cruickies

HI all,
we moved from London to Austin, Texas in April 2010 and have been very impressed with the quality of education at our local elementary school.

One thing that has surprised us is how much the teachers seem to like our brats...er...kids. SO my question is this...

Is it the American way, for teachers to tell you how wonderful your kids are and how much they love having them in their class etc? My kids have gone from being normal, to being "wonderful and a joy to teach". Do you think this is genuine, or is it normal for teachers to be overly complimentary?

Thanks

Ali

penguinsix

Could be a bit of both.

Americans generally are quite gushy with compliments, and at younger ages teachers really want the parents to get involved with the kids education, so saying they are 'fun to teach and a joy' could be a bit of an ego boost and an effort to get you to be doing more with them. They do want to improve the kid's self-esteem in the hopes this encourages them to learn more later in their academic career.

However, others have noted that the style of teaching here -- for some kids -- has made their kids enjoy school more and produced better results academically. It could be the way they teach, or the class size, or the type of work they are getting here is better suited for the way your kids learn (your kids, not all kids). It just depends.

Living in Austin which is somewhat of a college & professional town may also be helping a bit. If you are in a good area, some of the kids in your class are the children of academics or say high-tech workers who have impressive academics in their own right. They may emphasize a stronger local education policy than say Detroit.

Talk to some other parents and compare feedback a bit. I'm sure there are some kids for whom saying 'a joy to teach' is just so out of left-field as to be laughably funny, so it probably isn't being said to the kid who is torturing the class hampster.

Mummy in the foothills

They are blowing smoke up your a**.
They'll be saying "we should do lunch" next.
Dh moved here when he was in high school he went from being special ed kid in UK to a normal student here. That didn't give me any confidence in the education system
They may well be a joy to teach compared to the locals, they probably are very well behaved. I noticed when we had Ds in UK school the kids listened and didn't mess about as much as I see here. (this was Kindergarten and year 1 though)

traceym

I guess that sums it up!

ChocolateBabz

LOL My son went from being a bit above average and a non stop chatterbox to being gifted and talented, receiving honor roll and certificates for most creative thinker. The upside is he does seem to bask in all the compliments and is more interested in school so I am not complaining.

NatashaB

Yep, definitely an OTT positive attitude here (although my stepdaughter is pretty smart and well behaved). At the parents induction I went to at the start of the year, the teacher thanked all the parents for 'entrusting me with your most precious gifts'. I felt like telling her she should probably hold onto the receipts in case she changed her mind and wanted to give them back

I do think the teachers interact far more with the parents here and the school system is far better- we get an email every day with what the homework is, reminders of any upcoming eventsand information, and all teachers have email addresses and will reply to any questions within a couple of hours.

Yorkieabroad

Sounds familiar...Do you get the vouchers for free happy meals/chick-fil-a/papa johns pizza for honor roll/perfect attendance etc as well? Followed by the extra curricular sessions to teach about healthy eating.....

Yorkieabroad

One thing that surprised me here was the amount of volunteering that goes on in the schools. With 3 kids there, I could be in every day doing something. I need to get other stuff done, so limit it to science lab once a week, classroom reading once a week and workbaskets a few times a month. But there is always "creep" on that that adds special project days, school store help, field trip help, PTA requests etc etc.

Its got to the point where parent teacher conferences are pretty redundant for us...I see their teachers every few days anyway - if there were any problems, they have plenty of opportunity to raise them any time.

All of mine are in elementary, and parents with older kids assured me that it backs off a lot in middle and high school.

AmerLisa

I'd be more concerned if my daughter was going to school and some teacher was telling her she was a little cretin.... There's nothing wrong with being positive with kids, even when they are misbehaving....




I would have been more concerned with the UK system. Pigeonholing children into special education shouldn't be done unless absolutely necessary, maybe it wasn't necessary in your son's case?

Mummy in the foothills

No it was my Dh and he was defiantly a Special Ed student I've known him since he was 5. he is smart in a few areas but was unable to navigate the education system without the special help for reading and writing even into UK High school. Here he was allowed to just slid on through, he said he really did nothing for the years in high school here, and that was/is a good school district small, they only have one high school.

AmerLisa

Your husband?

How do you know he was a special education student? Because he needed some extra help with reading and writing? Sorry, my assumption still stands. Children don't need to be pigeonholed into sped without a very good reason and to do so really is a crime.

Perhaps he didn't need as much help as you or he thought he did.

Sally Redux

I would say that people are more gushing with compliments here but it doesn't mean that much. I was recently described as 'a very dear friend of many years' by a person I would describe as an acquaintance.

ChocolateBabz

Yep and he is terrified to take a day off school as he gets loads of make up work and he wants a chance to win the prize for perfect attendance. If he isn't feeling great and I offer him the chance to stay at home he says no, it's very bizarre!

Rete

No, as an older parent, I can tell you that teachers, at least in this area, are not complimentary to students if it is not warranted.

However, please note that you children might have manners, might know how to sit at a desk properly without fidgeting, or might actually know the subject material discussed or be willing to learn. Any of those attributes are probably not shared by many in the class.

So you received compliments on your children. Smile proudly and accept them graciously.

Rete

That is your preception of the relationship. Apparently she thinks differently about you.