Parent Teacher Conference

Here is Mrs. McDowell holding Brian's favorite vision of the day: "Flowers with Light Sabers!!!" And is that a Darth Vader butterfly in the sky?!? The teachers had noticed that Leia Rose loves Star Wars, "Especially the bad guys," says Leia. (What!?!) They said that she wanted to draw a picture that was Star Wars related, said her favorite character was Darth Vader, but still didn't quite know enough about the story to draw something (which would make sense because she has only seen "Star Wars Tech" from the History Channel). Anyway, she decided on butterflies and flowers, . . . with a Star Wars twist! Love it! ; )

Leia Rose liking "bad guys" wasn't the first thing that surprised me today, actually. The only thing written on Leia's progress report as "needs improvement" was "neatness." (What!?!) What I will say is that the issue was "neatness" for lack of a better word. ; ) Turns out that Leia Rose has been spreading out her works all over the tables of the classroom and then getting mad at other children for touching her works. (Ha!) This is EXACTLY what she does at home, . . . which is monopolize the entire house with any particular playtime project which NEVER consists of parts from ONE particular toy, . . . it's always several combined together out of her own imagination. [For example, today in later pictures and later posts you'll see Leia Rose carrying around an Easter basket with her Armelle doll who is wearing Cabbage Patch Kid clothes and snuggled in a kitty blanket. ; ) ] Although this kind of activity shows great imagination, it really causes trouble in regards to clean-up. How can we ask Leia Rose to put something away when she is still playing with something from that particular set? *sigh* It has been something that plagued us for simply YEARS now. And SO interesting how much insight a school teacher gets about a child's home life. : ) All of our flaws are always revealed. : ) Now to decide how to keep Leia's creativity somewhat contained for the good of all. Brian and I talked about it at dinner, . . . as Brian mentioned the concern to Leia Rose. (She always takes these ideas to heart, especially when they come as constructive criticism from her teachers.) Bet she won't be doing that again at school. As for home, we talked about lots of things, . . . but the key was to make it be enforceable (which is quite hard). We finally decided on having her use a "mat" similar to the white ones the kids do works on at school when she plays downstairs. We have some issues with limiting the amount of items she takes from other toys just because we REALLY don't want to stifle that creativity. HOWEVER, if we require her to play on a "mat," she will have to clean up the remaining articles that she's not using. We don't think it will work to make this a "chore," but it'll be a warning/thinking-chair type of requirement. We'll institute it tomorrow, . . . and we'll see how it works.

Yet another surprise was the comment, "Leia Rose is really enjoying her chores!" (What?!?) The thought was that Leia truly understands and enjoys the responsibility of being a part of this family. Yay! I had NO idea she would talk about those at school. I will say that there isn't really much complaining about them any more. She does them before dinner (often right before dinner), and I'm really proud of her for it. Maybe I could change it to right when she gets home from school, though. Then she wouldn't have to stop her play for chores. That's never fun. : )

Things to note: I am just thrilled at all marks of "Strong Progress" in regards to ALL Social Behavior and Emotional Growth!!! This was our big worry at the beginning of Leia's schooling in that, at that point, she was an only child with all of the issues involved.

Another great thing is that Leia Rose seems to be doing a great job making good friends with lots of children in the class, and not clinging to just one. Yay! Well-Roundedness!!! ; )

Here is the Remarks/Recommendations part of the form:
"Leia Rose continues to explore and enjoy her environment. She is a busy worker and enjoys either independent or group work. Games in listening, rhyming, following directions, counting, ordering, and vocabulary will help Leia Rose to transition into her next school experience."

How did Mrs. Schnell know I was going to ask that? ; ) That was my one big question today, was about that transition. And except for the "neatness" factor mentioned above, they think Leia is ready! ; ) Yay!

Here is an interesting double-sheet set that Mrs. Schnell included. (And whenever she hands us this at each parent-teacher conference, she does so with a smile, . . . I think because she just can't believe how very many works Leia Rose likes to dabble in, . . . or as Mrs. Schnell puts it, Leia is always very "busy." ; ) Anyway, the list on the left (marked "L") are the things that Leia Rose is required to do or asked to do by the teachers. The list on the right (marked "C") are the things that Leia Rose chooses to do on her own time. The funny thing is that the second sheet is just since January! ; ) Yes, I'd say she's busy. My favorite thing about seeing these lists each time is that, in my opinion, the number of works that Leia Rose does and enjoys = her love of learning. : ) Yay!

The other really wonderful thing that Mrs. Schnell and Mrs. McDowell were sure to tell us is that Leia Rose is always respectful, and mindful of the teachers (even if they tell her to do something she doesn't particularly want to do). A frequent comment of theirs today was, "We're so glad that you explain things to Leia Rose." or "We can tell that you explain things to Leia and, therefore, she truly listens when we ask her to do the same." (Yay!). Following this, the teachers and I had an interesting conversation: Explaining things to a child is NOT the norm in society right now, and I'm convinced the reason is one particular book that lots of people swear by. So first let me say, I know that a few of my best friends LOVE 1-2-3 Magic, and on the book's behalf I will say that it's got some really great ideas about "start" and "stop" behaviors and how you need to use different ways to deal with them. This being said, my big issue with that book is that it specifically says NOT to explain to your child (especially in regards to discipline), that all they have to know is that you are the boss, and that's it. Now, yes, I think it's important for the child to know that the parent is in charge (and I use that phrase a lot), I just think that every child, as a human being, deserves to hear WHY they are required to behave in a certain way, whether they understand it or not. Thank goodness differences of opinion make the world go round, eh? ; )