Next Stop, Second Grade

I am so darn proud of Gavin! Friday, May 27th, was his last day of school. I met him for lunch for the school cook out and ate lunch with him, and said good-bye to all the kids (I've been helping in the classroom almost every Friday all year). Before we even left the building, he pulled out his report card.

It was awesome! At this age, they are on a 1-4 scale, 4 being ahead of expectations, 3 meeting expectations, 2 progressing towards goal, and 1 meaning needs quite a bit of help. At the end of Kindergarten we still had quite a few 2's, but given th progress he made throughout the year, it wasn't concerning. At the end of 1st grade, he had very few 2's, and a fair amount of 4's! I was particularly happy to see progress made in the non scholastic areas, such as being responsible for his work, getting his work done, etc. Thos types of general skills that are necessary for being successful in that kind of structured school setting. He's always been smart, no issue there, but being focused, knowing what he needs to do, etc, have been lagging. He scored a 2 the first two trimesters and ended with a 3!

The areas that we will work on this summer are comprehension. Hearing or reading information, being able to pick out the relevant facts. This obviously is a literacy skill, but his trouble in this area affects his score on things like problem solving and also his science units. While he is great with memorized math facts, pulling out the relevant pieces of a story problem in order to create a solve the equation requires that comprehension piece.

All in all, it was a great year. I really enjoyed his teacher, Mrs. Rolfes. She takes a pretty stern approach, but was always very open to discussing Gavin's issues or progress with me, and I think her disciplined approach to teaching was something that Gavin really needed this year. While I am thrilled with his scores, I'm even more impressed with the progress that he's made.

Way to go Gavin! I can't believe how far you've come. I know it doesn't always come easy for you, but you have worked really hard this year, and it's paying off.