Parent/Teacher Conferences

We recently had our parent/teacher conference with R.'s kindergarten teacher, Morah (teacher) Erin. Our kid is doing very well, but we still had a lot to talk about. We had a thorough conversation for almost 40 minutes (much longer than the scheduled time). We were not rushed out. Because of the small class she is able to schedule one conference a day.

The conference started with a self-evaluation sheet that R. had filled out. It asked questions about classroom behavior. R. had filled out the sheet very truthfully with some self-criticism and plenty of self-praise. We thought it was both cute and telling.

Then we looked through R.'s writing journal to see how her penmanship, writing, and expression of ideas has improved over the past couple of months. The kids work in a journal every day and it's R's favorite thing to do. It was really fun to look through and read and the progress was amazing.

We learned something about the way our daughter reacts to pressure that we didn't already know. At first, we doubted that Morah Erin was even correct, but now I see exactly what she was talking about. I am now working on adjusted my own behavior while watching R. do her homework. We were also told to stop spelling things for her, which is a really, really hard habit to break, but we're working on that as well. (A retired teacher who volunteers at the school also tapped me on the shoulder in the middle of Shabbat services to remind me that I need to stop spelling for her. How's that for a community school? I love it. It takes a village!)

As parents we send them off for a day of learning and only get back little snippets of what went on in that time. I do feel very lucky, as a parent, to have my child in a school that is small enough to provide me with such a clear window into my child's school life. I am also thankful for a teacher who is willing to sit down with us for a long conversation about how to help a child who is doing well to do even better.