Sorry notes

On the first day of February I was outside waiting for Noah’s bus to arrive when I received a call from Noah’s teacher.  “I am wondering if you can come in to talk about Noah’s behavior.  I was writing out a sorry note for Noah today and decided to throw it away and call you instead”…ugh.  Apparently since coming back after winter break Noah has been having a hard time listening to his teachers, has been way more physical with his friends, and his behavior has been affecting his classwork, which is really why the teacher decided to call.

First of all, Noah is a good 9 months younger than I’d say 75% of the boys in his class (did I mention that of the 20 kids in his class 13 are boys?).  Second, a lot of the boys have older siblings who keep them in their place.  Third, the boys on the whole are way more rough than the boys in his preschool class.  Fourth, these kids just do not get enough outside time to move their bodies.  More often than not when we ask Noah if he got outside for recess he says no because they didn’t have enough time or because it was too cold or icy.  Lastly, Noah is a good deal smaller (both weight and height) than these other boys.

I met with Mrs. Smith the very next morning and we decided to try a sticker chart for Noah.  The first thing we’ll focus on is good behavior during morning circle time – Mrs. Smith will keep the chart and apply stickers on the mornings that he manages to sit still, keep his hands to himself, not interrupt, and raise his hand without blurting out answers.  When he gets 5 stickers, he gets a reward.  So far, he’s gotten stickers 2 of 3 days this week and claims that Mrs. Smith “forgot” to apply his sticker yesterday because things were too hectic due to the early release snow day.

She asked us to have Noah come up with 4-5 ideas for rewards (going out to eat, going to see a movie, getting to stay up late, going ice skating, etc.).  She said Noah is not the only one in the class doing this type of thing.

Mrs. Smith did have lots of good things to say about Noah.  Again reiterated that he does best when he stays busy and focused (needs lots of jobs!) and has the most trouble during the unstructured time.  He’s hard to reign in when he gets going.  I said he needs more outside time during the day and she declared that once the weather gets better she’s going to make an effort to get the handful of kids that need the extra movement out on the swings before morning circle (I’m not sure why that can’t happen now).  She said they don’t do the two recesses presently because it was taking the kids too long to dress in winter clothes in the morning and get inside in time for their art, gym, whatever class.  I say that’s a load of BS.  Willy’s class gets out at least 2-3 times a day, even in winter.

Then there’s an astrology side to this which Alexis brought up: “And do you know why the Full Moon disrupts his brain?  Your child is a MOON child.  He is a Cancer.  Cancer is ruled by the Moon.  His Moon is in Leo – a theatrical placement of the moon!!  Loves the limelight, very creative i.e. music etc, and a bit egocentric so that is something he has to learn.  His is a kid who likes to learn.  And the Full moon Lunar Eclipse was in LEO this week so he was ignited to say the least 🙂 Full moon on Jan 1 was in Cancer so that kid was ignited all over the place in January!!”  If only it were that simple of an explanation!

At least buddy Fin is getting sorry notes sent home, too.  I imagine there are lots of sorry notes getting sent home with the other kids in his class, too.  I asked Noah if there were kids in his class that don’t get sorry notes sent home and he said yes.  I asked who?  His response: the girls.