It. was. horrible.
We all sat down at a tiny table in tiny chairs and the teacher asked us why we were there. I said we just wanted to check in with her to see how dd was doing in school. She gave us a short answer that was basically saying "fine." I told her that dd had been grumbling about the schoolwork and we wanted to touch base with her to make sure we were doing the right things for dd. She then told us that kindergarten is kindergarten is kindergarten. There will be no deviation from her lesson plans. She really wanted to convince us that the lessons plans were set in stone, sent down from above and that was ALL she was allowed to teach. Not good.
So we asked what we can do to make sure that dd will have a positive kindergarten experience. She told us to read to her. Then she asked what we were doing to make sure that dd was learning.
She gave us a chance to talk about dd, which I saw as placating us. Let's give the crazy parents a moment to wax poetic about their darling offspring so they'll leave happy.
She did say that we need to nominate dd for the gifted program and that she does belong there. She told us all of the wonderful things that go on in that program but the gist is she is not going to do a thing outside of her lesson plans so we need to wait until next year.
She also implied that maybe we are pressuring dd too much which made me angry since I truly believe we are following her lead. She said she thought we were a bit hasty since it was only the 4th week of school.
I know there is more that I am missing. I am still trying to process it all. It was such a disappointing meeting. It sounds like dd is going to have to wait a year because this teacher is set in her ways.
On the bright side, we did manage to convey all of our points. We know dd is one of many, we know she is busy, dd deserves to learn each day, we want to help, we want to be a part of making dd's school experience positive, we want to do all we can for her. She asked us where dd was in reading and I was able to tell her in the Fountas and Pinnel-speak that our school system uses.
DH says that now we just wait until conferences in November and see what happens between now and then.
ETA: I think I found what was really bothering me about the meeting. The teacher didn't have a single nice thing to say about dd. The only thing she said specifically about dd is that she is a serious child, which we don't find to be a consistent truth. The teacher has known her for 4 weeks, she doesn't have anything she can tell us about dd's school experience from her point of view?
