Tips for working with a brand new teacher

[Anonymous]

My gifted kids both had new Kindergarten teachers and one had a new teacher for 1st and the other a new teacher for 4th.
I will be blunt. Your kids are in school in k-2nd to learn social skills and routines, how to behave in a group setting, how to work in a team with people they don’t choose, and how to be flexible and adjust to situations that are not tailored for them and them alone. Those are all great skills you can’t fully teach at home.

Get some books and focus on learning at home if there are specific skills you are worried about. But also it’s 1st grade. Read to and with your kid and foster a love of reading. Look up Odyssey of the Mind spontaneous problems and foster creative thinking. Look at your child’s school work and talk to them about it. Don’t tell them it’s too easy or suggest they might be bored at school. I encourage my kids to listen and learn different ways to do the same thing - and to show their work even when they can do it in their heads.

There is so much time to burn your kid out and build the memories they will talk about it therapy as adults. Learning and school should be fun. Stress less and remember they are so little - so much of what they are learning at this age can’t be measured on a Kuman worksheet.

[Anonymous]

I thought this post was going to be about helping a new colleague.

As a parent, please remember that at the beginning of the school year it takes a little while for all teachers, new and seasoned, to get an honest assessment of each child. Also, please give this teacher the benefit of the doubt that they are well trained to do their job. You’d be surprised at how creative and energetic new teachers are.

[Anonymous]

PP. You liked my list of suggestions.

Since you mentioned Beast Academy, that tells me you're attentive to supplementing.

You will likely do fine by having your kid follow their interests. All reading is good at this stage and if it supports specific interests (for example history, poetry, science, so much the better). I do think smart kids can be parked with extra books at that age without harm.

The point the person above made about socialization is very true. Following rules, getting along with random groups of classmates, and productively occupying self instead of crying boredom are critical. If your kid is not occupied enough, that's when you should have a quick discussion with the teacher. There should be a fall conference...that's a good checkpoint.

I was in a gifted program as a kid. But it was loosey-goosey. When I look back, I wish I had done more drilling to become automatic with math facts at an earlier age. I don't wish I did more book discussions. What I enjoyed most about reading was that it was not a chore. I think modern curricula (especially minutes per day/reading logs/paced reading of long books) suck the fun out of reading. So don't let that happen.

[Anonymous]

You are the parent teachers hate. You don't do anything. She will figure it out. It's 1st grade FFS.

[Anonymous]

First of all, don’t assume having a brand new teacher will be a disaster. My daughter had 2 first-year teachers and while one did have some problems that were clearly due to inexperience, the other was one of her best teachers ever.

I would avoid using the “gifted” label. Giftedness is a fuzzy concept in which different assessments try to measure different characteristics with different cutoffs. To a teacher it probably just means that you’re a proud parent who thinks their child is special, just like every other proud parent.

Whatever you do, don’t say your child is “bored”. To a teacher this may mean that the child thinks the work is too easy, too hard, or just not entertaining and fun. It is probably the fastest way to get your teacher to block out whatever else you might say.

I suggest you be generally supportive and see what happens. If there are a number of advanced students in the class, some of whom might even be ahead of your child, that may affect the opportunities your child has in class for more challenging material. In first grade, a lot of learning is “fun” Even if he isn’t learning much that’s new, if he’s enjoying herself, it should be fine, especially since it’s only going to be until November. If you’re worried, you might ask him if school is too hard, too easy, or about right. If, and only if, he indicates it’s a problem, then you might approach the teacher. In that case, be as specific as possible about your child’s level of abilities and knowledge in comparison to what’s being done in class, have a suggestion as to what might be your optimal solution that would minimize trouble for the teacher, and be open-minded and flexible to any alternatives the teacher might offer.

In the meantime, you can do enrichment activities together at home.

Here’s a thread with some suggestions for math enrichment for a 1st grader:
https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1177116.page#26525111

Hoagies is a website that offers both general advice on all facets of giftedness and links to other websites offering enrichment for all ages and subjects.

https://www.hoagiesgifted.org/

https://www.hoagiesgifted.org/links.htm

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You should stop thinking you need to do anything but read to your kid and send them fed, well-rested and dressed appropriately for the weather.

THIIISSSSSS

[Anonymous]

Why would you assume this is bad? Some of the younger ones aren't burnt out. We've had good experiences with younger ones, bad experiences with younger ones, bad experiences with older well liked ones.. its hard to guess what will work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just got my 1st grader's classroom assignment. His teacher, who has about 7 years of experience, is on maternity leave until November. His substitute teacher just finished undergrad in June. Brand new, eek!

The school district this year eliminated funding for any accelerated/gifted programming, and says the classroom teachers will provide this support.

Any suggestions for how to engage this likely 22 year old brand new teacher? Should I assume she'll be overwhelmed and back off? Or should I encourage her to challenge my kiddo? My child adores school, loves math, and is quickly becoming a very fluent reader. I want it continue, and I also want to hold the school to its promise - that they will support advanced learners.

I'm honestly a bit crushed. My older child didn't have great experience at this school. And then this child won the kindergarten lottery - his teacher was amazing. She also has nearly 30 years of experience, and was able to tell me things about my child that could only come with experience and perspective. I have two kids - it's meaningful to have the perspective of someone who's worked with 100s.

TIA!

Back off from what? What were you planning to do?

