Just when I was talking about turning corners.......  Joey was upset when Anne put him to bed.  Say that there is too much pressure at school.  In particular, he is distressed about maths, about which he seems to have a phobia, and being asked to do work in front of the class or answer a question aloud.  He admits that he is not asked questions that he can't do but is still very anxious.  We have sent the following email to his teacher which should say it all;

We wanted to send you a quick e-mail regarding Joey. We are pleased with the way that the school is bringing Joey on and really impressed with the progress he has made in reading and math in such a short time.  And so pleased to receive the email below.

However, as Stephanie is aware, he is still feeling very anxious and insecure about school. He was very upset this evening saying that there was too much pressure on him. In particular, Joey has almost a phobia over math. He can do much more than he thinks and I don't know why he finds the thought of math so upsetting but he has been this way for about a year - even with the recent progress. He said that he is sometimes asked to do work at the front of the class, or called on for an answer.  Even though it seems that you've never asked him to do something he couldn't do, he still finds it very distressing. Joey has failed so much in the past that he assumes he will again. Even though he is being asked something that he can do, it seems that instead of building his confidence it is causing anxiety.  Instead of focusing on all the progress he has made he is worrying about being called on and being embarrassed in front of his peers. We know that you would never do this to him but his anxiety level is so high that he thinks it will happen. We were hoping that in the short term, until he has picked up more confidence, you could reduce the amount of times that Joey is asked to perform in front of the class.   

We  know that Joey needs to be encouraged and pushed, but wanted you to know that right now his emotions are as fragile as his academics.   We would be happy to come in and talk about it at a time that suits you or arrange a time for a telephone conversation.