Imaginary play.

Drew is currently playing with Tianna and Toya. They're having a grand old time and I am enjoying listening to him talk to them.
I love my son's imaginary friends.

Montessori Parent/Teacher Conference.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending Kat's Parent/Teacher Conference for Montessori school. No surprises there. Kat is a pleasure to have in class. Kat is engaged. Kat is learning. Kat nurtures others. Kat cares.

Her teacher Mrs. T mentioned that she feels intimidated to send home books for Kat because I am a librarian and I know more about children's literature. Pish! I was able to reassure her that we don't care what Kat reads, as long as she is enjoying herself. I have a list of books I want both Kat and Drew to read before they hit middle school but we can do that on our own time, no need to worry about that!

I was also able to address the homework problem. Kat has too much homework each week. Kat doesn't need homework. Kat is 5 and reads on a third grade level and does second grade math and is a good citizen. Kat needs to play after school. Mrs. T agreed with me and we made the decision that if she noticed Kat struggling to grasp any concept that she would let us know right away and that we'd work with her at home.

It was a nice conference where I didn't learn anything new about Kat just some reinforcement that Kat is well liked and doing fine.

All about Drew.

I realize this blog has been Kat-heavy. Kat is kind of larger than life. She demands, she commands. Kat is just...Kat.

Now Drew, on the other hand, Drew is more of a sleeper. He's mellow and quiet and deep. He doesn't ask for much. He wants his toy cars, a quiet place to play, and sugar to eat. It's easy to focus all of my "worry" attention on Kat and to just quietly enjoy Drew without talking about it too much. Drew is a great kid. He's funny and silly and shy and loving. There is no one like him in this whole world.

When Drew was born he was diagnosed with complete hearing loss in his left ear. We took him to an ENT about a month after his first hearing test in the hospital to have a more extensive test done. I was certain CERTAIN the ENT was going to say that Drew had fluid in his ear at birth and he was fine now. Nope, he was definitely deaf in his left ear. The first ENT we went to was lacking in bedside manner. He told us the news of Drew's hearing with one foot out the exam room door and a hand on his cell phone. We had questions but we needed a minute to form them. We ended up following him down the hall trying to ask. The ENT simply told us to return in 6 months.

I wasn't happy with that so I called over to the University hospital in the next town and found an AuD to test Drew. The AuD was incredible. He was kind and cooperative. He answered questions we didn't know that we had. He led to us our current ENT, a fact for which we will be forever grateful for. Our current ENT was the first person who said that Drew's hearing loss might be a byproduct of Cytomegalovirus. Three doctors later Drew was diagnosed with CMV. The neurologist who saw us after the diagnosis told us not to expect Drew to walk or talk. At this point Drew was 9 months old and I had a pretty good handle on him. I kept saying that I think he is going to be fine. I think he is going to be fine. I was told that I was in denial and that I was going to have to accept that Drew would never be typical.

Well, he isn't typical. That's for sure.

Drew is a bright little boy. He's obsessed with numbers and is starting to read. He has an imaginary friend named Tianna who drives a red car and goes way too fast and is always getting into scrapes that involve tow trucks. Tianna is 5 and a half and has a sister named Toya.

Drew goes to preschool and loves it. We opted to send him to public school preschool for two days a week instead of 5 day a week Montessori like we did for Kat at the same age because Drew is a homebody. He's thriving in his little school, making friends and having lots of fun.

Drew is easy to love.

"Kat is perfect."

Yesterday we had our first official parent/teacher conference and I was really worried about it knowing how our last one had crashed and burned. This conference was completely different. The teacher was receptive to our thoughts, she was full of praise for Kat, the entire atmosphere of the room was positive.

Ms. M said that "Kat is perfect." She is the student that Ms. M can always count on to do the right thing. She is the student that Ms. M will call on when the principal enters the room because she can be sure that Kat will answer correctly and make her look good. (Sheesh but kind of funny.) She again recommended that we send Kat to the area GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) school for testing. We spoke about Kat's report card that came home earlier this week and how it couldn't have been better. It literally could not have been better, there was not one place for improvement.

