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.