Parent Teacher Conferences

I'm writing this more for myself...

We had our first round of parent teacher conferences for all three kids.

Sam--we had no idea what to expect. During the three years that our girls went to preschool, not once did any of the teachers come up to us to discuss the girls' behavior. But within the first month of school, one of the teachers chased me down to talk about Sam. Apparently, he gets time outs often and doesn't always listen to the teachers. He is one of the youngest kids there and the teachers seem to really enjoy him being there. He is always giving and getting hugs from the teachers and making them laugh. But he is such a clown that he doesn't buck up when he needs to be focused.

During his conference, we learned that he is actually doing quite well in his academics. He knows all his letters and has already learned about 10 phonetic sounds of the letters. His understanding of numbers is also very strong--he can identify 1 through 10, put them in the correct order, and even count objects to a specific number. He likes to chirp in answers when questions are asked to the class, even when he has no idea what the answer is. He definitely throws tantrums and loses it when he is upset but he's two so it is age-appropriate (unfortunately). All in all, we were all pleased with how he is doing. When we watched him during observation (he didn't know we were watching him), he was having a good time doing the montessori activities so that makes us happy too.

Elysha--Her teacher just raved about her artistic abilities--the attention to detail, the composition, the spatial relations--she was saying this it was all a precursor to writing. We flipped through her journal, which she did in preschool too, and it was just so cute. It's nice that she draws happy pictures, where the sun is shining, the sky is blue, and the people are smiling. She is great at writing her letters and writing phonetically. Her teacher thought she was at a first grade level in her writing abilities. What I am noticing about Elysha is that she is really making breakthroughs in her reading. I feel like she is realizing all that Joey has access to by being able to read, so she has been working harder to really read.

For some reason, though, Elysha keeps getting out of PE. She always claims to be sick or sad or miss me or Chang. So the teacher has been allowing her to sit out, or she tells her to take the class mascot (a stuffed animal crab) for a walk around the play yard. Elysha is our little hippie child. She would be happy to just turn in circles with a crown of flowers around her head and skip around chasing butterflies. When she is on the soccer field, she gets distracted by pretty much everything but the game. We are starting to think that perhaps, team sports is not for her. =) We think she has more natural skills than her siblings but she just doesn't have that "killer" instinct to go after the ball or run fast or play hard.

She is also a perfectionist which is both good and bad. She works hard on her drawings, but when it isn't exactly as she envisioned it, she gets so frustrated. But her drawings are just so beautiful and thoughtful. In some sense, this is why she is great at math. There is only one right answer and so arriving at the answer doesn't disturb her. She's right and done--end of story.

Joey--Where do I begin? She has really bloomed this year. Last year, even though she did extremely well academically, she had some issues socially. This year, she doesn't have these issues anymore. She has her group of friends, she gets along with all the kids in her class, and she has this confidence about her that is almost palpable. Chang thinks it has to do with her experience with her drama club last year. I agree that it is in part because of mini-players. But I also think she came into this year with a greater sense of who she is.

She is in a 1st and 2nd grade combination class which is perfect for her. Even as a 2 year old, she insisted on being grouped with older children, believing that she was capable of doing the same level of work. She was able to write her name when she was only two--but I don't think she even knew the alphabet. She just remembered what lines and curves made her name. So in her class now, she is trying to keep up with the 2nd graders. It has been a great challenge for her and she works really hard to get to their level.

Her teacher said she is reading and comprehending at a end of 2nd grade level. She is a really strong writer. Her spelling could be better but I am already amazed at how well she spells considering how poor it was just a year ago. But stylistically, she is a great writer. It is interesting, nicely paced, with a definitive beginning and ending. Her teacher said that out of a high score of 4, she judges her writing to be 3+.

In math, she is also excelling. I had discussions with her regarding placing Joey in 2nd grade math because of Joey's complaints that her math class was too easy and boring. But we talked about it and agreed that it would be better to keep her in the higher level 1st grade math class. Even though it is easy for her, I would rather she have a solid grasp of what she is learning. Every day, the students do a "mad minute" math quiz in which the have to solve 30 problems in 3 minutes. After a student gets a perfect score five times, she can advance to the next level. Joey is on the fourth level.

Her teacher was saying that she is such a joy in the classroom. She said she is the complete student--she excels in the classroom, she is well liked by her peers, she is generous and kind--always willing to give and receive help. I talked to her about having Joey identified as gifted when she is in 3rd grade (the process begins in 2nd grade). She said that she has already has it in mind to have Joey tested as highly gifted at the end of 2nd grade by the Raven test.

Needless to say, we are so proud of all of our kids. It is every parents' dream to hear that our children are excelling, but also that they are happy, liked by their peers, and enjoy their learning environment.