In my 12 plus years of being called to the bi-annual teacher's conferences, never once have I dreaded more what a teacher might say than this year's conference with Wesley's teacher. His graded papers have had some not so positive notes this year. Although Wesley makes good grades and we've been told since pre-k just how very smart he is, his attention is not always given to what it should be. I can't say we were surprised by his teacher's observations; on the soccer field and at the martial arts studio frequently Wesley would be the last one to heed instruction.
He's a dreamer. He writes songs, plans his adventures, thinks about Beyblade configurations and battles, and these are all good things for a boy of nine to be doing. Unfortunately, a great deal of the time he is doing it on his teacher's instructional time. Do you remember the scene from the John Candy movie "Uncle Buck" where Buck has been called to a meeting with the assistant principal of Maisey's school. Ms. Horgrath tells him that Maisey is a bad egg and Buck's response is priceless. I attached the clip(there is use of one ugly word).
Anyway- Wesley is not a bad egg either and to be fair his teacher didn't suggest that he is one, she pointed out that he doesn't seem to be paying attention sometimes. It's frequent enough that his hearing has been questioned. I assure you he can hear, albeit selectively (that is something he gets from his dad). He also tends to jump into his work without reading the instructions (another male trait, I do believe).
At least no one suggested Ritalin as an answer. If it had been brought up I might have had to consider homeschooling and I don't want to do that.
In any case I am looking for ways to improve his listening skills, and if something works for him I might just try it out on his daddy :) I wonder if it's too late to call a conference with Sparta's mother.
