fall progress-2014

Yesterday afternoon, we headed to the girls' school for their fall conferences. They were both a little nervous for what their teachers would tell us....and I remember the same feeling when I was growing up. Not that they (or I) had anything to be worried about, but frankly, maybe it's a little healthy for them to feel nervous. They weren't sweating and scared, no, it was more of a "I wonder what she will tell you" kind of nervous. 

As it turns out, they are both excelling academically. I honestly didn't expect anything else. There was no indication that they were falling behind. And so, we listened to each teacher tell us their impression of our children. 

Regan's teacher (and student teacher) were up first. She talked about her reading, that she's at a level R (current should be N-P so she's ahead of schedule). This was certainly  no surprise to us. The kid is a book worm. This week, she came home with Harry Potter and another gigantic book from the library at school. Mrs N laughed that when she sat at her desk, with her pile of books, she could hardly see around them. This is her headboard, since she spends at least 30-40 minutes/night reading. 

I know just how important reading is for learning, and so, I am so very relieved that she excels in this area. As for math....well, she's getting along. It's not her strong suit, but in her defense, Mrs N admits that the cirriculum changed this year and Regan/class are now expected to be doing dividing/multiplication, whereas previously, these were 4th grade requirements. Even worse, when we were in school, those requirements came even later (eye opener to Ryan who likes to boast how easy that came to him.....he was 12 years old, not 8!). So we just keep telling her she's doing great because confidence is half the battle. Mrs N told us what Regan's teachers from prior years have been telling us all along: she likes to talk. Yes, we know. Thankfully she takes redirection well and is quickly remembering when it's Mrs N's turn to talk and when it's her turn to talk. Successful conference #1. And then, she brought home this amazing drawing she had done during her art enrichment course....incredible! 

And then it was onto Sidney's teacher. We went through how she's doing with letter recognition, numbers, counting and reading. Miss P talked about how much she enjoys having Sidney in class. 

She went on to say that when a group of kids struggles to understand  concept, Miss P often asks Sidney to answer the question and then to explain her thinking. She says it's like having another teacher, someone who can help her peers learn. WOW. I was stunned. It's no surprise that Sidney is seen as a leader among her peers (and her teachers), but it impresses me that she does so with grace. Miss P says within the class as well as within the smaller friend group, she notices that others follow Sidney's lead. When Sid says her favorite color, the rest end up picking the same color for example. 

A sample of her sight words

And while she is also described as a 'talker', Miss P says when it's time to learn, Sidney is quick to stop chatting and sit quietly to learn. She's a rule follower, that girl and it bothers her when people don't. We are so very proud of the progress she has made in Kindergarten! Successful conference #2. Here's some of the fun counting she does around the house....we count everything these days!

These two girls of ours never cease to amaze us! Congrats on such wonderful conference reports. Keep up the good work. 

On parenting

This parenting stuff....it's not easy I'm here to say. Some nights I reflect on the day and wonder if we did all that we could. There's so much packed into each of our evenings that I feel like I'm on a hamster wheel, going no where.

Take for example Regan's homework. She's in 3rd grade and our elementary school is high strung on a new model called "Megan Stone Theory". It's all about the kids taking responsibility for their own homework. As such, as parents, we are not to go into their backpacks. Rather Regan (and Sidney) are to dig out their folders, homework, daily planners, etc and review them with us, get it done/signatures and return them to their backpacks. Simple.

Or not.

Because what happens between the "go get your backpack" to "we're done", is a whirlwind of activity. On a non-activity night, we have 3 hours together as a family to prepare dinner, eat dinner, nurse Lincoln, do homework, shower/baths and get into bed. Not to mention we like to do something fun as a family such as a walk, a swing or running in the back yard. And on most nights, we have a practice for at least one of the kids (softball, dance, etc) which leaves even less time to do all that is required.

So while the kids are trying to do homework after we get home, and Ryan is still at work, I'm preparing dinner and entertaining Lincoln all at the same time. It's like a juggling act some nights where I feel like all of the balls come falling onto my head at the same time: smoke alarms (no joke...having one of those new fancy smoke alarms just means it goes off every time I cook, or make toast for that matter!), kids whining that their home work is too hard, that they can't find the "right" pencil, Lincoln tugging at my hair that I forgot to pull back while giving me slobbering kisses and lunging for the hot pot on the kitchen stove, Sidney having to poop mid-meal (every.single.night), you name it, we're a circus over here.

Sidney's homework is simple: handwriting. And the kid is a genius in my eyes conquering her handwriting no problem.

She's writing out her sight words on the white board now too, just for a little extra fun.

 Regan has a math worksheet to do each night, which is sometimes easy, sometimes not. Often requires a little coaxing from us to complete, or at least a little direction. She also has a Writer's Workshop assignment each week which is roughly 10 problems involving writing. This is thankfully given on Monday and not due until Friday so we can work on it in bits and pieces. She has to read for at least 20 minutes/day too. This is our easiest piece of homework. The kid adores reading and we put her to bed at the same time as Sidney because she spends at least 30 minutes reading in bed. Currently she's breezing through my old Babysitter Club series...and loving them! 

But on top of all that, we are working hard on her math facts, those darn timed tests, and she dreads it. "It's so hard!", she complains constantly. And so I'm thankful when her softball coach incorporates math facts into practice. No lie, yesterday I heard "we're going to do this 3 times, with 7 balls, so how many good throws should we have? 3x7....". Oh, and on top of that, she gets a list of spelling words to conquer each week in time for her test on Friday.

Really, we're only in 3rd grade and I feel like she has a solid hour of homework each night. Now if this little girl could get on the ball with the "Megan Stone theory", it might make things a little easier. But she has very little internal fire to take responsibility (opposite of Sidney), and she has a serious lack of effort in math. We're making progress, bit by bit. But it's a challenge many nights. And sometimes I collapse on the couch and my heart is heavy, hopeful that she's succeeding the best that she can. That we are doing at least something right. Because at the end of the day, I want our kids to know how much they are loved, and how their own actions result in their success. In the meantime, I'll keep up my nightly juggling act and hope that I can keep everything in the air and know that I'm probably not alone with our crazy circus act.