Parent Orientation

Today we had Parent Orientation at Ansh's school.It was supposed o be for an hour but stretched to almost 2 hours. We were a group of more than 150 parents. The Principal , Mrs Meena Kar, gave a very warm speech & I genuinely felt that my son was in good hands. She talked about the need of being "firm" with kids, showed us a slide show of how the school only does activity based teaching, asks the parents not to teach anything academic to the child at home & just to spend time with them, talk & read. There was a counsellor too who gave a wonderful speech. We were then taken by Ansh's class teacher who they call " HRT"(Home Room Teacher) for a guided tour of the school. I talked to her personally about Ansh's progress in school.

She said that she felt that Ansh was a very "sickly" child. He was physically weak when compared to the other children in class & even the girls could bully him if they wanted to. In fact he even has problems carrying his files back on Fridays & the teacher has to help him carry. I was very hurt. Ansh has always been a thin child but I always felt that he was active like other kids & had no physical problems.So I was never too worried & I've always brushed aside people's comments about him being thin. But coming from a teacher, it was a shocker.

I informed her that we have talked to Ansh's paediatrician several times & that he has always said that as along as the child is active, we needn't worry. However, the teacher pointed out the Ansh was less active than the other kids & liked to play alone instead of with other kids. This is really disturbing & I have decided to see Ansh's paediatrician again with this new information. However, the teacher did reassure us that as far as his willingness to mix with other kids was concerned, it may take a little more time but we should leave that aspect in her hands. We should take care of his health only at this point in time.

Besides seeing the paediatrician, I think we need to also increase Ansh's physical activities.He runs around the house a lot & goes up & down two floors all the time. However, we do not have any great parks near our house to take him to. Once the weather is a bit cooler, we have to go more often to parks further away etc.What else should I do? I let Ansh choose what he wants to eat & give him healthy foods. He is very picky & that does not help.