progress

So progress reports came home this week, they aren't quite a report card, but rather just something to give you an idea how they are progressing so far. In a nutshell, Abby's said she's progressing nicely in grade four. It was pretty much what I was expecting. To be honest I was more interested in the parent teacher interview, than I was with the report which is full of a lot of "canned educator speak". I mean no disrespect to the teachers out there. I've got mad respect for them, yo! Teachers are a huge part of why I am so active on our Parent's Council, outside of my own kids of course. We have exceptional teachers at our school. I know how hard they work and if I can help in any way to make that easier, then I am happy to do that.

No question, last year was a struggle for Abby on a personal level. I do not regret, for a second, having her in Empower which is a intense reading recovery program, but it was hard on her. She hated how it separated her from her class and that she missed out on gym and library.... missing math didn't bother her so much, not surprisingly. Of course now we are in a situation where she needs some extra math work, but it's a really small price to pay to now have a kid who takes chapter books to bed with her to read by herself!!

I can tell this year, that Abby is excited about school. More excited than she has been in a year or more, but as her teacher pointed out to me, we do a lot of reading here and if I was having reading issues then I would hate coming here too. Good point, Mr. Teacher, very good point. And that right there told me all I needed to know about him, he gets her. In fact you can quickly tell by talking to him that he is a very engaged teacher.

He feels she's settled in quite well socially. She's a great group member and she's really improved on staying on task without needing prompts and reminders to do so. As I am typing this out I'm realizing that her lack of focus probably had more to do with her struggle with reading rather than just a general lack of focus. This is the first report we've had in a while where she received "goods" in responsibility, organization, independent work, initiative and self-regulation.

The best point of the interview was when we discussed the results of the reading assessment. Last September Abby's reading level was 18. This September her reading level is a 40! A 40 people!! I almost jumped on the table. I almost cried! I definitely walked around the rest of the evening randomly shouting out 40, with a fist pump! The part she needs the most work on is reading out loud, so he's suggested for homework she read her sister a bedtime story. That had Maya walking around all night randomly shouting out Yes! with a fist pump!

She's not 100% there yet, but she's close, so close. Thank you Empower. I will sing this program's praises forever to whoever will listen.