Parent-Teacher Conference (long!)
Ok, so there is no way to write this without sounding like I am talking about my prechus little speshul gifted snowflake. But since I have discussed our angsting over M’s school here before, I am going to go into a bit of detail about it anyway. Mock me if you must.
I had my first parent-teacher conference this week. Thankfully, there were no major surprises. As I expected, M got a glowing report. She is successful in the most important parts of kindergarten: learning to follow rules, get along with kids, follow school routines, etc. She was even chosen to be a member of the “buddy team” which is trained to do peer conflict resolution and welcome new children to the school. (Selection for the buddy team confirmed my suspicions that M is, indeed, a teacher’s pet.)
The conversation got more interesting when we started talking about the more academic aspect of kindergarten. We talked a little about M’s reading assessment. Her school uses the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA). Our school’s goal is to have all children reading at a level 1 by the end of kindergarten. When they tested M, they stopped testing her at a level 18, which is our school’s ceiling for testing kindergartners. (More about why they might have a ceiling here, especially post #13).
I asked the teacher if she thought that was the correct level for M to be reading and she said no, M was definitely higher but they don’t know how much because they didn’t have the materials available nor were they allowed to test her at higher levels in kindergarten. (Based on the books she regularly reads independently at home and this handy level tester thingy that Jody posted a long time ago, M comfortably reads books leveled at 24-28 (mid 2nd to late 2nd grade).
I already knew M was a good reader, so I wasn’t really surprised by her testing result. I was surprised to learn that M will be in her own reading group with no other kids, though. I expected at least a couple other kids to be reading at a similar level, in part because M’s younger cousin in preschool and can read almost as well as M can.
We talked about M’s ability to understand multiplication even though she has never had any formal math yet (M’s class isn’t doing math, just shapes and patterns so far). At this point, M’s teacher brought up the schools’ gifted program and the fact that they don’t do any testing until 2nd grade. M’s teacher confirmed our suspicions that M is capable of doing work that is at least one or two grades ahead of kindergarten work in most areas. (Though her handwriting and spelling would be behind.)
So far, M’s teacher has been making an effort to keep M challenged in the classroom with materials and work/questions that is tailored specifically for her. And seriously, props to her, because I would go crazy just keeping the 20 kids on task with scissors and pasting, never mind finding ways to tailor questions to be more abstract and require more critical/creative thinking for just one kid. The good news is M’s new teacher (the permanant, non-sub teacher who starts monday) used to teach 1st grade, so she will hopefully be comfortable giving M the kind work that will challenge her too.
I asked the teacher if she thought we should have had M tested to skip kindergarten (which was something I have angsted about in the past.) M’s teacher said that outside of academic issues, M is a great fit in kindergarten socially. She doesn’t seem to have a hard time relating to her peers, is making lots of friends and fits in with them well. I can’t tell you how relieved I was to hear that, because that was what we most wanted M to get out of kindergarten.
I left the school feeling really happy with the effort that is being made to keep M engaged and challenged. If all M’s teachers are as proactive as this substitute, M will be a lucky, lucky girl. One of my biggest fears is that school will teach her to be a lazy slacker (like some one who shall remain nameless *cough* me *cough*.)
So far, I am thrilled with our little neighborhood school.
November 15th, 2008 at 9:56 pm
as the mother of the kid who doesn’t know any letters other than the ones in her name and the numbers past 5, I have to say, you are very lucky!
Now lay off her! (you know I say that only in te kindest way!)
November 15th, 2008 at 11:23 pm
M seems to have made a great adjustment to school and is doing very well. Every mother I know worries when they send their baby off to school for the first time. It has got to feel good that she is doing so well. I think you have every reason to feel proud. Sounds like she takes after her father in work habits and also has her mother’s social skills. A perfect combination. So glad to hear of the great report. Thinking of you and wishing you the best
November 16th, 2008 at 3:29 am
Wow, this is a substitute teacher who is going out of her way for M. That is a GOOD teacher. I am impressed. Yay for M for fitting in with her peers. Are you still considering moving her up one grade or will you wait to see if her regular teacher also keeps challenging her?
November 16th, 2008 at 4:09 am
Alex (who is a few months younger) doesn’t read quite as well as M - she really doesn’t have the stamina for longer books yet. But I anticipate having a discussion about whether proficiency-based promotion makes sense for her, as we get towards the end of the year.