[Anonymous]

My DD’s best 2 teachers had graduated the previous May. They were so organized and energetic. They clearly spent all summer working on lesson plans and their classroom setup. They knew all kinds of fun games and songs and had great tactics for classroom management.

In short, they were fresh, not burnt out, and so excited to be in the classroom. We felt lucky to have them!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child has had two brand new teachers, and they have been fantastic.

same!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just got my 1st grader's classroom assignment. His teacher, who has about 7 years of experience, is on maternity leave until November. His substitute teacher just finished undergrad in June. Brand new, eek!

The school district this year eliminated funding for any accelerated/gifted programming, and says the classroom teachers will provide this support.

Any suggestions for how to engage this likely 22 year old brand new teacher? Should I assume she'll be overwhelmed and back off? Or should I encourage her to challenge my kiddo? My child adores school, loves math, and is quickly becoming a very fluent reader. I want it continue, and I also want to hold the school to its promise - that they will support advanced learners.

I'm honestly a bit crushed. My older child didn't have great experience at this school. And then this child won the kindergarten lottery - his teacher was amazing. She also has nearly 30 years of experience, and was able to tell me things about my child that could only come with experience and perspective. I have two kids - it's meaningful to have the perspective of someone who's worked with 100s.

TIA!

Provide the enrichment on your own time and dime like 99% of people with gifted children do in this country. Very few school systems support gifted programs for actual high IQ kids or even kids who are really smart and accelerated. Even if you had the more experienced teacher, your kid probably would not get any differentiated instruction and you'd be in the same boat as now.

A lot of people send their kids to RSM or AOPs or buy the Beast Academy curriculum. Music instrument lessons are another way to add enrichment that your child won't get in school. Are there high quality fine arts classes for kids in your area? Theater? And of course just lots and lots of books.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My gifted kids both had new Kindergarten teachers and one had a new teacher for 1st and the other a new teacher for 4th.
I will be blunt. Your kids are in school in k-2nd to learn social skills and routines, how to behave in a group setting, how to work in a team with people they don’t choose, and how to be flexible and adjust to situations that are not tailored for them and them alone. Those are all great skills you can’t fully teach at home.

Get some books and focus on learning at home if there are specific skills you are worried about. But also it’s 1st grade. Read to and with your kid and foster a love of reading. Look up Odyssey of the Mind spontaneous problems and foster creative thinking. Look at your child’s school work and talk to them about it. Don’t tell them it’s too easy or suggest they might be bored at school. I encourage my kids to listen and learn different ways to do the same thing - and to show their work even when they can do it in their heads.

There is so much time to burn your kid out and build the memories they will talk about it therapy as adults. Learning and school should be fun. Stress less and remember they are so little - so much of what they are learning at this age can’t be measured on a Kuman worksheet.

Exactly. If you choose public schools instead of homeschooling, it's because deep down you know the socialization aspect is as important as the academic aspect. Everything academic can be supplemented, accelerated, enriched at home. But the social stuff can only be learned at a normal school, weak though it may be in academics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My gifted kids both had new Kindergarten teachers and one had a new teacher for 1st and the other a new teacher for 4th.
I will be blunt. Your kids are in school in k-2nd to learn social skills and routines, how to behave in a group setting, how to work in a team with people they don’t choose, and how to be flexible and adjust to situations that are not tailored for them and them alone. Those are all great skills you can’t fully teach at home.

Get some books and focus on learning at home if there are specific skills you are worried about. But also it’s 1st grade. Read to and with your kid and foster a love of reading. Look up Odyssey of the Mind spontaneous problems and foster creative thinking. Look at your child’s school work and talk to them about it. Don’t tell them it’s too easy or suggest they might be bored at school. I encourage my kids to listen and learn different ways to do the same thing - and to show their work even when they can do it in their heads.

There is so much time to burn your kid out and build the memories they will talk about it therapy as adults. Learning and school should be fun. Stress less and remember they are so little - so much of what they are learning at this age can’t be measured on a Kuman worksheet.

This. This is the post you need to pay attention to. Early grades provide so much opportunity for learning those essential skills that are valuable no matter what path they choose. Don’t discount that for a few extra math worksheets.

Let new teacher do her thing, support her as much as you can, & do any supplemental fun stuff you want.

Parent of gifted kids here - they will be gifted all of their lives, it’s not a race. In first grade, help them learn those soft skills that are probably more impactful on their success & satisfaction in life as an adult.

[Anonymous]

Our experience with new teachers has been awful every time (multiple kids), including a scenario similar to the OP’s. Except the 2nd grade teacher went on maternity leave 3 weeks into school and returned about 2 weeks before winter break. The just graduated, fully trained sub had no control of the class (dd compared it to the noise of a basketball game even after some kids were switched out of the class). She also didn’t really try to teach them much, not giving spelling words or going over any new math. It was a waste of half a year.

New teacher again this year and my 5th grader is doing circle time and sticker charts. Meanwhile the experienced 5th grade teachers that my older kids had emphasized “preparing for middle school” since it starts in 6th.

So I understand the OPs concerns, but OP you still need to chill. Do what you can to supplement your child at home and make sure he’s not one causing any problems for the teacher. All in all, it’s a short period of time and she may do awesome.

[Anonymous]

I asked the teacher if they needed anything specific for setting up their classroom or if they wanted just some Amazon gift cards or Target gift cards for things for the classroom.

I focused on all the really positive ways the teacher was being supportive to my kid