I'm still hoping for a good year

That Myrtle is a thorn in my side. She and Ellie got into trouble yesterday at the carpet and the teacher had to talk to me about it. It was some pretty disruptive behavior and the kind of thing that Ellie has never done in class before (poking and bothering another kid who was trying to listen).

I know Myrtle is the instigator. I also know that Ellie has to learn to control her own behavior, because she is going to meet kids like Myrtle over and over in school. So we gave her some consequences, told her there would be more dire consequences if she continues to misbehave in class, and asked her to give us her thoughts on how she is going to control herself better. I am hopeful because a) she's a good kid, b) she likes people and wants people to like her, and c) she knows she has trouble controlling her impulses and needs to try. I'm worried because a) she really does have trouble controlling her impulses, b) she's the stubbornest kid you ever met, and c) she spent a lot of our talk about controlling impulses throwing her legs back and forth and squirming around.

I am crossing my fingers that this is a transition and she will work it out. But if she doesn't, I have no qualms about putting her in an empty room and piping in It's A Small World for 10 hours straight. That should do the trick.

Back to School Night

Back to School Night was tonight! Parents got a chance to hear all about what the kids are doing in school and what to expect this year. Yes, it was a wee bit intimidating. Maybe we should have had Ellie do some of them thar book learnin over the summer...ya know...instead of just staring at shiny objects.

Nah, she'll be fine. She has run into a little snag in that she is in class with a girl she knows from kindergarten who is a notorious talker. We'll call her "Myrtle." Ellie came back the first week and said, "When Myrtle is in line behind me, she talks to me and I know I'm not supposed to talk, but my body wants to talk to her." I told her that it's hard not to respond when someone is talking right to you, but you still have to follow the rules. I told her that if it's too hard for her that she should move away from Myrtle or request that the teacher move her away.

So tonight I mentioned it to the teacher. She said that Myrtle is the one with the issue (which I already knew) and that she had told Ellie, "I know that you are not a kid who gets into trouble. So, you need to just tell Myrtle that you are not going to talk to her in class." She said today she saw Ellie shush Myrtle, which she saw as a good sign of assertiveness on Ellie's part. So that was great. I told Ellie right away that her teacher and I were both proud of her for handling the situation as she did.

So far I am quite happy with Ellie's teacher and the classroom and the group of kids she's with. I hope it'll be a great year!