First Parent-Teacher Conference!
Ever since we first dropped off Lucy at her first day preschool in September, I've been dying of curiosity to know what she's like in school. Although it's pretty obvious that she loves her friends, her teacher, and going to school in general, it's almost impossible to get much information from her about what goes on in school.
I've been looking forward to our parent-teacher conference for months, and we (finally) had our meeting a couple weeks ago. We sat down with Ms. Alicia on purple chairs, at a short round table. I was suddenly a little nervous. But it was all good. She had some paperwork assessment sheets that she had written notes on and went over everything with us, often citing specific examples. I liked this format. While there was some structure, I could tell from her observations that she really does know Lucy. Which sounds funny, because on one hand you might expect your child's teacher to know them well, but on the other hand, you never really know how closely a teacher might pay attention to your own kid when there are 23 other kids in class that she has to mind as well. Anyway, that was a small thing I noticed and was pleased about.
You will all be pleased to know that Lucy is doing great. :) She's up to par with age-appropriate expectations, such as being able to transitions, communication, listening to directions, and inter-personal relationships. Some comments of note (that I remember):
- Ms. Alicia talked about how very expressive she is and how she has no problem communicating. She discussed her strong personality, and she said she loves seeing this quality, especially in a girl, seeing girls who are not afraid to say what they think and express themselves. She said that Lucy is a natural leader and all the kids love to be around her.* :) Naturally, I loved hearing that. I have noticed that she has a lot of friends, but it's nice to know from an outside source. ;) I also love that her teacher likes her strong personality and is all about nurturing that.
- One thing for her to work on would be including other kids who are not her closest friends. I didn't get the impression that she "discludes" anyone, but that she could maybe make more of an effort to include others into her group of friends. She said she's mentioned to Lucy that good leaders are good listeners who make sure everyone feels included. :) I have concerns about her growing up as a girl, among girls. Girls can be MEAN. And it's a fine line- while I don't want her to be one of those girls who don't speak up for themselves and get bullied, I also certainly don't want her to be a "mean girl." As girls, we've probably all been on both ends of the spectrum at times, which sucks. As much as is possible, I would like to raise a girl who has a strong personality, but who is a good friend and leader. So I'm glad that we are on the same page in terms of trying to steer her in that direction.
- She also mentioned that although she is usually very good about communicating her feelings, that sometimes she will pout when she is unhappy about something, without saying why. Hello, welcome to my world. ;) She said that she will encourage her to use words to describe how she is feeling, which is also what we do when she does this on our time. She was also quick to note that, "she is three," so...yeah.
- One thing I thought was interesting is that apparently sometimes during circle time when there is a lot of noise or activity, Lucy will sometimes take a book and go to the reading corner to sit by herself. She always says she's okay, but apparently just wants some quiet alone time. Ms. Alicia said she liked that she knows herself enough to know when she needs some time by herself. Then she goes back to the group. She has done this since she was (even) little(r), and still does it- she will sometimes just read by herself. Interesting that she likes to do this in school, too.
- She also said that Lucy pays good attention during story time. She said that she stops a lot and asks a lot of questions about the book and the story as they go along, and Lucy always participates and knows what's going on. Apparently, not all kids do.
- One funny note: One part of the assessment involved seeing if the kids know their numbers, colors, alphabet, shapes, etc. When Ms. Alicia asked Lucy to count, she stopped at 12. Ms. Alicia was skeptical, like she had a feeling Lucy could count higher, but she said she didn't say anything and moved onto something else. Then the next day, she asked her to count again. She said, "That stinker counted to 100! She was holding out on me" Ha! Yup, not surprising. ;) She wasn't so great at recognizing lower-case letters, which is also not surprising, as we haven't emphasized those much, concentrating on upper-case instead. But this is a good reminder, so we will expose her to lower-case letters more.
Also interesting: She thought that Lucy didn't know her last name. We know this isn't true, because she knows her full name and says it all the time. That's when we realized that we don't use the terms "first," "middle," and "last" name. Instead, we refer to her "full" name, which she knows. Ms. Alicia thought that was a good point, so she will start asking kids their "full" name, too.
- She noted that Lucy is interested in science-based activities, such as looking through magnifying glasses, and she enjoys dramatic play with her friends. She also said that she is really good at cognitive learning. Board games are great for fostering this, so we bought Candyland and Chutes and Ladders that afternoon. We now also have Hi-Ho Cherry-O, also. She loves them all! I can tell she's already learning a lot by playing these games, and it's fun to be able to play real games with her.
