Hiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!
Here's your icon for this post. :) I figured you'd be looking for it so I'll get it up right from the get go.
Thank goodness you all love me so much. lol. Shall we give it another go? I mean... even if I keep up the way I have been you'll at least get one or two decent updates out of me in a year. Ohhhh, where to begin.
Well, I was rereading some of my other posts and boy are my kids cute. ;) I suppose I'll start with them since they are so fantastic. One of those good news first scenarios. Although, I don't know that I have any real bad news at the moment. Well that's not entirely true, but we'll see how positive I can make it. lol.
This probably sounds a little repetitive of my first post back in February or whenever it was, but it was parent/teacher conferences again last month. This time Shane is in the 4th grade, Lacey in 2nd, and it's Savannah's first year of kindergarten. This is our first full year in public school so I was a little hesitant. However, I am the product of public school and seem to have survived the tragedy. lol. I really am not saying anything bad about public school, Grandma Lengtat has been a public school teacher forever. I guess I just like the idea of a Christian private school because back when I was going through my restraining order and divorce and stuff, when Shane was the only one in school, he went to a Catholic school. It was great education-wise but it exposed him to contradictory beliefs that I was in no position to answer at that time. It was all I could do to get through 2 minutes, let alone trying to explain to my 6 year old why we don't give Mother Mary presents even though everyone else in his school does. Anyway, this realization also reiterated how much MORE pressure there would be if he went to a public school. I was lucky/dumb enough to make it financially possible for the three older kids to go to a Christian private school for at least their pre-k and kindergarten years, Shane even into the 2nd grade. Except for Savannah who is in Kindergarten this year. Well that was quite the unnecessary spill... all of that to get to this...
I love parent/teacher conference days.
I had two the other day: one for Lacey and the other one for Savannah. The conferences went GREAT! Savannah's was first, the preschool she went to was very academically oriented so she had a great start. But we read a lot at home and do a lot of arts and craft and stuff so I like to think that all helps. Plus I also like to believe my kids inherited some of my natural smarts. :P Her teacher showed me her report card and to make a long story short, Savannah has met and/or exceeded ALL of the standards for entering the 1st grade at the beginning of this, her Kindergarten year. She is so far ahead of all the other students in her class. The teacher said that nonetheless she still is enthusiastic about doing all her work and doing a really good job. The greatest part was that she said Savannah is such a sweetheart and very obedient and follows directions very well. And also that she is very helpful and plays great with all the other kids. She called her the "teacher's dream" of a student. YAY! :) :) This is a relief to me as I worry about her sometimes.... she was at a REALLY vulnerable age when things were ugly with her dad so I worry how much of a negative impact that will have on her. But so far, so good. :)
Then it was Lacey's turn. Lacey went to the same private school for Kindergarten that Savannah did pre-school so I know that helped. Plus last year they tried to see if I wanted to let Lacey skip a grade since she had tested at a higher grade level. I said no thanks. Anyway, we sat down and her teacher said basically he had nothing really to say except that she is the perfect student. She, alone, he said, sets the mood in the entire class and it's always positive. He said she is like his teacher aide because she always finishes her work first and gets a perfect score and then is always thoughtful enough to go around and help other kids. He said I should write a parenting book! WOO-HOO! :) :) He ranted and raved the entire time, showing me all of her 100 percent score in all subjects, math, reading, language, etc. Her reading stars are already off the chart and the semester is only half over. :)
I had Shane's parent/teacher conference a couple days later. It went really well, especially considering I wasn't too sure about it. They've put Shane in a combined classroom. A 4th/5th grade class, with one teacher, 30 students, and no aid. Can we say.... "RED FLAGS"??? I mean this is Shane's first year with letter grades, first year where he is actually going to be held accountable for his work. And at 9 years old I don't expect that he will be as independent and focused on his own as he should be to do really really well. A 5th grader? Yes, perhaps, at least more likely. Anyway, I was less than thrilled at the beginning of the school year but since I really liked the teacher, and am one for always giving something a chance (or too many chances which is a whole nother can of blog), I decided to bear with it till Back to School Night to be able to go and see what it was about and by then have a feel for how Shane was doing. Well back to school night only reiterated my assumption on how independently the kids had to work. I listened to her explain how she