Sunday, February 21, 2010

Gavin - "Star Student" and 2nd Trimester Conferences

On Monday we had the second trimester conferences at Gavin's school. Right now he has a long term substitute while his teacher is on maternity leave. First, the good news - Gavin scored 3's on all the math components - 3 means "at grade level" BUT they actually don't expect them to reach 3 on the math components until the END of the school year - way to go Gavin! Spreadsheets are in your future!

More good news is that he scored a 4 in science! They are only starting to work on science concepts (5 senses, a unit on paper) but 4 is ahead of expectations, and only a couple kids got a 4.

Reading - this continues to be a struggle. I think he understands individual concepts (sounding out a word) but is having trouble applying the concepts (write the word). I've noticed he's also pretty inconsistent. He scored 2's in almost all the new reading components, which means "progressing towards grade level". Unlike math, they are assessed at each trimester, and he should be at a 3 now. He's been included in a special small group reading support that meets daily. Which I thought he started months ago, as they sent home a note to sign, and I guess it never got going. I asked if how far behind was he and was it bad enough to consider being held back, and much to my relief it's no where near that point. Nevertheless, I think it will be smart to get him a tutor over the summer, just to at least keep up with what he has learned or get him up to speed if need be. I'm not disappointed he needs the help. I'm quite proud of all he's accomplished given he shouldn't even really be in school this year (if we went by his due date).

And finally, Gavin was the Star Student last week! Each kid is the Star of the Week one week of the year and there were many fun special activities including me going to lunch with him. Friday all the students made a page for a special book for him. Let me tell you, NOTHING made me prouder than reading that book. Of course I will always be proud of his school or sports accomplishments, but I read what these kids wrote and can tell what a good person he is becoming. They all said how nice he is or how fun he is to play with or how "he never yells" (huh??). And this kid is already winning over the ladies. One little girl wrote "I (heart) him" and another girl wrote "I love him". I can't believe it's starting already, my little Cassanova!

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