Kindergarten
Last Friday, Luigi’s preschool teacher told me he wasn’t getting all the stars that he could. Aside from today’s quiz where he only got 6 out of 10, he still has perfect scores most of the time, but he has been getting distracted a lot, always looking at his classmates’ work. The teacher said they give extra points to the kids who finish fastest and most of the time Luigi’s not even among the first 10 to finish. It might not sound like a big deal, but considering his performance last year (he got first honors) it’s a big difference. At first I was bothered because with how he’s doing now, it’s unlikely that he will be in the top 5 this quarter, and everyone is expecting him to be number 1 again. But after thinking about it, what does it really matter? I know my kid’s smart, he doesn’t need to bring home a medal every year to validate his intelligence. He just turned 4 last May, and he already has a first honor medal, a first place trophy for storytelling, a certificate for best in computer, and a commercial ad for print and tv. That’s much more than what an average kid has at 4 years, and he’s really very blessed already. It’s interesting that when I turned on to Oprah this morning, the topic was about parents putting too much pressure on their kids to excel, and the effects this has on the kids. The parents on the show were extreme cases however, and I know I will never get to that point. I’m trying hard to not pressure him and just let him have fun in school. I admit I am still a bit upset about his quiz today, and the fact that he got no stars when I saw several of his classmates had at least one. But I’ll get over it. I hope.
