I wish people would "get" DS more also. His preschool is good, he likes it. But his teachers don't really get him. He doesn't imitate the finger play stuff at song time, he wanders off a lot, he doesn't follow directions well, he's not really toilet trained, he doesn't talk to the other kids (except the older ones, he tries to play with them but hasn't got nearly enough social skills yet to pull it off). He often seems like a glaze-eyed homeless man stuck in a 3 year old's body.
For example I was there recently when he was asked to help out and put his nametag in a basket 10 feet away. He happily starts to but great ideas overtake him moments into the short walk and he drops the nametag on the ground, veers from his course, and talking all the while (but quiet enough he can not be easily understood), wanders off to stare at a bush and gesticulate. Then full on ignores the teacher when she repeatedly calls his name trying to direct him back to the task. Now if she'd had a good reason, or if she'd said "or I'll be mad" or sad or something, he'd have been right over there trying to fix the situation, not that she knows that. She's nice though, so she just smiles as I pick up the nametag.
At least here they are laid back and are not too worried about him, they see him as a immature 3 year old. I wish they would see more to him. I think they see his early reading as a interesting anomaly. Maybe they think he's sort of a blank slate waiting to get obedient and polite enough to be opened to the fun he could have. There's a 4 year old girl who is gifted there, tries to please, perfect pronunciation, writes, reads a little, lots of friends. That's sort of how I imagined gifted would be and the teachers totally get her.
I catch myself wishing DS would learn to write (a few attempts but he'll make half a letter and then storm off in perfectionistic frustration). I wish I could hothouse him to make him write -- then they'd have to understand him more, maybe bother him less about doing the hokey pokey. But nothing happens when I put a pen in his hand and say "oh look what fun, lets make letters!" He says something like, "no, why don't you go have fun making letters. I'm going to make a cage for my pet eagle Birdezeh, look I'm wearing gloves so his talons don't hurt me. I need some meat, do we have any meat?..." So so far hothousing hasn't really worked.
Polly
