A Run for My Money

I will be perfectly honest this year has been tough.  I thought Kindergarten would be amazing for Nicolo, he turned 5 in April and he did a readiness program over the summer and he tested well just before school started.  I thought the extra time (5 months more than Francesco had) and the head start of the academics would have given him a great boost.  Academically he is good- it's the social/behavioral aspect that has been tough.

Nicolo is in no hurray for anyone, ever!  He is a free spirit who feels that playing is more important than sitting still and paying attention. His teacher continually points out the time she gives for the activities and I totally understand that but I don't know what she want me to do about it.  How do you make a 5 year old speed up, when he has always taken his time.  He is the kind of kid that stops to smell the roses and observes the butterflies.  He has even stopped during a video game race because he noticed flowers and butterflies on the side of the road in the computer game.

Nicolo does not feel the need to conform, which I believe is a developmental skill he may never develop.  He really doesn't care what others are doing, if it's not on his agenda he is more than happy to go his own way.  In kindergarten it's considered a behavioral issue, in real life it called individuality. The secret I think is to find a teacher that accepts that fact - we haven't found that yet.

I am certain that he will survive this year of the tender age of five, I feel bad that it has been so tough at school.  I want him to pay attention, I want him to follow the rules and I want him to do good in school, but I also don't want him to change.  The things I love about him is his ability to be on his own timeline and not care that it's drives the rest of us crazy.  I love that he doesn't care what the group is doing or if he is doing things differently than then "norm"- he does thing for himself and so he does it his way. Instruction and rules are just suggestion to him (unlike Francesco who follows them to a T).

I always said he was going to give me a run for my money, it's a challenge I am learning to love.