Tears

Tears are common in Kindergarten: mommy's cry when their babies come to Kindergarten, Kindergartners cry when they bump their stomach on their desk, etc. Tonight I unintentionally made a mommy cry. During parent teacher conferences I shared with a mom that her child can't zip his own pants, put on his jacket, zip and unzip his backpack, or write his name. I explained to her these are all things we want Kindergartners to be able to do on their own before they go to first grade and if things don't improve he may need to do Kindergarten again.  I assured her that doing Kindergarten over is not a big deal, or uncommon, we have a student in our class this year who is doing Kindergarten over and nobody knows who that is except me.  Mom began to cry and I felt horrible.  I assured this mommy that the things I teach in Kindergarten will never be retaught and if he doesn't learn these things now he will never have the chance.  This mom wants her son to be successful and my job will be to help him to be successful and if he's not my job will be to show mom his best chance of being successful is by doing Kindergarten over.