Benny and the Teacher From the Black Lagoon

As you all know Benny started school a month ago. His teacher was a young lady who had been teaching for about seven years. When I first met her I didn't really feel a connection. But since this was my first time meeting a teacher for my own child, I brushed it off as me possibly just being a little nervous and over protective.

Benjamin started school and loved it. Chris would drop him off every day and I would pick him up. The first week Chris walked him in each day to make sure he knew where he was going. Each day he had an encounter with Benny's teacher and would try to say hello or be polite and each day he felt like he got the brush off. I felt like I was getting the same treatment when I would pick him up.

Now let me make a side note here really quick. I really struggled as to whether or not to home shcool or not and my final decision was made due to the fact that I felt a licensed teacher could do a better job than me. Not that Kindergarten curriculum is all that hard, but Benny can be a little wiggly, and by a little I mean a lot. He can also be a little talkative, with two chatty parents he is pretty much screwed in that area. So correct me if I am wrong, but if I am trusting a teacher with my child for 8 hours out of the day, I should be able to expect them to be sweet and kind and gentle, right, especially with Kindergarten.

So over the next week I started dropping in for lunch or to drop papers off and tried to observe her interaction with the class. She always seemed to be frazzled and impatient. Her voice was never calm or patient. At times I think she could have been close to yelling.

Friday night at dinner, I was amazed that Chris was the one to broach the subject first and we both felt the same way about her, even though we hadn't mentioned either of our experiences to the other before this.

So to make a long story longer I was very excited when we got a note in Benny's back pack saying that his class was over crowded and he was on a list to possibly be moved to a different school. I called the listed number and discussed my options with the Superintendent, not mentioning my reservations about his teacher. Together it was decided that he should switch schools. I decided to keep an open mind and pay close attention to the new teacher just to make sure it wasn't just Chris and I being over protective parents.

On the last at the old school Chris picked Benny up. Now what we do is park and walk across the road and pick him up right there in person. Here is the encounter that took place according to Chris's words:

I walked up to his class and found Benjamin. As we were getting his back pack loaded down with supplies, I said "Benny do you want to tell your teacher goodbye". Benny said "sure" and started calling her name. With out noticing me she turned and said in a very sharp and impatient tone, "I heard you Benny and I already said goodbye",then she looked up and saw me standing their and said a lot more sweetly, "Oh, oh he is saying bye. Bye Benjamin".

This last week was his first week at his new school and his teacher is the sweetest lady and I haven't heard her raise her voice one time. She always has the sweetest things to say about Benjamin and even though they aren't always good I can tell that she really enjoys being a teacher and loves her class. On the first day after we picked him up I asked him which teacher he liked better and he quickly said "the new teacher, cause she likes me." I just wanted to cry. Let me add that Chris and I had been very good about not talking about our concerns with the old teacher in front of Benny. We had asked him several times if he had liked her and if she was nice and he always said, yeah, so this was a big deal for him to say.

Needless to say we are very happy with our new teacher and glad that our opinion of public school wasn't ruined, cause Benny really loves school and has so much fun. He is always awake before any of us, and ready to go everyday. It was a good lesson though for the future, I know to be more trusting of my own instincts and will be prepared to make changes if needs be, with out doubting my own feelings.