splits her time between the fourth and fifth graders and how most of their tests and stuff are taken on computers. What happened to lecture time? What happened to class projects? I don't know... I just wasn't feeling it I guess, and as a mother you either feel it or you don't. End of debate. I was also looking at his grades and he had taken 4 maths tests... three were A's and one was a D. Huh? So I checked into it. And it turns out that the one he got a really bad grade on he simply wasn't prepared for with scratch paper and stuff because it was long hand math problems. Since his teacher was on the 5th grader side of the room he wasn't allowed to get up from the computer to fetch supplies. Here is the problem, I expect that Shane be prepared, I'm not excusing that it was ultimately his responsibility to have his supplies ready. I am, however, drawing attention to the fact that had he been in a traditional classroom it is reasonable to assume he could raise his hand a retrieve the needed supplies. Anyway... that was exactly my concern. I expect that Shane bring home good grades by making good choices to pay attention in class and do the required work to the best of his abilities. On the same token, I will not fault him for issues of political/money saving tactics employed by the school district that impede his ability to adjust and learn the ropes of his newly independent work load. So that was Back to School Night about a month and a half ago. After a couple lengthy, very productive chats with his teacher expressing my concern and expectations, I decided to leave Shane in there. Back to the point of the parent/teacher conference. HE IS DOING GREAT! He has all A's with the exception of 2 B's. He made the Honor Roll. And his teacher said he is one of the most responsible, on task students in her class. :) :) :) I'm so proud of him!! I am so proud of them all.
Well, I was rereading some of my other posts and boy are my kids cute. ;) I suppose I'll start with them since they are so fantastic. One of those good news first scenarios. Although, I don't know that I have any real bad news at the moment. Well that's not entirely true, but we'll see how positive I can make it. lol.
This probably sounds a little repetitive of my first post back in February or whenever it was, but it was parent/teacher conferences again last month. This time Shane is in the 4th grade, Lacey in 2nd, and it's Savannah's first year of kindergarten. This is our first full year in public school so I was a little hesitant. However, I am the product of public school and seem to have survived the tragedy. lol. I really am not saying anything bad about public school, Grandma Lengtat has been a public school teacher forever. I guess I just like the idea of a Christian private school because back when I was going through my restraining order and divorce and stuff, when Shane was the only one in school, he went to a Catholic school. It was great education-wise but it exposed him to contradictory beliefs that I was in no position to answer at that time. It was all I could do to get through 2 minutes, let alone trying to explain to my 6 year old why we don't give Mother Mary presents even though everyone else in his school does. Anyway, this realization also reiterated how much MORE pressure there would be if he went to a public school. I was lucky/dumb enough to make it financially possible for the three older kids to go to a Christian private school for at least their pre-k and kindergarten years, Shane even into the 2nd grade. Except for Savannah who is in Kindergarten this year. Well that was quite the unnecessary spill... all of that to get to this...
I love parent/teacher conference days.
I had two the other day: one for Lacey and the other one for Savannah. The conferences went GREAT! Savannah's was first, the preschool she went to was very academically oriented so she had a great start. But we read a lot at home and do a lot of arts and craft and stuff so I like to think that all helps. Plus I also like to believe my kids inherited some of my natural smarts. :P Her teacher showed me her report card and to make a long story short, Savannah has met and/or exceeded ALL of the standards for entering the 1st grade at the beginning of this, her Kindergarten year. She is so far ahead of all the other students in her class. The teacher said that nonetheless she still is enthusiastic about doing all her work and doing a really good job. The greatest part was that she said Savannah is such a sweetheart and very obedient and follows directions very well. And also that she is very helpful and plays great with all the other kids. She called her the "teacher's dream" of a student. YAY! :) :) This is a relief to me as I worry about her sometimes.... she was at a REALLY vulnerable age when things were ugly with her dad so I worry how much of a negative impact that will have on her. But so far, so good. :)
Then it was Lacey's turn. Lacey went to the same private school for Kindergarten that Savannah did pre-school so I know that helped. Plus last year they tried to see if I wanted to let Lacey skip a grade since she had tested at a higher grade level. I said no thanks. Anyway, we sat down and her teacher said basically he had nothing really to say except that she is the perfect student. She, alone, he said, sets the mood in the entire class and it's always positive. He said she is like his teacher aide because she always finishes her work first and gets a perfect score and then is always thoughtful enough to go around and help other kids. He said I should write a parenting book! WOO-HOO! :) :) He ranted and raved the entire time, showing me all of her 100 percent score in all subjects, math, reading, language, etc. Her reading stars are already off the chart and the semester is only half over. :)
