Parent Teacher Conferences...

Today was the dreaded work day for teachers in our area, parent teacher conferences. Now I say dreaded work day not because teacher's don't like talking to parents, but because it is a VERY LONG DAY for the teachers. Try teaching a half a day, then working from 12-8 pm. It wears you out. I had good conferences overall. You always have that one weird parent, the gushy parent, the talks too much parent, the what can I do parent...but all of mine were pretty much normal this year. YEAH! I've been doing PT conferences for 12 years now so I've seen a lot of parents in my day.

The exciting part of today was meeting with Abby and Owen's teacher. Owen's conference was first. I was little excited to hear what his kindergarten teacher would say about him. I am proud to report that his reading is on and above grade level. His math concepts are above grade level. He focuses well on school work, understands directions, works well on projects, and takes time to complete his work. YEAH OWIE!!! His issues are that sometimes he works ahead when told to wait - when asked about it, he says I get bored waiting for everyone else. Here is the biggie that I am a little concerned with.....he sometimes wants to challenge authority, but otherwise follows directions. His teacher says its normal for his age group but he does ask that WHY question a lot. I'm aware - trust me! All in all...he is doing GREAT in school and we know he is socially where he should be. He has many friends and seems to get along well with his buddies.

Abby's conference went well too. She has a teacher that is only in her 2nd year of teaching, but has been a mother for 20 years and a teacher's aid for many. I think teachers who are mothers seem to be more understanding to kids- at least this is my experience. Abby got straight A's this grading period. She is the first student for her teacher to get all A's in a nine weeks. Abby is going on her "A" wall. Abby's picture will be the first on the wall. YEAH Abby!! The only problem I have with Abby's report card is that her lowest grade is in SCIENCE. She has an A- in Science, but hey it's still an A! While waiting for the teacher, we got to read some stories that the kids in the class wrote. The topic was Challenges. I read the first story, it was pretty good. The second story was Abby's. Wow!! I was impressed that my daughter wrote such an amazing story. I am going to post it on here once it comes home. I couldn't believe her sentence structure, use of the introductory paragraph, and the vocabulary!!! Wow, that girl can WRITE!!! Her teacher thinks she will get a perfect score on writing on the ISTEP. I hope so!! Guess what Abby's major issue is? neatness and organization...oh things never change.....