Our first parent-teacher conference was a great experience. We love Ms. Alicia!
I've been looking forward to our parent-teacher conference for months, and we (finally) had our meeting a couple weeks ago. We sat down with Ms. Alicia on purple chairs, at a short round table. I was suddenly a little nervous. But it was all good. She had some paperwork assessment sheets that she had written notes on and went over everything with us, often citing specific examples. I liked this format. While there was some structure, I could tell from her observations that she really does know Lucy. Which sounds funny, because on one hand you might expect your child's teacher to know them well, but on the other hand, you never really know how closely a teacher might pay attention to your own kid when there are 23 other kids in class that she has to mind as well. Anyway, that was a small thing I noticed and was pleased about.
You will all be pleased to know that Lucy is doing great. :) She's up to par with age-appropriate expectations, such as being able to transitions, communication, listening to directions, and inter-personal relationships. Some comments of note (that I remember):
- Ms. Alicia talked about how very expressive she is and how she has no problem communicating. She discussed her strong personality, and she said she loves seeing this quality, especially in a girl, seeing girls who are not afraid to say what they think and express themselves. She said that Lucy is a natural leader and all the kids love to be around her.* :) Naturally, I loved hearing that. I have noticed that she has a lot of friends, but it's nice to know from an outside source. ;) I also love that her teacher likes her strong personality and is all about nurturing that.
- One thing for her to work on would be including other kids who are not her closest friends. I didn't get the impression that she "discludes" anyone, but that she could maybe make more of an effort to include others into her group of friends. She said she's mentioned to Lucy that good leaders are good listeners who make sure everyone feels included. :) I have concerns about her growing up as a girl, among girls. Girls can be MEAN. And it's a fine line- while I don't want her to be one of those girls who don't speak up for themselves and get bullied, I also certainly don't want her to be a "mean girl." As girls, we've probably all been on both ends of the spectrum at times, which sucks. As much as is possible, I would like to raise a girl who has a strong personality, but who is a good friend and leader. So I'm glad that we are on the same page in terms of trying to steer her in that direction.
- She also mentioned that although she is usually very good about communicating her feelings, that sometimes she will pout when she is unhappy about something, without saying why. Hello, welcome to my world. ;) She said that she will encourage her to use words to describe how she is feeling, which is also what we do when she does this on our time. She was also quick to note that, "she is three," so...yeah.
- One thing I thought was interesting is that apparently sometimes during circle time when there is a lot of noise or activity, Lucy will sometimes take a book and go to the reading corner to sit by herself. She always says she's okay, but apparently just wants some quiet alone time. Ms. Alicia said she liked that she knows herself enough to know when she needs some time by herself. Then she goes back to the group. She has done this since she was (even) little(r), and still does it- she will sometimes just read by herself. Interesting that she likes to do this in school, too.
- She also said that Lucy pays good attention during story time. She said that she stops a lot and asks a lot of questions about the book and the story as they go along, and Lucy always participates and knows what's going on. Apparently, not all kids do.
- One funny note: One part of the assessment involved seeing if the kids know their numbers, colors, alphabet, shapes, etc. When Ms. Alicia asked Lucy to count, she stopped at 12. Ms. Alicia was skeptical, like she had a feeling Lucy could count higher, but she said she didn't say anything and moved onto something else. Then the next day, she asked her to count again. She said, "That stinker counted to 100! She was holding out on me" Ha! Yup, not surprising. ;) She wasn't so great at recognizing lower-case letters, which is also not surprising, as we haven't emphasized those much, concentrating on upper-case instead. But this is a good reminder, so we will expose her to lower-case letters more.
Also interesting: She thought that Lucy didn't know her last name. We know this isn't true, because she knows her full name and says it all the time. That's when we realized that we don't use the terms "first," "middle," and "last" name. Instead, we refer to her "full" name, which she knows. Ms. Alicia thought that was a good point, so she will start asking kids their "full" name, too.
- She noted that Lucy is interested in science-based activities, such as looking through magnifying glasses, and she enjoys dramatic play with her friends. She also said that she is really good at cognitive learning. Board games are great for fostering this, so we bought Candyland and Chutes and Ladders that afternoon. We now also have Hi-Ho Cherry-O, also. She loves them all! I can tell she's already learning a lot by playing these games, and it's fun to be able to play real games with her.
Our first parent-teacher conference was a great experience. We love Ms. Alicia!
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