I had Shane's parent/teacher conference a couple days later. It went really well, especially considering I wasn't too sure about it. They've put Shane in a combined classroom. A 4th/5th grade class, with one teacher, 30 students, and no aid. Can we say.... "RED FLAGS"??? I mean this is Shane's first year with letter grades, first year where he is actually going to be held accountable for his work. And at 9 years old I don't expect that he will be as independent and focused on his own as he should be to do really really well. A 5th grader? Yes, perhaps, at least more likely. Anyway, I was less than thrilled at the beginning of the school year but since I really liked the teacher, and am one for always giving something a chance (or too many chances which is a whole nother can of blog), I decided to bear with it till Back to School Night to be able to go and see what it was about and by then have a feel for how Shane was doing. Well back to school night only reiterated my assumption on how independently the kids had to work. I listened to her explain how she splits her time between the fourth and fifth graders and how most of their tests and stuff are taken on computers. What happened to lecture time? What happened to class projects? I don't know... I just wasn't feeling it I guess, and as a mother you either feel it or you don't. End of debate. I was also looking at his grades and he had taken 4 maths tests... three were A's and one was a D. Huh? So I checked into it. And it turns out that the one he got a really bad grade on he simply wasn't prepared for with scratch paper and stuff because it was long hand math problems. Since his teacher was on the 5th grader side of the room he wasn't allowed to get up from the computer to fetch supplies. Here is the problem, I expect that Shane be prepared, I'm not excusing that it was ultimately his responsibility to have his supplies ready. I am, however, drawing attention to the fact that had he been in a traditional classroom it is reasonable to assume he could raise his hand a retrieve the needed supplies. Anyway... that was exactly my concern. I expect that Shane bring home good grades by making good choices to pay attention in class and do the required work to the best of his abilities. On the same token, I will not fault him for issues of political/money saving tactics employed by the school district that impede his ability to adjust and learn the ropes of his newly independent work load. So that was Back to School Night about a month and a half ago. After a couple lengthy, very productive chats with his teacher expressing my concern and expectations, I decided to leave Shane in there. Back to the point of the parent/teacher conference. HE IS DOING GREAT! He has all A's with the exception of 2 B's. He made the Honor Roll. And his teacher said he is one of the most responsible, on task students in her class. :) :) :) I'm so proud of him!! I am so proud of them all.
Last, but certainly not least, is Ms. Dion Marie. She "home schools" as she tells everyone. Which is her take on sitting at the kitchen table with me in the morning coloring and writing her alphabet and numbers while I study. She is quite the smarty pants though. She can write her own name, recognize almost all letters of the alphabet, count to 20 and write most of her numbers, among a slew of other really impressive feats for a 3-year-old. She gets a little restless without the old kids around as she is far from used to being an "only child" - especially now that our little foster boy, Arik, has gone.
Well I've so much more to write. But this shall tide you over until next time, which I promise will be sooner than the year 2014. :)
I sincerely hope this finds you all well. Look forward to hearing from you.
xo
~Heather and Kids~
p.s. What's a blog without some pics??? Here are a few from Labor Day weekend at the cabin.
Ms. Savannah Lee with her catch of the day! :) (there were a bunch of girls there so we had quite the time deciding who got the pleasure of unhooking the fish... group effort, had to have been there. lol)
Lacey Mae's butt was fixed there.
haha. It's not the picture of child abuse that it looks like. She was smiling till the fish flicked it's tail and got too close to her for comfort.
She's never to freaked out to pose though. This was seconds later after all I said was, "Smile, Dion!" lol (Notice the leg prop? haha)
Yep... he's turning into quite the young man, isn't he? :)
A better one of Dion. The water was faaaaa-reeeezing!
It seems like just yesterday he had training wheels on his bike. Then his first day riding without them. And now this??? I kissed him goodnight the night before school started... and cried for 10 minutes after he walked down the hall because I realized I didn't have to bend down to hug him and give him a kiss. He just looked up and smooched me... no tip toes, no swooping down, none of it. :_(
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