Interim Report (early elementary) - Ask Teacher for Details Now or Wait for Mid-Year Comments?

[Anonymous]

We have the interim report for our child (first grade). The report indicates DC is meeting expectations in most classes in most areas. However, there is a note in the comment field about DC needing to work on following directions the first time they are given.

We (the parents) know DC in non-school contexts to need reminders not to get distracted / to be willing to disengage an activity on the first request.

Teachers and parents in the know: would it be a good idea to ask now what the teacher's observations are and how big of a problem she is seeing? Or should we wait for the more formal report card later? I don't want to fail to ask if the teacher wants follow up. But I also don't want to be high maintenance by asking if it's not appropriate to do that yet. I know the teachers among us are dealing with constant parent queries...

[Anonymous]

This is a good thing to bring up at parent/teacher conference which is coming up in November. Have you signed up for one? Personally, I would hold the question for the conference since it's less than/about a month away.

[Anonymous]

I met with my childs teacher last week to discuss concerns I had. I think if you have concerns address them now instead of waiting. Or email the teacher about your concerns and ask if they'd like to meet to discuss now rather then waiting till November. They may just want to wait, but atleast ask them

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a good thing to bring up at parent/teacher conference which is coming up in November. Have you signed up for one? Personally, I would hold the question for the conference since it's less than/about a month away.

+1. If there was any urgency to it, they would contact you directly, not via a comment on the interim report.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a good thing to bring up at parent/teacher conference which is coming up in November. Have you signed up for one? Personally, I would hold the question for the conference since it's less than/about a month away.

+1. If there was any urgency to it, they would contact you directly, not via a comment on the interim report.

I disagree with this. We knew our dd got distracted easily, had trouble following multiple step directions and had had more trouble with transitions than other kids when she was a toddler. We kept asking her preschool teachers and kindergarten teacher if everything was okay in the classroom. They all assured us that dd was doing just fine and they had no concerns. The last teacher report in kindergarten stated that teacher was confident dd would do well in first grade. The first sign we had that first grade wasn’t going as smoothly was when we got the first interim progress report and dd’s teacher gently asked via email if we’d ever noticed any attention problems with dd. We requested to meet with the teacher immediately instead of waiting for the conferences. For the first time, a teacher expressed that she saw the same difficulty with focus that we’d always seen. We scheduled an evaluation for dd, and because the wait lists for evaluations are so long, we were more than halfway through the school year before dd was diagnosed with ADHD. First grade was really the earliest that her inability to focus or get organized and her poor fine motor skills became apparent. Prior to that, she was still within the normal range because the normal range is very broad for 4-6 year olds. First grade is more rigorous academically than kindergarten and there are far fewer movement breaks, so that’s the earliest that teachers usually express concerns when there are no behavioral problems.

I’m not saying your dd has ADHD, but I have learned that some teachers find it really hard to bring up concerns when they don’t know how the parents will react, so they test the waters by not making a big deal out of it the first time they mention something. This is the time to speak face to face with the teacher and find out just how concerned she is. She may say that dd is doing very well, but doesn’t always listen to directions the first time, which is very common in first grade. But she might also mention several other things. Contacting her now will end the message to her that you’re open to hearing something other than praise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a good thing to bring up at parent/teacher conference which is coming up in November. Have you signed up for one? Personally, I would hold the question for the conference since it's less than/about a month away.

+1. If there was any urgency to it, they would contact you directly, not via a comment on the interim report.

