School Parent vs Teacher

You can take the teacher out of the classroom but you can't take the teacher out of the person. With Daniel starting Kindy I am finding the transition to being a school parent a bit tricky. I'm finding it hard to get my head around why too. Part of me thinks it's because I'm out of control of what is happening in the classroom. Another part of me things it's because I am not hearing much about school. Most days Daniel tells me he 'can't remember' what he did, even when I ask leading and open ended questions.

All the notes that are sent home, I am struggling a bit to get my head around all that is going on. I need to work out a different set up of the notes to stay on top of all that we need to do (News, Banking, Sport). I'm sure that I will get there though. Just take it one day at a time.

Last night we started home readers. I had in my head this beautiful picture of us sitting down and him excitedly reading his first reader. He is a smart kid and picks things up pretty quickly, plus his love of reading and looking at books, I thought that it would be a great time. Instead it was met with him screaming, crying, saying he was too tired, he wanted to do it at bedtime. We eventually compromised on me reading a different book and then him having a go at his home reader. He did really well with reading it and picked up the rhythm quite quickly. I am proud of him. Normally in the classroom I am really good with helping the kids with their reading but with Daniel I just felt like it was a battle. I understand that the kids at school were probably eager to please. I understand that Daniel is in a safe place and feels he can respond with true emotions at home with me... but it doesn't make it easier. We chatted after he read the book and he said that he was worried about reading it because he didn't know how to read. Fair enough buddy. I just wish he could have expressed that before so I could have helped him read it with confidence. After reading it he then was keen to read it again which was good. Tonight with his home reader he was excited to read it and did it without any problems. Thank goodness.
Again, the feeling of being out of control. But I'm sure we will get into a rhythm.

I am also feeling bad from my teaching perspective for the expectation I put on parents doing the homework we sent home. I always figured that it was easy to fit in the homework, especially home readers. Now I see otherwise. When I go back into teaching, if I have my own class, I hope that I can change my expectation, understanding and sympathy as a teacher. I have never been a big fan of homework (with the exception of reading) but I think being a school mum might help my approach to giving homework and responding to the parents who find it difficult to fit it in. 

Being a school mum is a totally different journey.