Halfway down the Danube

Scientists in the making

It was another day of "firsts" -- we had our first parent meeting at Alan's school yesterday. We joked before whether we were going to get an evaluation of Alan's progress, his abilities and his shortcomings. Little did we know...

First off: I think INS is a great school. (It better be, it's also really expensive.) They have a very good teacher-student ration (1:3 in Alan's class) and the teachers are wonderful. The building is in a safe place, they have great outdoors and pretty insides. I especially adore the little toilets but that is probably just me.

When we came to the classroom, it turned out we were the first ones. OK, so I'm German and if they say "between 5 and 7", I like to be there at 5. Sharp.

Anyway, we got the full attention of all three teachers. Would you know it, they have a curriculum! This week's goal is to familiarize the kid with school, teachers and classmates. A very reasonable goal, I think. Especially, since Alan loved school in the first week and decided to hate it the second week. Tears are flowing every single time when I drop him off. When I pick him up, though, he is that happy, bouncy little boy who just had a great day and hugs his teachers for good-byes. His mother, on the other hand, was guilt-wrecked all morning over distressing her little boy so much.

Some areas included in the curriculum are e.g. language development, social skills, gross and fine motor skills, and science. Science? Are they going to let my child play with hydrogen? "Well", said the teacher and laughed, "what we understand by science at this age - being curious, mainly." Ah.

As the teachers pointed out, they don't stick to the curriculum like glue. If a child displays interest or talent in one field, he's encouraged in this direction, even if it's something that is only in the curriculum for three-year-olds. "It's good for the children", the teacher said, "Learning should be fun. You know, most parents think their children are geniuses." Right, and what a stupid notion that is. Poor children, being subject to over-the-top expectations from their parents. We all know where these kids end up...

So we went back home, reassured and confident about having made the right decision for our boy (as a parent you're always second-guessing yourself). We had dinner, and for dessert Alan and David each got a cookie.

I have no idea where that electric tooth brush came from. We're not in the habit of having tooth brushes on the dinner table. Nor cardboard tubes. (The tube, however, was the core or the paper towels which we are indeed in the habit of having on the dinner table.)

Curiosity, eh? Science means experimenting, right? Like, drilling holes into cookies with an electric tooth brush (without the brush)? Like, sticking cookie bits into cardboard tubes to see that they fall through and out on the other side? I think my children are geniuses.

PS: In case you wondered, Alan's evaluation and a parent-teacher talk will be in January. I'm already nervous.

Posted by claudia at September 17, 2004 09:56 AM