Braggin'

We've got some smart kids. Tonight were parent/teacher conferences at the girls' school, and in one classroom after the other, we heard the same compliments. If you know me, you'll allow me this indulgence and forgive my bragging about our children. If you don't know me, what are you doing even reading this blog?! (Just kidding!)

Hillary had started off the school year a tad behind many of her classmates in terms of her reading skills (after spending last year in kindergarten at a parochial school with a more laissez-faire approach to teaching reading), so Susan and I amped up the at-home reading with her and helped her prepare each night for the next-day quiz she would take on her nightly take-home books. Now, it seems, she's one of the top readers in her class, reading at a second- or third-grade reading level. She is an eager participant in class, a good helper for her peers, and an independent worker.

Abigail's third-grade teacher was Suzanna's teacher last year and drew favorable comparisons between the girls. Abigail was chosen as one of a half dozen kids in the class to attend supplemental gifted-and-talented sessions outside of class occasionally (something Suzanna did last year, too). She, too, is a good reader, and it was fun to read some of her writing, as well. We discovered at conferences that Abigail has a student-teacher--something we had not heard about previously from Abigail! Must have slipped her mind.

Suzanna's fourth-grade teacher was Susan's sister Cassie's teacher 20 years ago! She praised Suzanna's reading and writing, etc., and noted Suzanna's outgoing personality ("She's a self-proclaimed drama queen," she said). The teacher told us about her own role in a minor family crisis one day when Hillary's class was invited to Suzanna's classroom to have Halloween stories read to them by the fourth-graders. Suzanna and Hillary had previously discussed it at home and agreed that, because Suzanna can read to Hillary anytime at home, she would select another first-grader to read to that day. However, when that day came, Suzanna's teacher greeted Hillary at the door and led her over to Suzanna, promising the "special treat" of having her sister read to her. When Suzanna said, "No, Hillary, remember? I'm reading to ___ instead," Hillary got caught up in the moment, registered rejection, and started to cry, requiring consolation from Suzanna's teacher.

(Suzanna's teacher also commented on how cute it is that Abigail, in relation to her sisters, introduces herself as the "middlest," as in, "Suzanna is the oldest, Hillary is the youngest, and I'm the middlest.")

The report cards were all good (A's, S's, E's, and the like), the representative work and assessments that the teachers shared were exemplary, and the art projects on display were cute and clever. The girls are fortunate to be in a good school with excellent teachers, and we're fortunate to have daughters who are good students.