KiasuParents - Parenting in Singapore

Hi,
This is my son's first wk in primary sch and I must say im grateful the teacher has been tolerant with his challenges such as walking ard in class and tendency to wander off. Just like to ask how other kids re doing and any tips other mummies can share to make it easier for our kids to adjust.

Thanks in advance!

Glad to hear that.

Maybe you can consider sending flowers to the teachers and an appreciation letter addressed to the principal, and let the teachers know that their effort and tolerance are being appreciated?

my boy survive first week. We should be glad that he managed to go to school and come home in one piece (we were not with him right from day 1 due to the school's strict rules)

However, the teacher comments that he is not focused in class- he tends to walk around, fall asleep and don't bother to keep his stuff,sometimes he just leave the textbooks lying on the floor. We have to beg his teachers to make extra efforts to remind him to keep his stuff. My boy's various therapists are all ready to work with his form teacher to help him to settle in school. The only thing left to do is to be nice to his teachers, hope they agree to help him out.

Hubby attempt to speak to his form teacher, the first response is that "why don't you send you boy to Pathlight? ".. Well, we did, but the waiting time is so long, Pathlight suggested we go for mainstream with allied teacher support.. hmm.. felt my boy is like an unwanted child that is being push around (nobody wants him). Anyway, perhaps it is a very stressful week for the teachers, it is understandable they don't welcome a 'problem' child in a large class of 30 new students. We will try again once things are more settled.

By the way, anybody knows the roles of allied educator in mainstream school? We contacted the allied educator before my boy's form teacher is being assigned. I have discussed in details of my boy's condition and how to handle him etc with the allied educator.. but when the school started, she seems to be out of the picture.

It is my boy's 1st week too. I did not declare his ASD to the school. His teacher told me he was not following instructions. He kept on losing his things too. So we labelled all his stuff (even his pencils too!) and gave him the not so expensive versions. I think he has difficulty keeping still, his previous teachers have told me he has a lot of unnecessary movement. His OT recommended we let him have a fidget toy to play with in class. The book "Raising A Sensory Smart Child" recommends letting them sit on a rubber disc that is bouncy, so that they can "move" while remaining seated. But I am afraid he will lose it or his friends will make fun of him, so I did not buy this. Other suggestions that seem more feasible: do chair push ups - put hands on chair and lift the butt off the chair, stretching, volunteer to help teacher give out books, clean blackboard etc.

Also good to have 2 separate files, clearly labelled "Homework" and "For Teacher", as they are bad in organizing their things and may misplace worksheets meant to be done at home, or worse still, done the worksheet but not hand up to teacher.

Thanks Audvis for sharing. I think the volunteer to do some chore like cleaning the board and distribution of books is a good idea. I will also ask him to do chair push up

I'm facing some problem with him not bring back his stuffs. He even left his school communication book in school, so we aren't even aware of his homework that is suppose to due today. His stressed out teachers kept reiterate that it is impossible for them to check his school bag everyday and they would expect him to take the initiative submit his work on time. Though I think they are asking for the impossible, I kept that thought to myself. I'm cracking my head to think of a solution- how to make sure he bring the important notice/instruction from his teachers and homework back home, while minimizing extra burden on his teachers.

I have thought of hiring shadow teacher, but 1stly I'm haven't check if the school allow that, 2ndly, I don't know if it will cause my boy to be over reliance and end up not learning self help skills. He went through mainstream kindergarten and never require a shadow teacher.

Hi specialboymum
My advice is to not put any pressure on the teachers to do this or that. Ask whether possible, but don't insist. The teachers are the ones who will face yr boy daily and you still need a lot of help from them; the last thing u want to do is to antagonize them. As for shadow teacher, since he didn't have one in K, then don't use it or he will become reliant on it. As for homework notice, ask if the teachers can give u the homework schedule in advance but still make him responsible for bringing back notices. If all fail, make friends with the parents of his classmates (as many as possible) so that you can ask them when the need arises. Hope this helps.

Hi specialboymum
My advice is to not put any pressure on the teachers to do this or that. Ask whether possible, but don't insist. The teachers are the ones who will face yr boy daily and you still need a lot of help from them; the last thing u want to do is to antagonize them. As for shadow teacher, since he didn't have one in K, then don't use it or he will become reliant on it. As for homework notice, ask if the teachers can give u the homework schedule in advance but still make him responsible for bringing back notices. If all fail, make friends with the parents of his classmates (as many as possible) so that you can ask them when the need arises. Hope this helps.

Actually, kids with or without special needs, tend to forget and are a bit more disorganised initially. Afterall, they have just started formal schooling.

Perhaps you could ask the FT if you could email or call him at the office so you don't miss out major things if your boy forgets. I email his FT alot and also sent him the OT report which includes recommendations on how to help my son better in son. I'm sure the FT would welcome any help you can extend to help him manage better.

I also made friends with my son's classmates moms so we can check with each other what needs to be brought to school and if there's any homework

His teachers finally have time to feedback on his behavior. It appears that he is quite disruptive, disturbing his classmates and sneaking out of the classrooms. I'm not sure if this is due to stress from new environment as he was very compliance when he was doing mainstream kindy. His teachers used to call him angel.

We are seriously considering hiring a shadow teacher and is making appointment with his school teacher and principal on the possibility of going this option. At least, the shadow teacher can be a link to help us to keep track on what is going on, and to his various therapists on the right intervention. Now, we are relying on teachers to find time to feedback to us, which make both side frustrated, on our side, we don't receive information fast enough to help him, whereas the teachers is frustrated didn't get the support from home to tell them how to deal with him.