Progress Report

For the first few weeks of school, Max was up at 5 a.m. and ready to get to school! As he adjusted to staying all day at school for five days per week plus soccer practice plus church plus other activities, he gradually has started sleeping in until 6:40. The miracles of school! His teacher sends the homework for the entire week on Monday and Max wants to finish it on the first night, declaring, "I love homework!" That will last for his entire school career, right?

Max's teacher looks like a Disney princess and their behavior management system is appropriately called "Classroom Jewels". You can lose your jewel for not following directions or misbehaving. Students have the opportunity to earn the jewel back before the end of the day, but it starts over each day regardless. So far, Max has not lost his jewel (although he is quick to tell us who in the class has) and I think it might be a major shock if or when it occurs.

We received a postcard from his teacher. It read:

"It is such a blessing to have Max in my class this year! He is a leader in the class. I can always look to him to set a good example for the other students. He is such a happy student!"

His head became so inflated I was afraid it might explode.

Max is not the only one who is a fan of his teacher. One of my fears about kindergarten was that I would no longer be able to go into his classroom frequently like I did in preschool. But his teacher has been very welcoming to parents. I have helped her complete assessments, gone in to take pictures to make a "facebook" for the class, and read to the class. I mentioned that I was a therapist and would love to do a group lesson with the class about coping skills, and she invited me to come on the next school day! I feel very fortunate to be available during the day and able to get to know his friends in the class and sneakily observe my sweet boy, too!

Each student at ACE designed their "hand" to create this piece of art!

His reading has exploded! During the summer we became a little complacent about practicing because Max was so interested in chapter book series, like The Magic Treehouse. At school, he chooses two books on his level each week to bring home and practice. If he can read them back to the teacher without mistakes, he is allowed to choose two more. He has already jumped up several levels in the past month. I love that he practices his books by reading them to Sarah each night!

Max has easily made lots of new friends and become close to several boys. He mentioned that he does not play with the girls very often at school, but he is very charming when we see them at soccer practice or outside of school. His enthusiasm for school has not dimmed as the weeks go by!

Sarah was the most eager to visit Max's classroom for Open House during the family picnic. She jumped and twirled on the "S" for her name, found the art paper and crayons, and began her own masterpiece without help from anyone.

The assistant teacher declared her "ready for kindergarten" after we found her ensconced in the book nook area, and Sarah said, "Yes, I go to schooool with Max! I loove school!"

After hearing her brother rave about kindergarten, we all agree!