I disagree with this. We knew our dd got distracted easily, had trouble following multiple step directions and had had more trouble with transitions than other kids when she was a toddler. We kept asking her preschool teachers and kindergarten teacher if everything was okay in the classroom. They all assured us that dd was doing just fine and they had no concerns. The last teacher report in kindergarten stated that teacher was confident dd would do well in first grade. The first sign we had that first grade wasn’t going as smoothly was when we got the first interim progress report and dd’s teacher gently asked via email if we’d ever noticed any attention problems with dd. We requested to meet with the teacher immediately instead of waiting for the conferences. For the first time, a teacher expressed that she saw the same difficulty with focus that we’d always seen. We scheduled an evaluation for dd, and because the wait lists for evaluations are so long, we were more than halfway through the school year before dd was diagnosed with ADHD. First grade was really the earliest that her inability to focus or get organized and her poor fine motor skills became apparent. Prior to that, she was still within the normal range because the normal range is very broad for 4-6 year olds. First grade is more rigorous academically than kindergarten and there are far fewer movement breaks, so that’s the earliest that teachers usually express concerns when there are no behavioral problems.

I’m not saying your dd has ADHD, but I have learned that some teachers find it really hard to bring up concerns when they don’t know how the parents will react, so they test the waters by not making a big deal out of it the first time they mention something. This is the time to speak face to face with the teacher and find out just how concerned she is. She may say that dd is doing very well, but doesn’t always listen to directions the first time, which is very common in first grade. But she might also mention several other things. Contacting her now will end the message to her that you’re open to hearing something other than praise.

Oop. I meant that talking to teacher now will send the message, not end the message!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a good thing to bring up at parent/teacher conference which is coming up in November. Have you signed up for one? Personally, I would hold the question for the conference since it's less than/about a month away.

+1. If there was any urgency to it, they would contact you directly, not via a comment on the interim report.

I disagree with this. We knew our dd got distracted easily, had trouble following multiple step directions and had had more trouble with transitions than other kids when she was a toddler. We kept asking her preschool teachers and kindergarten teacher if everything was okay in the classroom. They all assured us that dd was doing just fine and they had no concerns. The last teacher report in kindergarten stated that teacher was confident dd would do well in first grade. The first sign we had that first grade wasn’t going as smoothly was when we got the first interim progress report and dd’s teacher gently asked via email if we’d ever noticed any attention problems with dd. We requested to meet with the teacher immediately instead of waiting for the conferences. For the first time, a teacher expressed that she saw the same difficulty with focus that we’d always seen. We scheduled an evaluation for dd, and because the wait lists for evaluations are so long, we were more than halfway through the school year before dd was diagnosed with ADHD. First grade was really the earliest that her inability to focus or get organized and her poor fine motor skills became apparent. Prior to that, she was still within the normal range because the normal range is very broad for 4-6 year olds. First grade is more rigorous academically than kindergarten and there are far fewer movement breaks, so that’s the earliest that teachers usually express concerns when there are no behavioral problems.

I’m not saying your dd has ADHD, but I have learned that some teachers find it really hard to bring up concerns when they don’t know how the parents will react, so they test the waters by not making a big deal out of it the first time they mention something. This is the time to speak face to face with the teacher and find out just how concerned she is. She may say that dd is doing very well, but doesn’t always listen to directions the first time, which is very common in first grade. But she might also mention several other things. Contacting her now will end the message to her that you’re open to hearing something other than praise.

Yes, that is what I meant when I said the teacher would contact you directly. Certainly if the teacher emails you with a question or observation you should follow up with them. But I wouldn't think just seeing a comment on the interim alone would necessarily require a follow-up before the conference.

[Anonymous]

If you want to know ask. I email teachers to check in. Doesn’t the marking period end soon?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you want to know ask. I email teachers to check in. Doesn’t the marking period end soon?

It ends Nov. 8th. Conferences will be Nov. 11th and 12th in most cases.

[Anonymous]

Have anyone else's ES teachers decided not to do interim reports? Apparently the first grade teachers at our ES decided collectively to not do them.

[Anonymous]

Our MCPS school does not do interim reports -- all grades.

[Anonymous]

I would probably wait because conferences are coming up soon. But parents must learn to be objective and not see their child through their eyes but through the teacher’s lenses. It can be hard for parents to listen when a teacher brings up concerns.

[Anonymous]

Did anyone’s teacher schedule conferences early? We have one with the teacher next week.