Teacher Conferences

Last night Kain and Gage had their parent teacher conferences... as usual only one parent went, which was me. Last time all of us tried going but the little ones were a bit out of control so it was kind of like just one of us was there anyway.

Kain's was first. This is his first year with a new teacher since they keep the same teacher through two grades at their school. She is really nice and Kain seems to enjoy her. He said 3rd grade is his favorite grade so far. As all of his teachers have always done she had wonderful things to say about him and I left with that tightness that creeps in when extreme pride creeps in when someone compliments my children. She said he has done great with his reading and writing and they are going to start working more with doing research papers in the next few months and he does need to follow through with doing complete work. I guess he is great with his reading and writing but doesn't always take the time to finish his artwork to go with it. He does great in science and his math teacher had the same great things to say about him. They both said personally Kain is very considerate and respectful to others and follows directions well. He has wonderful ideas that he contributes to class and makes the most of his time that he has during class. She finished it up with saying she would love more in her class just like him!

Gage's was after Kain's. Gage has Kain's teacher from the last two years. He is in 1st grade which is such a big transition. He is learning to read and it is slow coming for him but he is making steady improvements. His math teacher said he is doing great in her class but sometimes struggles to focus which may contribute to his frustration doing his homework some nights. It was obvious to me from when he went through his work and told me about it that art continues to be his love. He struggled a little with reading his work back to me but anything that he drew he could go into great detail telling me about and his excitement showed through with it. His teacher said that Gage also listens well in class and is extremely well behaved. She also said that he shows signs of a typical second child (which came as no surprise to Dave and I) that he looks for a lot of approval and he will do anything that is asked of him but does not always take his own initiative doing it. She would love to see his confidence improve and see his express himself and his own ideas more.

So as any parent we love to hear the praise of our children from others. We have always known that Gage would be more right brained like his parents and that Kain is definitely left brained, that I suppose is a recessive gene because it doesn't come from Dave or I. But I suppose this is the beauty of having each part of you such an individual... they both have their strengths and weaknesses and that is what makes the world do interesting and our household as well!

The boys also just finished their exploratory this week. Twice a year they spend their afternoons for one week doing an extra activity of their choice. Kain did golf and Gage did roller skating (Golf was not available for his grade yet, he was a little bummed). Kain of course had a blast with golf. Gage seemed to really enjoy skating, although I think he always enjoyed ice skating more than Kain did and was more fearless with it. Now they will have to wait until March for their next exploratory.