At the moment, I’m somewhat inclined to not promote (which doesn’t necessarily mean not test), for reasons that mirror the “post 13″ author’s points. I remember being bored silly in every elementary school reading class, but it had absolutely nothing to do with the reading level of the material. I was a really, really fast reader, and would have the selection read through by the time the rest of the reading group got to the table and found the right page. In the upper grades, I’d have read the entire reading textbook within the first month of class, for lack of anything better to do during the class time devoted to reading. Harder material doesn’t solve that, so you get singled out as weird for no benefit. Skipping ahead does increase the chances that there’ll be an undiscovered gap in knowledge.
(Interestingly, I completely disagree with the conclusion supporting a test ceiling, while agreeing with every supporting point. My conclusion is “test with no ceiling so you know what the kid can read, but don’t use the test for something it’s obviously not designed for, like setting a floor on reading material, or assuming that decoding implies comprehension or reproduction.” Alex-the-non-reader always picked chapter books for me to read to her. Alex-the-reader often selects board books and picture books for us to read together.)
November 16th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
congrats! Its always nice to know as a mom we are doing something right!
Mr. M is an early reader too (though socially not there). Marcus is the only kid in his K-class that can read. At first he hated school b/c he was so bored. After I spoke with the teacher about it she made a lot of changes for him. He has special homework, works 1-1 with a teacher, reads to the other kids, reads the announcements etc.. When the other kids are working on letters and writing he works on spelling. We also do a lot of extra work at home. My 4 year old has absolutely no interest in reading, yet at this age M was reading on his own… so every kid is different!
I wouldn’t skip a grade yet but keep pushing for harder work. At a certain point she will qualify for G&T. They also suggested we have him tested at a few of the private schools who give scholarships for G&T students (b/c one year of those schools is more than 4 years of my undergrad!). We have a few schools that cater towards more advanced students and one that has multi-age classrooms for every class. The student goes to whatever level he is currently at for that subject.
November 16th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
In all but very rare exceptions, I’m rather against skipping grades. And just so you know, I’m a psychologist, my parents are educators, I was in a gifted program, and my school wanted me to skip both 2nd and 5th grade. It’s hard enough being a “smart kid” without also being significantly younger than the other kids in your class. Many times, it’s possible for a gifted child to take some classes with the older kids without being completely thrust into that environment. It’s going to be an interesting road for you to navigate.
November 16th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
Sounds like M has had a smooth transition into school life! I must admit that I’m torn when it comes to what I expect when it comes to my childrens’ education. Part of me is crunchy granola and doesn’t want them pushed too far academically and part of me wants them challenged. For our son, we ended up picking a crunchy granola school which offers advanced classes and it’s worked out great for him. I know he could be further challenged, but I’m happy with the amount of work he has at this school. I see some of his friends (Grade 5) who have 1-2 hours of homework every night and I think that’s just too much. Now we’re looking for a school for our daughter. There’s this one new school that looked interesting and it offers Mandarin starting in Grade 1 which appealed to us. But when I was reading their curriculum, it just went on about how they expect their kids to be running about 2 years ahead of kids in other schools, that kids in kindergarten should be able to do 3-4 number math problems, be fluent in French and English and ready to add Mandarin in Grade 1 and honestly, it gave me the creeps. I like the idea of a child being challenged, but not pushed to the limit; kids should just be kids too and have downtime. I also don’t think that all kids should be expected to work at such a level - they’re being set up for failure. I think each parent needs to figure out the environment that’s best for their kid. I skipped a year in school and was always the youngest which really wasn’t a big deal overall, but I didn’t hit many milestones when my friends did… they all drove and I couldn’t, etc. I also would have been going off to university when I was barely 17 which I think is too young. But I really do think this is an issue that is totally case by case, child by child, and nobody knows your child better than you! WTG M!!
November 17th, 2008 at 12:37 am
That is just great that M is doing so well and that you are pleased with how the school is handling it. I have to say, we have also been thrilled with the school for the last two years.
November 17th, 2008 at 3:56 am
We’ve had the same kind of angst about skipping grades thing with our oldest who is now in 1st grade and doing work way beyond her peers. I’ve resisted because I got pushed ahead in school when I wasn’t socially ready for it and ended up hating school (which does not at all explain why I stayed in school through a PhD, but that is another therapy session). We do a great deal of reading and writing and maths at home with her to supplement. Having a small school and good teachers makes all the difference I think. Sounds like you have a good situation for her at this point. Celebrate!
November 18th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
There was a report about grade skipping and alternatives to this.I will try to email you the link to it. It’s a long read, but for kids like M, this may be helpful
December 15th, 2008 at 7:35 pm
[...] as I write about something here, things will change. Not that long ago, I wrote about M’s parent-teacher conference and my relief that she was doing ok. Don’t get me wrong, she is still doing just fine, but [...]