Brady and I were broken into school fully today, as we attended our first parent/teacher meeting! And I say “meeting” in the loosest sense of the word, but “interview” and “conference” weren’t right either. It wasn’t a stiff, sit-down, setting. Instead, there were a few stations set up throughout the two rooms, and we were given loose directions at each one that would help us witness what our kids have been doing so far this year. Since Dekker tells us virtually nothing about school, I’ve been really anticipating today’s meeting.
My mom came to the house to play with Rowan and Laela (Solly napped the entire time) and Brady came along with Dekker and I! We arrived on time and were sort of pointed in a handful of directions, told to mosey and enjoy. So we did!
We started at the “motor skills” table, where Dekker cut out a picture of a teddy bear, wrote his name on it, and glued it to a sheet of paper. Dekker has pretty much refused to use scissors when school started, but we hear that now he’s a very focused, determined scissor-user 🙂
We made our way to the “math” station, which was all about shapes, sorting, and patterns. I was actually really surprised at how well Dekker did! Not that basic patterns are hard to figure out, but we handed him a box of shapes and he just went for it, and made patterns! I feel like I would find that more intimidating than he did. He was able to see patterns that Brady and I made, and complete them himself. Win!
Station three was about reading, and he kind of clammed up on us there. They’ve only really cracked down on learning a small handful of letters, but he didn’t want to share about them. He wouldn’t recite any of their usual poems, and wouldn’t identify any letters. I found myself getting a bit frustrated, but I knew that he had excelled at the other stations, and this one just wasn’t his strongest point yet. He still liked being in the reading area, but I could tell he felt pressured. It was good to learn what we should be focusing more on.
The last station was actually sitting down with his teacher and discussing how he’s been doing, and what we’ve witnessed about him. For example, does he like to come to school? Who are his friends? How does he do once he’s home from school? Things like that. She and I have spoken about these things previously, so she knows that Dekker likes coming to school. I said to her that he wouldn’t tell us anything about their poems or letters, and she teased him and started saying a poem, which he giggled through with her, knowing all of the words. I mentioned to her that he has really big feelings, and that while his sad is VERY sad, his happy is also VERY happy. She was able to look me in the eye and say that the vast majority of the time, he is VERY happy. I was so thrilled to hear that. She said he is incredibly polite, and that he is very aware of right and wrong, and likes to follow directions and rules. I truly couldn’t be happier with her “review” of his personality, because I love how much she seems to love him. She asked him who his friends are, and then told him that other kids had been saying that he was one of their favorite people to play with, too. My mama heart weeps, in the best way.
Dekker was disappointed to leave. Not in a big, sad, making a scene kind of way. In the way that his face fell, and said “but there’s lots more to see!” It was adorable, and I just told him I was so happy he likes school so much.
Best Dekker update ever!!!