Hold this Life Line
How fast I would paddle
with blistered hands
to reach that island
where you sit high
in a treetop waiting
for someone to notice
the hurt that clings
and grabs hold.
Fearless I would scale
the rockiest precipice
to stretch aching hands
to cradle your whimper
that steals away
your right to smile
as you keep the hurt
tucked away from me.
Many of you may remember that I'm worried about my son's first grade classroom experience this year. He is acting up more and more every day. There is a tension within him that I feel can only be coming from what he is dealing with every day in school. Many parents are starting to feel like his teacher's lack of nurturing style is affecting the kids in negative ways. I did take comfort when I went to Open House. My son answered many questions and seemed to be o.k. I think his teacher does run too strict a ship. I worry about the long term effects of this over disciplining of the kids. She makes them jumpy. Last year, some parents talked to the principal and she didn't do anything about it. It looks like the principal and the teacher are friends. She does give them a very good academic foundation as they move towards second grade. I'm just afraid that her teaching style is not well suited to this young age. I'll keep you posted. I'm going to visit the school tomorrow to help out with a Thanksgiving feast.
29 comments:
Hope everything turns out well.
So sorry for your son's unhappiness. My son has troubles in class too. Thankfully his teacher is wonderful and really trying to help him. He is hard on himself at times and it just breaks your heart to see the little ones hurting. :O)
That was a beautiful poem! The love of a mother for her child and her need to protect him from everything-- even hurt feelings.
I'm so sorry to hear about your son's situation. I'll be praying that his teacher lightens up. They're just children for goodness sake!
This is rough. At least it will be over with this summer. And he has a few days off for the holiday.
Enjoy the feast tomorrow.
I so hope that the visit goes well.. I think you are right about too hard at too young an age.. Hope it works out.. Carol and GJ x
I'm so sorry things aren't improving. That must be heart-wrenching to see/hear that with your tender-hearted boy. Hugs and I hope you can hang in there! And I hope that things improve. Hopefully your son will open up and talk to you and you can work through it together.
Wow, beautiful poem. It's hell when your kid hurts and you feel helpless and unable to help them. It's the worst. Hopefully, things will get better. I'll be keeping you and your son in my prayers.
I don't have kids, but I am nine and ten years older than my two brothers, and I remember when they were starting first grade they had a lot of trouble after school. My mom remembered that my older sister and I went into first grade and also had a few behavior problems for the first little while. My brothers took it harder than we girls did.
My mother (who is a very shrewd woman) suspected that the transition from half-day kindergarten to full-day first grade is hard on little kids, who are used to being able to run around outside more often and who are not accustomed to focusing for so long. This transition is especially hard for boys.
The four of us didn't have very strict first grade teachers, so having one who requires the kids to focus and behave would compound the problem. But we all turned out mostly well-adjusted (so far), so don't worry too much.
Good luck!
Beautiful poem, Kelly. Simply beautiful. I like Q's words. Staying at school was not particularly easy for me. But I turned out to be one of my mom's most independent children. Fear not. All will work out for your young sensitive one. Do not worry about the relationship between the principal and the teacher. They should be professionals and if they're not you are quite the hands on mom to get them on track. :-) The Thanksgiving feast at school should be fun. That will be really nice for the kids. I'm sending a loads of love your way today.
Such a beautiful poem, Kelly! It's the heart of a Mom, a great Mom!
Really beautiful poem :)
Beautiful, thoughtful poem that speaks volumes of your place right now. I hope all goes well tomorrow. Sometimes the tough teachers are the ones we think back on fondly, knowing they insisted we do our best. Maybe this will be the case here? I hope so!
Nice poem.
Good luck with things tomorrow and hope that you don't have any problems overall.
My daughter (first born) is in fifth grade now and has had a variety of teachers-some I really liked and others I had some problems with. Each teacher had their own way of classroom management, and even though I was not a fan of some of the approaches, my daughter came through it all with her love of school still intact.
Just make sure your son knows you value learning and that school is important, and this will help see him through any challenges resulting from the way his teacher runs her classroom.
I hope your mind and spirit will be satisfied after spending some time in the classroom with your son.
