For the first time in many many many years...

I was the parent, not the teacher, at a Meet The Parents session.

My son's preschool had a MTP session yesterday. I sort of expected what the teachers might say, but what was told to me was pleasantly surprising.

1. I expected him to be a monkey in class, like he is at home.
The English/Maths teacher said that he behaves very well, sitting quietly and listening attentively to lessons. Likes to join in group activities and has learnt to wait for his turn without fussing.

2. I expected him to not speak or read Chinese.
The Chinese teacher said that he can read many words given the right environment. And when playing games, she deliberately gives him tougher games and he was still able to get the right answers.

Really surprised that he has been a good boy at school. :)
Brought him out for a reward yesterday.

However, the teachers did mention certain things to be improved:
1. He does not like to play/socialise with the other kids his age. He prefers older kids.
2. He can get quite rough with the smaller size kids.

I guess the first point is due to communication. After watching him with some friends yesterday, I realised that he is very advanced in his speech and articulation of his thoughts for his age (never occurred to us before as we seldom have the opportunity to see him with peers his age). As such, he expects his peers to start conversations with him but they don't. However, with his school bus friends who are older, they chat and play like they had known each other since birth. Similarly with my friend's kid who is older than him, they are like best friends when we bring them out together to the zoo or Universal Studios.
Is this the pitfall of being too advanced? Even the English/Maths teacher commented that he speaks better than all the kids his age but he does not like to interact with them. Hopefully this problem will be solved by the time his peers catch up and can start meaningful conversations with him.

Really enjoyed speaking to his teachers because they really know him and understand him. And of course, the Chinese teacher made me rather happy by telling me that she can see that we have put in alot of effort into disciplining him and teaching him at home because he's different from the other preschoolers she has taught all these years. Happy to have a fellow teacher recognise my efforts as a mother. :)