Parent-Teacher Conference

On Friday we had a meeting with Eva's teachers. I was looking forward to it because Eva has not been overly excited about school lately and I was hoping they'd have some ideas.

Here are some of the things they said:

- Eva is very smart
- She has a fantastic memory
- She is good at puzzles
- She focuses well on her work
- Her spanish is coming along nicely

Her main challenges are twofold:

- Patience- waiting her turn when she wants their attention or needs help.
- Opening up to her classmates. And this is exactly what is causing her to feel lonely and to semi-dread school. Yes, there is a language barrier and sure, making friends doesn't come as easily to her as it does to some. However she has been in the classroom long enough to get a feel for her classmates' personalities and to understand that she has a place of belonging there. Her classmates are still interested in getting to know her, but eventually they will stop trying if Eva continues to rebuff them. Her teachers felt that Eva is emotionally ready to push past this barrier and they asked our support in communicating that to her. They believe (as do we) that although it may be difficult for her, she can do it.

I talked with Eva about these things over the weekend, and she didn't argue. It was as though she knew that this talk and expectations were coming. I will be interested to see how the next few weeks and months unfold.