Parent Teacher Conference

Our conference last night went even better than I'd expected.

Tessa's skills are up to par, she is doing well socially, and she's an "easy" student to have around. Her work is creative, she has obvious understanding of the material, and she's demonstrating growth in her understanding as she climbs the learning curve. Her work is detailed, and she demonstrates a strong grasp of the subject matter.

She sometimes is so focused on the details that she has trouble finishing her work. The teacher said, "This is about the best problem to have, though, so while we'll work on it, we're not worried about it." That's nice! We're also going to get her to volunteer info (raising her hand in discussion) about all subjects, not just the ones that fascinate her. (The teacher mentioned that as soon as there's talk of animals, Tessa will volunteer any amount of information about horses -no surprise there.)

So kindergarten is going well, and I'm delighted. She has no behavioral problems, she has lots of friends, she enjoys school, and she's learning. Ahhhhhhhhhh.

At home, Tessa is refusing to read things she once read with excitement - she wants us to read to her but does NOT want to read to us. The teacher said that is quite common, and to just let it go, since she's reading in the classroom. Tessa is in my reading group (I volunteer once a week and I work with two different reading groups) and she reads for me in that scenario....just not at home. This, too, shall pass. The advice was to just back off and let her be, and so that is what we will do.

(And fortunately, Tessa still begs for "just one more story!" no matter how many we read her, and this delights me.)

I'm prepping for a Genentech conference call so must run. Ciao!