Thursday 10/27/11 - Parent/Teacher Conference

Today I had to meet with Brianna's Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Bradshaw for a parent/teacher conference.  She brought home her report card yesterday for her dad & I to look at.  I had to sign it, saying that I saw it, and bring it back with me.  Apparently in Kindergarten, they don't get A's, B's, C's, D's & F's.  They get a S for satisfactory, P for progressing & N for needs improvement.  On Brianna's report card she got all S's, with one P in "Disruptive Talking".  :D   Poor girl doesn't stand a chance in this area...lol.  The talkative gene runs in her family on both sides.  Haha!   At least she didn't get a N.  Her teacher said she's getting better about waiting her turn before she starts talking.  I talked a little bit with Brianna about this.  I told her, "I know, sometimes you feel like you have something REALLY, REALLY important you want to say.  You feel like you need to tell someone FAST before you either explode from excitement or you forget what you want to say.  It's frustrating when the person you want to talk to is busy or talking to someone else."  She looked surprised and said, "Mommy, how did you know?  That's exactly how I feel."  I told her, "I know, Brianna, because that's how I feel sometimes.  We have to remember that it's rude to interrupt people when they're talking.  We have to wait our turn.  It's okay only AFTER that person tells you they have time to listen to you."  I made sure to tell her I was VERY, VERY proud of her!  She had an excellent report card! 

Some of the things her teacher told me about Brianna were:

*Brianna is doing a fantastic job in kindergarten & has already made an unbelievable amount of progress!

Social Skills:  She plays with many different groups of friends at school & is well liked by her classmates (I could've told ya that.  She's got my social butterfly skills!).   She is not afraid to ask a student to stop doing something & we continue to work on learning the appropriate times to talk to an adult if she is being bothered.

Academic Skills:  She excels in all academic areas & I have no concerns.  Her reading/literacy skills are above grade level & she is becoming a great reader!  We will continue to work on independent reading & AR quizzes at school.  I will be working with her on more advanced reading skills in order to allow her to read more difficult texts as she progresses.

Her teacher said she is incredibly excited to see the skills Brianna will develop throughout the school year, and I will continue to encourage her to try her best in everything she does. 

Her teacher told me that Brianna is in the top 3 students (out of 22 kids in her class)!  She said that Brianna and 2 other students get to do the AR quizzes to earn extra points for rewards.  Her teacher is amazed with how well Brianna is reading already!  I told her that I work with her for a hour every day reading, writing & doing her homework.  Brianna absolutely LOVES school!  I hope she can continue to do so well and keep her love of school.   I was so proud of her, I started to cry at the Parent/Teacher conference!  Mrs. Bradshaw asked me if I was okay.  I told her that I was so proud of my girl, I was over flowing with emotions!  All of our hard work is paying off!  Sorry to brag, but I can't help it!  Brianna is such an intelligent girl!  I told her teacher that she started talking at 6 months.  By 12 months, she was saying 100 words (most of which people could understand other than her family).  She knew her alphabet & could count to 10 in Spanish before she was 2 years old!  I told her Brianna has always caught on extremely fast with everything.  It only took me 30 minutes to not only to teach her how to tie her shoes, but to double tie them too.  I love working with Brianna because she learns so fast & because of her love of learning.  Her teacher said the same thing.  She said that Brianna is a joy to have in class!  She also said she listens and is always the first one to volunteer to help out.  She said that Brianna knows things that a Kindergartner normally wouldn't know yet.  Her teacher said that Brianna was on a 2nd grade level!  WOW!  I'm sooo proud of my girl!

Since she's worked so hard for what she has, I got her a few little things as a reward. 

She LOVES Hello Kitty!  I found these socks for her!

I can't believe I'm posting that I bought her Hello Kitty Undies, but I did. The girl goes crazy for Hello Kitty!  I also bought her a few activity books.  Some to draw pictures & write sentences (for practice).  Some to practice coloring things by specific number. 

I couldn't get her things without getting something for her brother too.  Since he's been doing so well with the potty training thing, I decided to get him a few more pairs of undies too.  Apparently I need to learn how to read better. Instead of buying briefs, I bought him boxers.  I also bought him a coloring book to practice coloring.  I'm trying to teach him how to stay inside the lines.  He's sorta getting the concept. 

I'm thinking it's time that I call Brianna's old Pre-K teacher to get Jacob screened for Pre-K.  Since he's pretty much potty trained (other than at night), I think he's ready to go to school now.  I want to give him the same opportunities that Brianna had.  I don't know if she would be doing as well in school if she didn't go to Pre-K

It's possible, but I'm ever so thankful she went!  I think Jacob needs to go to socialize with other little boys.  Poor kid only has little girls to talk to & play with.  :)