Parent-Teacher Conference

I had my first ever Parent-Teacher Conference which made me feel very Mom-like. The first thing Miss Amy said was that Adelaide (they call her by her full name at school) was very bright and intelligent. I knew I liked Miss Amy! She said that before she knew that Addie was going to be in her class this Fall, she saw her playing outside during the summer program and hoped that she'd get Addie in her class.

At Addie's Montessori school, they call their activities "work" since they believe that work is a positive activity that kids learn to enjoy and take pride in for their entire lives. She said Addie loves to work and often makes up her own activities, something that usually the four year olds do. Of course, this could also mean that Addie doesn't like to to be told what to do which is something else Miss Amy mentioned. She also said that Addie enjoys math (I had no idea!), was learning her letters (both the sounds they make and the writing of them), loves art and painting (no surprise here), has an affinity for caterpillars (again, no surprise), doesn't nap at school (didn't know this either!) and has an amazing sense of concentration. Addie can concentrate on her work so intensely that they often have a hard time getting her to move on to another activity - like eating lunch. This is one of the reasons we thought Montessori was a good fit for her since they believe in letting the children choose their work and then spend as much time on it as they want until the kids master the task.

I was also glad that Miss Amy demystified a few of the tools they use to teach math and reading so I can help Addie at home using their same method. I also wanted to be able to ask Addie more specific questions about her day other than "What did you do today?" which I think is too broad and often times she just answers the last thing she did. Other than their regular curriculum, we also signed Addie up for dance class on Thursdays and Mad Science program on Fridays. On Saturdays outside of school, she is taking private swim lessons. Busy girl!

I'm oh so happy that Addie is at this school and is really enjoying and thriving in the environment. As my Dad said, public school is gonna be a rough transition for her later on.