Friday, February 5, 2010

Report Cards

It's report card time. Report card time with six-year-olds is decidedly less stressful than report card time with teenagers.

I put very little weight on my boys' report cards. It's not that I'm not interested in how they're doing in school, it's more that I don't feel like their ability to measure up against narrowly-defined standards is an indicator of future success in life (although I suppose that's pretty much exactly the way to succeed in corporate America). Maybe I'll feel differently when/if they are really being challenged in school, but right now we're just happy that they aren't complaining of being bored.

Anyway, the grades aren't the interesting part of the report cards, it's the teacher comments. My favorite this time around: "Aidan is currently working on being able to locate supplies in his desk and keeping his shoes tied." Doesn't that just sound like the makings of a mad professor?

Then there's Owen, whose teacher wrote: "I LOVE Owen...he has the greatest personality!" Ok, now, I know I shouldn't be cynical because his teacher has been very accommodating and yes, he does have a the greatest personality...but, well, don't you usually make the personality comment when you're trying to avoid mentioning the thing you don't like about someone?

I don't know, it's possible that given autism's natural tendency to provide a rather uphill slope for kids to traverse, she's overcompensating by saying only nice things. I mean, I know full well that he sometimes outright refuses to do his work and yet here it's phrased as "I would also like to see him finish his work." Well, me too, but rather than wishing for things, let's talk about how we can make that happen.

Enthusiasm: A+
Insight: D-

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