One of the most nerve-wracking, feel-good moments of being a parent is attending your child’s school conference. At the early age of 3, you sign up to have someone else inform you how your child fares among their peers. It’s one of those times that I truly expect to hear “good” things, but at the same time, am very open to constructive feedback, areas of improvement, and even challenges that come with all kids learning at various intervals. My appreciation goes out to all educators who make this happen on a daily basis.
This week, we had the chance to talk with both of the kids’ teachers. Here’s a recap:
Caden
He’s caught up on his reading level, performing right at the targeted expectation for the end of the first trimester. This was a huge area of improvement for him so far in 1st grade. I remember back to preschool, and I was regularly checking in with an early childhood professional from the AEA, concerned that he wasn’t really talking yet. In kindergarten, we tried getting him to read by the end of the year, but he would get so mad and frustrated that it wasn’t productive for any of us. And he was behind in his reading level, as of the end of last year. Today, he’s reading his own books, sounding out words when he’s unsure, using phonemic illustrations for words that are not spelled as they sound (he tells us this is just like sign language on paper), and he’s interested in reading. At the same time, he’s excelling in math. Cade claims this to be his favorite part of school, and he’s already surpassed the mathematical goals for the entire year. His teacher (who is amazing!!, by the way) has promised him that she’ll continue to support him as far as he can make it this year. To my complete surprise, we learned that he is one of 6 kids in the entire 1st grade (roughly 65 kids) that is being pulled out on Fridays for expanded arithmetic lessons. Wow. As a parent, what do you say to that?
Alayna
She loves school, and is such a helper among her peers. When the teachers need to call on someone to lead by example, buddy up with a younger child, or wait turns appropriately, she is the go-to gal. Her strengths lie in her creative abilities: coloring, cutting, drawing, singing, and reading. She’s definitely up to speed on knowing her ABC’s, understanding the combinations of letters which make words, and how to write her name with upper and lower case letters appropriately and legibly. Her counting has been above average; while many know how to count, she is counting objects and identifying the correct numbers associated with the count. She continues to work on her A-B-C patterns, but is coming along very well. Layne refrains from tantrums and sassy language at school and toward her teachers (thankfully!), but does give them The Glare when she doesn’t appreciate the direction she was given. I'm told over-and-over that this is a sign of her independence... a great attribute for a woman. We continue to focus on her enunciation of letters R and L, although, I have to say that her little southern-drawl is too cute.
I sure hope that both of the babes continue succeeding academically. It’s such a blessing to have children who naturally love school, and are challenged to always do their best while there. Academics are such an integral part of growing, and we couldn’t be more proud of their 6- and 4- year old accomplishments.
No comments:
Post a Comment