Spring conferences

Spring conferences have come and gone, but before I lose all of the info I learned about my children to the sea of paperwork that should be filed a bit less haphazardly, I figured I would document it here. I love seeing how much the girls have changed each year and reading back on what their personalities were like as they have grown. Sometimes after reading past posts I feel like I am raising a totally different kid than I was raising the previous year. As much as I want to encourage them to evolve, I know that I also need to work on evolving how I parent them as well. Conferences were particularly emotional this time around as it is Grace's last one. Add that to the fact that the last time we were at conferences, Will attended with us and it made for an emotional trip. Lucky for us, grandma and grandpa were in town and wanted to join us for dinner, so they went with us to conferences which kept our minds occupied on fun things. 

Grace has had a great year. Her favorite subject is reading, and her scores back that up as they are off the charts. She finds math the biggest challenge but doesn't back down and has learned so much this year. She enjoys writing, is learning to write with more expression and detail and got 3rd place in the handwriting contest she entered. She has loved 5th grade and continues to put far more pressure on herself to succeed than anyone else could ever put on her. 

Emma had a great conference as well. She excels in reading, loves science and social studies, and finds math utterly boring. She struggles to get through her timed math tests, but when she's allowed to slow down she flies right through. Her favorite part of school is learning how to crochet before school with her friends. She is a kind friend to others and the most frequent request that her teacher has of her is to stop reading so that she can work on her other work.

Norah is our social butterfly. She rushes through her work so that she can talk to all of the other kids. She often is reminded to get back on task and to slow down in her work. She is reading at a first grade level and has reached all of her "graduation" goals, so we're not too worried about her academically. She may, however, give teachers a run for their money. 

Since we're talking about progress, we'll add Hazel in here as well. She graduated from her level 2 class and now we just have to wait for her to turn 1 so she can begin her therapy classes. She's still super crazy at home with the girls, but she has figured out when it is time to work and play, so she's usually a gem when we go out among people. 

Week 8

This week brought conferences for the girls and Kindergarten Open House! I'm still in shock that my baby is headed off to Kindergarten. Here is a run down of how conferences panned out...

Norah - Independent, friends with everyone, but likes to do her own thing. Can identify all of her upper and lowercase letters except for occasionally switches around b and d, and g and q. She can count to 40, recognizes all of her shapes and colors and can write her first and last name with appropriate capitalization. She is an emerging reader and identifies sight words and blends. Knows her phone number, state and city, but needs to work on her street address. She can tie her own shoes and dress herself for outdoor play. She at times gets in trouble for being a bit mischievous, but she is easily redirected and follows directions.

Emma - Is a very social and compassionate girl. She does her work well, but at times too quickly. She loves science and reading and likes to ask questions. She loves autobiographies and learning about the presidents. She is a creative writer and drawer. She doesn't care for math, but does well. She does not like timed testing as it makes her anxious. She is responsible and trustworthy, and a good role model for her friends.

Grace - Introverted and quiet, but kind to everyone, follows others lead. Her favorite subject is reading, she is currently reading at the 9th grade level. She enjoys science and social studies and completes her work well and on time. She is enjoying working with circuits and electricity in science and this is one of her favorite units. Math is one of her least favorite subjects but she continues to do well in it.