What can you do when you feel your child is under-appreciated at school? Raisingkids.co.uk's Education expert, Elizabeth Cook, offers some advice.

Raisingkids member's problem
My 6 yr-old is very alert to her surroundings. When the Mir space station was coming down, she watched it intently on TV.

The next day, she began to excitedly tell her teacher about the amazing space station crashing down to earth. The teacher just shrugged, and went 'oh really... very interesting'.

A fortnight later, she told me my daughter doesn't concentrate and is 'too giddy' in class. She's not like this at home - could she be trying to win the attention of her teacher? She seems reluctant to enter into any 'normal' conversation with my daughter? The class is very small (only 20 children) and without wanting to disrespect the teacher, she doesn't seem to have a very high regard for her pupils' opinions. How can I boost my daughter's confidence in her own abilities and learning, which she is lacking from her school?

Elizabeth's advice
You obviously have a bright little girl! You're already doing everything that you should to make her feel that learning is fun and worthwhile. However, the real problem is your view of your daughter's school and particularly her teacher. You obviously feel hurt that your daughter's enthusiasm and curiosity aren't being encouraged.

When you say the teacher shrugged off your daughter's description of the space station, I'm sure you'll agree that it's only a 'snapshot' of your daughter's interaction her teacher. However, your daughter appears quite confident to share her excitement with her teacher. This suggests to me that she might not always be so curt or unresponsive, otherwise your little girl would not attempt such interchanges.

As for not concentrating in class, your daughter sounds like a little girl who has a real zest for life - endearing when it's one-on-one but it might be described as 'giddy' when she's one of 20 children. A teacher has a difficult job managing the whole class and one exuberant child might cause others to be less attentive.

However, her lack of concentration may come from unchallenging schoolwork. Bored children look for other things to keep themselves occupied. Are you happy with the work your daughter is doing at school? If not, discuss this with her teacher. Arrange a meeting and take examples of the work your daughter does at home, so the teacher can see what she's capable of. Ask for examples of 'giddy' behaviour - what does she mean by the phrase?

I hope that this will be of some help to you. As a mother I appreciate your concerns, but as a teacher I can see the other side as well.

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