Tessa's Kindergarten Letter

Yesterday I submitted the letter to Alki stating that Tessa would definately attend kindergarten there. Per their request, I also wrote a letter describing Tessa, to better help them to place her in the classroom.

Here's part of what I wanted to say:
Tessa is one of the most special people you will ever meet. Her intelligence shines from her eyes, and her laughter is quick and frequent. She is empathetic, kind, and thoughtful. She is deeply loved by her family.

I wanted to go on for pages in this manner, describing Tessa through her parents' eyes. Of course, I'd also have to talk about her willful behavior, and her independence (and how that can be as much of a detriment as an asset), but I wanted to show in some way just how lucky the teachers are to have my daughter in their classroom. My assumption is that every parent feels this way about their child(ren), and that it would not be helpful to write pages about how special Tessa is....though I wanted to.

But instead, here's what I said. I hope I didn't come across as a crazy mom; I hope that I provided the right information.
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Dear Ms. Hill and Alki Staff and Teachers,

Our daughter, Tessa Surface, is absolutely delighted that she will be attending kindergarten at Alki next year. As a family, we are excited to be a part of your Alki community, as well.

Tessa has many loves and interests: her favorite animals are bats and horses; she loves gymnastics, swimming and soccer; she adores the color pink (although I joke that her favorite clothing choice is “clash” and she’s very independent about how she dresses). She loves all girly-stuff, but won’t hesitate to go on the monkey bars in a sparkly dress, or to pick up bugs and worms. She is a loyal friend and would have sleepovers daily if we allowed it (monthly is more usual). When left to her own devices, she plays on her swing set, looks at books, creates art at our kitchen table, or plays pretend with her ponies for hours.

Tessa is a child who loves going to school. She is excited to learn about all kinds of new things, and particularly likes coming home from preschool to teach Mom and Dad about new things that she’s learned, especially facts about nature. In the school environment, she is eager to please her teachers, and to be a “big kid” and take on responsibilities at school helping out in the classroom and following instructions. She does a pretty good job with sharing, taking turns, and other social niceties of the age; she’s not perfect in this regard and sometimes needs reminding, but in general her social behaviors make her parents proud.

Academically, our preschool teacher (Shelley at A Child Becomes) assures us that Tessa is quite ready for kindergarten. She can recognize and write all of the letters of the alphabet, and she knows all of their sounds (although she occasionally gets soft vowel sounds confused with one another). She can sound out simple three or four letter words, and has memorized the spelling of her best friends’ names. She can count upwards of thirty, but is much more interested in letters than numbers. She is very interested in learning how to read, and will sit for extended periods of time “reading” to herself (in reality, looking at the pictures and repeating out loud the stories that we have read to her). We read to her daily, and we have books all over our home for her to access. According to our pediatrician, she is on target or ahead for all of her physical milestones, as well.

Socially, Tessa is a mixed up combination of shy and extroverted. She can take a while to warm up to a new situation (at her new preschool it took a couple of months), especially if all of the people are new to her, but then it “clicks” for her and she often becomes the chattiest child in the room. She is fortunate to have many good friends, and while she prefers playing with girls (especially pretend play) she’s learned to be friends with boys, too. We are a social family, and though Tessa is an only child, she adores other children and our lives and home are filled with other children on a daily basis.

Attending kindergarten at Alki with Tessa are some of Tessa’s dearest friends, whom she has known for years, including Anna Huycke,Jessie McComb, and Lexi Reifel. She deeply hopes that she will get to share a classroom with some or all of these girls, and I share that hope with her, because when she has the comfort of a friend(s) she is most likely to feel comfortable and respond well to her environment.

We look forward to meeting our teacher(s). Thank you for considering Tessa’s traits as you place her with her teacher and peers next year.

Regards, Kristina Surface