Ah, it's that time of year again when Babe and I must sit with the kids' teachers to find out how fabulous our kids are as well as what said kids need to work on. This is my favorite time because I have the teacher's undivided attention while I pick her brain about how she sees my kids in the six hours, Monday through Friday, that she has him or her. It is during this time that I find out how to help my kids as well as what we can do at home to push them even further ahead in academics. I've never been the Mom who just wants the kids to coast through school, I want them to excel in school and in their strong areas I want to do more so they can be ready for the next level of learning. There's just no reason not to.
I went to Nas's conference first - Babe was out of town on business so he had to miss it. If you don't know Nas you don't know just how unique his personality is. Well it seems his teacher is slowly peeling away the many layers of Nas but still hasn't gotten far enough in to understand how he operates in the classroom setting. Nas talks to himself. Initially she thought he might be playing a game or doing something he'd rather be doing than listening to her talk about writing. But when I considered it, I assumed Nas was probably working out - in his head - just how he was going to attack the assignment. He's a lot like his mother, he processes things a bit slower than others.
Aside from his quirky way of processing directions for a project, she said he's a strong reader (a grade level ahead!) and has gotten more confident in math. SCORE! Reading has always been so important to me - the kids need to be strong readers so that comprehension is not a hindrance to learning. And math?! Last term Nas really struggled with concepts, something I can relate to. I would "get" math, but boy the teacher almost had to BEAT it into me! This term he realizes he doesn't have to be intimidated by math - I'm so grateful for that!
He needs to work on writing, she said. And after I read some of his in-class writing work, I would say he needs to work on writing quite a bit! Nas has this great vocabulary - he has lived in a house with a writer and a sister who is a vocabulary sponge after all - so it seems that would pour over into his writing right? Not so much. So we're working on that along with telling time and counting money.
I love that Nas' teacher, who had Jay when Jay was a 2nd grader, realizes the importance of building on a strong foundation as well as creating strengths in areas of weakness. No need to just stay the same til next school year, let's get crackin' on next school year's lessons TODAY in areas where the kids are strong! So far Nas has had wonderful teachers who, although they may not always understand his inner workings, have always wanted the best for Nas and I pray every school year that the trend continues!
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