Too Cool for School

So, Monday the girls had a day off and I went in for a mandatory teacher conference. Mandatory as in, "it's the first quarter and this is you child's first year at school". I'm thinking, 10 minutes in, look at some coloring, and I'm out, right?

Well, no. That's not what happened at all. Molly's having some problems and I'm right on the edge of freak-out zone. We didn't have these issues with the older two kids and I'm not sure how I should be reacting. And yes, I said issues, not issue:

They've recommended she get tested by a speech therapist. This one I may have seen coming. The other two kids are so much older I wasn't sure if it was just my imagination. Then I was out this weekend and kind of noticed my friend's younger child spoke more clearly than Molly. I was starting to wonder if her speech wasn't where it should be, but figured if there was a problem the teacher would have said something. Yeah, she said something.

She also said Molly isn't recognizing her letters. This is going to be a problem when they start going over the sounds that go with the letters if she can't figure out what the letters are. For someone who loves to read as much as I do, this one is killing me.

Apparently Molly is also having a hard time finishing her tasks on time. She just works at her own pace, which the teacher said is fine in Pre-K, but won't be fine next year in Kindergarten.

Lastly, she said Molly is shy and doesn't really hang out with the other kids, although she has gotten a lot better about that in the last few weeks. I think (hope)this may just be transition from a babysitter to big school, because she talks about the kids when she's at home.

I don't know how to react to this. I'm worried she's going to be branded as "slow", which will follow her through school and could become self-fulfilling, even if it's not true. I worry about dyslexia and ADD. I worry that I'm over-analyzing and it's just Pre-K. I worry she's unhappy. And of course Molly, being four, doesn't answer my questions.

So, for now, we're on the wait list for a speech evaluation and going to the store for alphabet flash cards this weekend. And I'll continue to watch and worry.