I feel your sadness. When my son was in 1st grade he kept telling the teacher he was going to faint. I did alot of volunteer work there and he just wanted to go by me and feel better. Well this continued and I was banded from the school until this ended. Come to find out he told me he missed me and just didn't want to miss anything that we did when he only went half days for kindergarten. And he did not like his teacher who was way to strict in my book for 1st grade - Where is the love for these little people???
Hang in there!!!
I hope that you are able to get to the bottom of this and that you son has a great rest of the school year. School should be fun...because learning is fun.
It will be interesting to hear how the Thanksgiving feast goes and how you feel his teacher does with the kids from your first hand experience.
I loved your poem!
Lovely poem and so heartfelt...I know you are worried about your son. All you can do is nurture him at home and hopefully band with the other moms. It's unacceptable for this teacher to be running such a type ship. Grade school should be fun. On another note, he won't have this teacher next year, right? I hope some changes come your way. Have a wonderful thanksgiving if I don't speak to you sooner.
Oh Kelly, I hope it gets better for him. If only they could understand that it isn't really about THEM that it's the teacher and what they do.... I hope the feast goes well. Enjoy those scones!
A most beautiful poem, speaks volumes about you.
Hope things improve for your son. How painful that must be to watch.
I've been up since just after 4am .. so much to do as we depart Spain early tomorrow morning. Me, I'm taking a precious hour to take a last, for now look at some of my favourite on-line blogger-friends!
Will catch up with this situation when I can but good luck . . your son is very lucky to have you . . a soft place to fall when he needs to. xxx
Beautiful Lines Dear :) :) Don't Worry Dear :) :) Everything Will Be Fine :) :)
Septembermom...our prayers are with you and your son. During my substitute teaching this year I have seen exactly what you describe...there is so much politics going on in our schools and cliques among the teachers such as you describe. You would think that at their age they would be able to separate the petty alliances for what is best for the child.
Here is wishing you and your family a great and relaxing Thanksgiving.
Dan
Oh, I am sorry to hear this bit of news. I always worry that the teacher will not be nice or caring. I thought I had a issue with my girl's kindergarten teacher but turned out to be first week jitters.
I don't think it is right they are friends. Perhaps you can go to the superintendent. Favoritism sucks:p
Hopefully this school year will go by fast for your son. Thanksgiving is coming...that will be nice for him:)
Ohhh! Another great poem!
Great poem - great post
Love to you
kelly
Children can get book knowledge just about anywhere, and a lot of parents are home schooling with no formal education --- but when a teacher mess with the psyche of a young child who is just beginning to discover worlds outside of their own --- well this should not be tolerated.
With black children it's a foregone conclusion, mess with their minds when they are young, and their vision of who they are, and/or what they might accomplish will be distorted; which leads them to failures, until they give up. Since many parents don't seem to pay attention to this type of abuse, many teachers get away with it, and are supported by the school district.
I am saying all of that to say this ... keep close watch on your son, and come up with some type of strategy to counter-act what the teacher is doing until you can get a better handle on it via school officials. Sometimes teaching them a code word to say, when something uncomfortable come about, will put them back on the right tract, I know I had to do it with all five of my children.
I lived in the school with my children, so to speak ... and not so much about academics, because my kids loved to learn, but their emotional and mental state had to always be adjusted when they came from school.
Take care, and from my family to yours ... HAPPY THANKSGIVING to you and your readers!
Your poems are so lovely and getting more sophisticated each time I read one.
And I'm so sorry about your son and his non-nurturing teacher. I think at such a young age, they should have a little kindness and love from their teachers. It is one thing to be firm but fair but you can show a little kindness too. Here's praying she lightens up a bit.
Kelly, your poetry is superb. I love your use of imagery and the tender poignancy that you evoke. This poem is especially good!
Hope the Thanksgiving feast at the school went well and that your son's anxiety about school soon settles down.
A mother's love will go through heck and high waters to rescue her child. It is the most unconditional emotion there is. No bond is greater. I feel for your son. I really do. I feel the angst within these beautiful lines. This too shall pass.
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