Parent/teacher conference

This week I met with Seeger's Pre-K teachers to discuss his progress over the school year.

His teachers written comments from the fall:
Seeger is a sweet boy and it has been fun getting to know him this year. He does a nice job entering the room each day. Seeger is cooperative with the teachers and his classmates. We will continue working on gross motor and fine motor skills. Playing with playdough, clay, small toys will all help Seeger build the muscles in his hands and therefore help with writing.

His teachers written comments this spring:
It has been a joy to have Seeger in Prek-K this year. He is a very sweet boy with a tender heart. Seeger enjoys free choice time, especially when we have the trains out! (I'm sure you're not surprised!) This year Seeger has made some nice improvements in his fine motor skills (writing, cutting, coloring, etc.) and also his gross motor skills (running, balancing, hopping, etc.). Some things to work on this summer would be: learning address & phone number, continue working on fine motor skills, and games & activities to reinforce number and letter skills. We hope you have a wonderfull summer and a great year with Kindergarten.

He's achieved nearly every skill they test for although he needs to continue working on the following:
Interpret main idea of a story
Makes a simple comparison of two objects in terms of difference and sameness
Identify ankle, wrist, and heel
Learn address & phone number
Bounce a ball three times

I asked his teacher how Seeger does with following directions. They mentioned that sometimes they have to direct him more than once to move from one activity to the next although this is common with many of the children.

I asked about his speech (since he was in speech therapy for 18 months.) They were surprised by my question and said his speech is excellent; the kids never have trouble understanding him. I asked if he ever stuttered (which had also been a past issue) or had trouble getting the words out. They do notice that sometimes his mind moves a bit faster and he forgets what he's said versus what he's thought.

I asked how Seeger stands out from his classmates. They mentioned that he is very caring of the other students. He is quiet but thoughtful. (Quiet?? Yeah, we don't have that problem at home!) They said he knows more about Thomas the Tank Engine than anyone else. (Duh!) They also mentioned that his math skills are more advanced than others. He sorts his snacks into groups, makes patterns when completing activities (ex. he had to stamp the letter N nine times and while doing that, he went white, green, purple, white, green, purple, white, green, purple), and does subtraction with objects (he announced once that he had four jellybeans and if he took two away, he'd have two left).

The Polack and I have been very impressed with this Pre-K program. They have done some amazing lesson plans and awesome activities. It's great that both my boys love school and look forward to going everyday.

Even Nicklas, despite some of the troubles he's been having, still enjoys school. This week he did some more testing in our quest to figure out why he's been struggling in school. I hope to get the results soon. (They tested for ADD; we'll see what happens.)

There has been good news though. Last week, his class started the spring NWEA testing. They're doing one subject each week and his first test was Literature. We talked a lot about the test and stressed that it was important he concentrate, completely read the question, and consider ALL the choices before answering. We put him to bed early the night before, let him sleep in a bit that morning, and sent him to school with a big breakfast. He came home with a smile on his face. His score was nine points higher than last time.

Today is his second round. We're hoping it goes well.