What Aidan's Classmates Say about Him...

Last week, Aidan came home with a new piece of art work but this time it was not art work he had done but art that his classmates had created about him. Aidan's teacher asked the other students in Aidan's class what they like about him and this is what they wrote:

Aidan

This is what my friends in Mrs. Stewart's class said about me...

• He is nice
• He is a good friend
• He is a great listener
• He is a well behaved student
• He is very kind
• He is handsome
• He is a great student
• He is a hard worker
• He helps people
• He makes people happy

As our kids get bigger and bigger, they begin to interact with more and more people and our ability to know everything they do and and be with them all the time lessens. This is what I realized when Aidan started pre-kindergarten and it has only been reinforced when Aidan started Kindergarten this year. We want to be with them all the time, protect them and teach them how to behave when they around other adults, how to treat their fellow students, and to work hard and do the best they can. When children start school we lose that control and we wonder how they do, how they behave, and how their peers regard them. At home we expect good behavior and we don't tolerate bad behavior. Often times, unintentionally, we focus on the bad behavior rather than consistently reward the good behavior because we expect good behavior. I know that Aidan is a good boy, he is quiet, observing, feeling, loving, helping, sensitive and respects the other adults in his life. I can't tell you how moved I was to see what his friends at school said about him and know how he interacts in the world around him outside of the security of his immediate family. I'm really proud of him. What a wonderful activity.