggled on the first day of school. I also wrote a letter to the teacher, requesting her to find out why Chesska cried during her class which happened during the fourth week of June and making an appointment for a parent-teacher conference. But prior my talk with the teacher, I suspected that my child was somewhat frightened when the teacher allegedly got angry in front of the class as what my child relayed to me. But I soon dismissed the story by the time I talked with the teacher two days after writing her a letter regarding the "crying" issue. I interrogated her as politely as I could with what happened, and I finally realized that my daughter went through separation anxiety. No wonder during the first week of school, she kept begging me to stay by her side all the time. But this issue was already addressed by the teacher, I supposed because I saw some improvement in my child's behavior.

Sorry, it's a long introduction and contrary to the title of this post! (hehe)

By the way, we are almost nearing the end of July. A lot of great things actually happened this month which I regretfully failed to blog (sooooo busy). But the most surprising part (well not totally surprising because I know my child's capacity in terms of academic ) was Chesska's test scores in the first preliminary exam, knowing how she wrestled with separation anxiety over the weeks.

Chesska has aversion to writing but unexpectedly the teacher got Chesska to write her name nicely (applause to the teacher).  She also got a perfect score in the Reading test with the topics involving vowels and beginning sound. As a kid, I had never encountered this type of test until Kinder so I was wondering if a 4-year old could overcome this. Suffice to say, my kiddo did it with flying colors.


While in Math, she got 24 out of 25. The topics consist of shapes and colors. Find out where she got wrong.




This test was done orally and I am clueless how the teacher facilitated the oral test. Maybe my child was just really confused with the shape of the eggplant.

Lastly, her score in Language is 20 out of 25 (not bad!). She got all correct in Test 1.



However, in test 2, she mistakenly matched the name of the persons to the correct picture particularly the carpenter and the singer.

Test IV is the introduction of self which, I believe,  is the weakest part of Chesska's personality. While she was confidently practicing at home days before the exam, she became timid in front of her classmates. If she had met all the criteria below, she would have gotten 23 out of 25 in Language test. But it is no problem at all because Chesska is still going through the adjustment period.


Ironically, seems like I wanted her to get all perfect scores but it's pretty unfair on her part. She's just a child after all. I should have lowered my standard (hehe). From now on, I will train myself to only expect a passing grade and I hope Chesska will keep up the good work and at the same time enjoy the remainder of the preschool days.

We survived one month of regular schooling! But it was not as smooth as I expected!

All along, I thought my 4-year-old daughter, Chesska,   finds big school more enjoyable for she can already gain new friends to mingle and play with. Though she's not a kind of kid who usually takes the first step to make friends. When it comes to the academic side, I believe that she can keep up with her other classmates because she has been home-schooled since last year. I mean, she's no longer new to holding a pen, answering worksheets, coloring, counting, and writing so I am quite confident that she will not be left behind.

However, the issue does not lie there!

Throughout the first week of school, I always accompanied her inside the classroom so she would somewhat feel comfortable with the new place. I even approached her classmates, introducing her name and setting up a play with them (since the teacher is not yet around).   But every time the bell rang and it was time to leave her in the classroom by herself, she started to be anxious. She even begged me to stay with her.  But I told her "mama is just outside watching you, ok?" Then during dismissal, I would find time to talk with her teacher how Chesska was doing, she said Chesska was so quiet and never talked when asked. I oriented the teacher that Chesska is a shy girl, just motivate her to participate.

On the second week, each time Chesska arrived home, I consistently checked how's her school. She gleefully mentioned that they sing and dance (with action). But what bothered me was when she said "mama teacher got angry, she said likes this "grrr" (with gigil action)". "Maybe you and your classmates were misbehaving, that's why teacher was angry", I said.   But I was elated when she began to share stories.

However, during the parent's orientation of the same week, the teacher told me that Chesska had finally a close friend but she and her classmate were running around the classroom so I reprimanded them. At the top of my head, I remember what Chesska relayed to me the other day when the teacher made gigil (having a hard time controlling oneself out of frustration), which I presumed the teacher was angry at my daughter when she and her classmate were running around. But I never confronted her about that. I just let it pass because I understand her. I had been a teacher myself after all.

But on the third week, I already heard Chesska refuse to go to school. Oftentimes,  she would say with a frowning face "Mama Enough School (na), tired Chesska". But I rather chose to ignore her as If we didn't hear her complaints and tried to divert the stories into something else.  But several times in the morning before going to school she would always try to insert in our conversation "I want mama sit with me in school".  As usual, I reasoned out why I couldn't go with her inside the classroom but assured her that everything will be alright eventually.

As the days went by, the situation seems to get worse. Her teacher relayed to my mother that Chesska cried during her class and she didn't know the reason behind. My gut feeling told me that there was something else that had happened so I didn't hesitate to write the teacher a letter.

Just correct the grammar (na lng) because it was hurriedly done.


Dear Teacher,

Greetings!

My mother, who fetches Chesska in school, informed me that Chesska was crying during your class last week.  Chesska arrived home with a disturbing behavior and when I checked her snack, she didn’t even touch it.  I also couldn’t  figure out the reason/s because she wouldn’t tell me. Will you please take a little time from your busy schedule the reasons of crying?

a  Was she bullied in the classroom?
b. Do you think she is just anxious from being away from us (parents)?
c. Was she unable to make friends?
d. Was she embarrassed?
e. Did she feel OP (out-of-place)?
f. Did she feel intimidated?

Please note that Chesska always arrives at school before 7:00 am. There might have been things that had happened that you didn’t know.

Also, two weeks ago until now, she kept begging us that she didn’t want to go to school anymore. This happened when parents were no longer allowed to accompany their children inside the classroom. We have already used all our resorts just to convince her to attend school. Sometimes it is frustrating! I believe that Chesska can keep up academically, perhaps, she has still difficulty adjusting to the new environment and socializing with her classmates and teachers as well.

Kindly contact us immediately if her behavior persists such as crying, anxiousness, feeling of intimidation, or whatever you may have observed
.
If you advise her to see a guidance counselor for further behavioral assessments or whatever interventions you may want to do to improve her behavior,  just text me or send me a note. We are willing to talk with you or with the guidance counselor in the soonest possible time.

Thank you very much!

Truly yours,

Mother


I figured that Chesska may have been frightened when she was reprimanded by her teacher but I can't jump to a conclusion right away until she will respond to my letter or set a talk with me. I will let you know.