She also asked us some bizarre questions. "Where does Kat do her homework?" At the kitchen table. "Does Kat sleep well at night?" No, but she goes to bed at 7:30 each and every night.
We requested that Kat be paired up with an upper elementary student for one on one reading sessions a few times each week. Surprisingly, Ms. M was very receptive to this idea.

Ms. M also commented on Kat's appearance, saying she is too cute with her red hair and that most of the teachers at the school joke about wanting to take her home with them. (Odd but sweet.)

I kind of wonder if at the first conference Ms. M was unprepared and that she really hadn't gotten to know Kat yet and just thought we were typical adoring parents who thought their child was the most wonderful/smartest creature on earth when actually their child was a typically developing kindergartner who would be best served in a mainstream class. At this second conference Ms. M couldn't say enough nice things about Kat. She commented that our daughter is gifted and agreed that she does need differentiated instruction.

I vacillate between thinking Kat needs to be taught at her level in school most of the time even thought that means that Ms. M would have to do a lot more work to make that happen and between thinking that as long as Kat is happy and not complaining that we should just go with the flow. I worry that she will learn bad habits if her schoolwork is consistently too easy. Hopefully the GATE testing will give us some real answers on what the best course of action is.

I am glad the conference went well and I am glad it is over.

First ever report card.

Kat got her first report card yesterday. She was graded on reading, math, behavior, art, and gym. It was a Stepford style report card. She got the highest possible score on every item she was graded on. This is what the school district says her grades evaluate as:

High achievement of grade level objectives: Consistently applies concepts and/or skills to meet grade level expectations. Students achieving at this level demonstrate superior academic performance, competency of subject matter knowledge and application of this knowledge to real-world situations. These students: Can extend their understanding by making meaningful, multiple connections among important ideas of concepts and provide supporting evidence for inferences and justification of solutions. Apply concepts and skills to solve problems using appropriate strategies.

Now, don't get me wrong. We are incredibly proud. Our daughter has done wonderfully these past 2.5 months of school. However, this begs the question.

What has she actually learned?

She has come home with stars on all of her assignments, but she hasn't mentioned a single thing that was tricky or fun or interesting. She does mention the singing and dancing they do each day and we couldn't be happier about that. Singing and dancing are beautiful, age appropriate activities. More, please!

I am worried that Kat is going to learn a poor work ethic. If school is this easy, what is going to happen to her when something challenging arises. Is she going to give up? Is she going to coast until graduation?

Tomorrow is our official parent teacher conference and we plan to ask for Kat to be paired up with a high achieving fourth grader (as high as our school goes) for enrichment. I am even willing to provide the enrichment so the teacher doesn't have to.

Who would have thought that having a smart child would be so worrisome?

Freedom.

Yesterday, Kat's school had a fundraiser at Chuck E Cheese. When you walk in the door at Chuck E Cheese your hand is stamped in ink that glows under a black light. No one gets out unless the entire groups numbers match. Our family all had the number 909 last night.
So, once we got in to Chuck E Cheese I allowed my children to play freely. They went this way and that way. They had a great time while I was busy chairing the event, selling raffle tickets, and talking with other parents.
Through the course of the evening I noticed a couple of parents horrified with me for allowing my children to have so much freedom. While I can kind of appreciate their points. Yes, it is a room filled with strangers. Yes, any number of bad, bad things could happen. Yes, they might get hurt/lost/scared. I also want to make my own points. It is a room filled with parents. I might not know all of them but I know that I am not going to just walk past a crying child and leave them to fend for themselves whether I know that child or not. I want my children to feel capable of making their own choices and providing safe places to explore on their own is an important step in that growth.
All's well that ends well. My children had a fabulous time, I got my fundraising work done, we all came home safe and happy. Another score for free range parenting.

STEM-girl.

Today I took Kat to a genetics laboratory at the local University. A gal I went to high school with is now "Dr. A Gal I Went to High School With" and runs a lab in the natural sciences department. I thought it would be a great experience for Kat to see a woman running a lab and it was.
Kat learned about microscopes and using CO2 as a sleep agent for fruit flies. She was taught to identify male and female fruit flies and their body parts. It was fabulous!
Dr. A Gal I Went to High School With did a great job at speaking with Kat at an appropriate level and Kat was able to answer her questions impressively.
We will definitely have to plan more laboratory field trips soon!