The First Report Card

We met with Mrs. Mckenzie, Ava's teacher, during the afternoon of Thursday, 10/27.  I was so anxious to see how Ava was doing in class!  When we arrived, Mrs. Mckenzie mentioned that Doug was her second "Dad" of the day, so he got the big chair.  ;-) 

Mrs. Mckenzie is amazing.  And wow, Ava is ONLY in kindergarten.  But to know the skills she is expected to master... it's daunting!  Going into the conference, I thought Ava was probably the best reader in the class, based on the popcorn word lists she has mastered versus her classmates.  Mrs. Mckenzie mentioned she does have quite the range of readers in her class, with some even reading fluently right now.  I thought Ava would be considered a fluent reader.  Mrs. Mckenzie mentioned she would've put Ava in the #2 readers, but because Ava read the #2 book and couldn't answer questions about what she just read, Mrs. Mckenzie opted to put her in the #1 group, until Ava comprehended what she read.  I honestly think Ava could've answered questions after she read the #2 book a second time, but alas, we will just continue reading every night and see where it takes us.  I realized that I need to be reading with her more.  We've been so busy lately with things, that I honestly haven't done as much reading with her as I would like. 

So, it's definitely a learning curve for me, to get used to what is expected of students, how they determine reading level, etc.  I bought some cheap readers from Lakeshore Learning Store and Ava is gobbling them up.  I bought a huge range of reading levels, so she could build her confidence on easier books and then attempt the more difficult level books if she wanted to do so.  She can read up through level G-H right now.  I didn't buy any higher than the G-H level.  For now, I think we'll concentrate on boosting the confidence level.  She seems to be having fun with it, but does get immediately intimidated if there are too many words on one page. 

Everything Mrs. Mckenzie told us was confirmation of what we've known already.  It's very cool to see Ava's sweet personality and listen to what her teachers say about her.  She is our creative, determined, focused, music-and-art-loving little princess.  I was very glad to hear Mrs. Mckenzie say that Ava takes constructive criticism well.  She has been sensitive in the past with crticism, but seems to really be embracing any criticism if it is given in a constructive way.  With their writing assignments, Mrs. Mckenzie says each child in the class is given a "Wow" statement, as well as a "Wish" statement.  The "wow" statement giving praise for something the child did, the "wish" statement allowing the teacher to give the student some constructive criticism.  I love that every child gets this, that it is given in a structured way, so as not to make the child feel inadequate.  Ava is blossoming in class.  She can be playful at times, but when she is told to change her behavior, she does very well. 

She really seems to love school!  We let her pick out a few books at Target that night, to celebrate her amazing report card.  :)

Peace, love and a GREAT first report card!
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam