Conference, Conference

Back-to-back parent-teacher conferences made for one trip back to our neighborhood rather than two this week.  Plus they provided a useful one-two punch on how our kids are doing in the classroom.

Jada is her teacher's "little speed demon."  She is first to finish her assignments, and is eager for more.  Her speed comes with some carelessness sometimes, though, and also she struggles with require deeper thought.  She got all A's except for a B in writing, in which her area of improvement is to increase volume and complexity.  She is unusual among those who see a social worker at school, in that she is able to return from those sessions and jump right back into the flow of the classroom.

Aaron is his teacher's "deep thinker," always thinking about her questions more deeply than his classmates.  He stays on task, is well-behaved, and has gone from not knowing his letters and numbers to pretty much knowing them and knowing their sounds.  He got all S's (for Satisfactory; other options are "O" for Outstanding" and "N" for "Needs Improvement") on his report card.  His teacher explained their new book challenge, since Aaron didn't bother to when I asked him about his fancy new book tote.  They get two books a day to read and then return.  And I mean "read": first, it's one-word pages with pictures, so they're saying the word from the picture and associating it with the word; second, it's one-sentence pages with pictures, so they have some idea of the main word but have to sound out all the other words; and then third, it'll be one-sentence pages with no pictures, so all they'll have to go on is sounding out the words. 

Glad our kids are doing well, glad to have touched base with their teachers, and glad we have some guidance on how to push them towards even more progress.