Kindergarten

I went to Anna-Kate's 3rd quarter parent-teacher conference this morning (what??!?!?! This year is flying by!). I am so proud of my girl! She has excellent grades and, so I can remember...

Is reading at a 2nd grade level. Her teacher was "floored" at how well she was reading, (on a first time through a new book status) especially considering where she was when she entered school. She said Anna-Kate was doing "phenomenally" and that I should be very proud (which, of course, I am).

Her math scores are all high. The money section had given her problems, (adding various coins together and determining "fair trades" and then subtracting various coins was hard for her) but it has finally clicked and she got them all perfect on her evaluation.

She got the highest marks possible in Art, (with her teacher commenting that she is a natural) PE, (which is hilarious to me as she hates it) and music. Spanish she is an "S+"--we'll see about "E" by schools' end. :)

Honestly though, the thing I took away most was her writing skills. Her teacher showed me her paper of the alphabet from August, then a paper that she had written during oral dictation. It was unreal. Her teacher was extremely encouraging and commented on Anna-Kate's excellent pencil grip/handwriting and the good job she did with spelling (only 1 mistake in dictation for a whole page of writing!). In addition to dictation, the kids are learning to write short stories. They have learned about rough drafts, ("sloppy copies") which include a main idea, a couple of sentences to describe that idea and a concluding sentence. She shows such creativity, good spelling and the way she illustrates her stories is amazing (I swear, she can draw better than I can!). Next one that comes home I'll take a picture of and post. So great.

I'm just blown away by what she is doing--and to the degree of excellence. We are so thankful for her awesome school and thankful that she chooses to apply herself to it so well.