parent-teacher conferences

even though i have been terribly sick all week, i went to parent/teacher conferences for madelyn and mason tonight.  i was feeling a little better and since the kids had it first (although much, much milder), i didn't feel that i was exposing their teachers to anything they hadn't seen already.

the evaluations had been sent home earlier in the week so that matt and i could review them prior to the conferences (he stayed home with the kids since they were not invited).  madelyn's was what we expected - straight "my progress is satisfactory. be proud of me!!".  her teacher did put a comment about her stuttering and that she was ready for kindergarten.  we weren't worried about the kindergarten recommendation, but it was nice to see.  with madelyn's teacher the conversation was primarily about being the oldest/youngest/tallest in her class through school.  her teacher said that she felt madelyn was confident enough and a "leader" that she felt comfortable recommending her for full-day kindergarten but would support a decision to keep her back a year (so that she wouldn't be one of the youngest) if we wanted to do that.  matt and i have discussed this several times over the past year and feel comfortable letting madelyn go to school next year and being on the younger side of her class.  we have more hesitation with mason being the biggest and the youngest but have some time to think about that.

mason's conference was the one we were really looking forward to since this has been his first year in school and he is so different from madelyn (who has typically crossed milestones very early).  his evaluation is marked primarily with "progress is satisfactory".  he had a few "we are working on this at this time" but we expected them in the "language" category since he is more on the 'normal' timeline.  there were a few that surprised us a little.  he needs to work on his listening during stories and songs, helping to put things away and tearing paper.  mason is always asking to be the "big helper" and is usually great at cleaning up.  the tearing paper one made us laugh because we are always teaching the kids not to rip things up!  and the listening one is understandable because he tends to go do something else if he doesn't like a story at bedtime or a movie we might be watching (he's got that wander/disappearing act like his dad and uncle).

mason's teacher explained that the cleaning up has to do with mason getting giggly with his friend, anthony.  apparently these two are quite the buddies and get into their own little world.  mason often talks about playing with a "boy" but now i had a name and the areas he needs to work on make much more sense.  his teacher had nothing but kind things to say about him and how much she looks forward to seeing him on his two days.  she said that he is totally normal and she has no concerns about his development at all.  that was what matt and i wanted to hear.  here is a quote from her write up:

"mason is a pleasure to have in class. his smile and friendly attitude add joy to our day. he is always quick with a hug and so willing to please. mason has made many friends in our class and is asked for and talked about by classmates."

she did mention that she has actually been pleasantly surprised by how well he has done adjusting to school.  mason is on the younger side of the class (some of the kids turned three at the beginning of the school year) and started a few months into the year.  she said that it is also obvious that he has siblings.  he really excels at imaginative play and i told her that he gets lots of practice with his sister.  she said that he is a typical two-year-old boy but shows no aggression towards others (meaning that he doesn't tackle someone not playing 'wrestle' which some boys might do) and is extremely easy to redirect if needed.

all in all, we have been very happy with the school and the progress the kids are making.  love.