I don't know why, but I was very nervous going into conference week. I went back and forth between feeling like I was going into the principal's office and feeling like conferences for a three-year old are pretty pointless. I was also nervous that I was going to feel the urge to defend Bella. (More on that later)
Afterwards, though, I felt like I got really good feedback on how Bella is adjusting in her classroom. I wasn't really worried about the academic side; we know Bella well enough that we're comfortable with what she knows and can do at this point. She's definitely not at the top of her class, and we're absolutely okay with that.
I was very curious about what Ms. Cheryl would say about her social interactions. Does she share? Is she sweet? Can she obey and follow instructions? We just went to a gymnastics birthday party for a little girl in Bella's class, and while 12 other children were sitting nicely and listening to instructions from the gymnastics instructor, Bella was crawling across the mat and whinnying like a horse. (I'm not making this up. I was dying.) I wasn't sure if this boded well for school.
Ms. Cheryl was wonderful! She praised Bella in a way that didn't make me feel like she was just saying it to make me happy. She said that Bella has matured matured by leaps and bounds in her ability to follow instructions and obey. She said Bella can follow steps in a game and wait her turn. I was also really encouraged with her report that Bella is sweet in class and shares. She doesn't do this great at home with Evelyn, so I wasn't sure what she'd be like with classmates.
I don't know if this picture will turn out, but it says that Bella can do most of the things she's presented with. Academically, she still needs to work on identifying all of her letters (she always switches "M" and "W") and her numbers (I think she gets confused with "6" and "9").
We talked a lot about Bella's impulse control. Or maybe, lack of impulse control. Cheryl said that if Bella sees Ms. Betty (her teacher from last year) walking down the hall, Bella will just run out the door to give her a hug. Obviously, this isn't the safest thing, and Bella needs to learn to obey and ask first.
We're working on "obeying the first time" at home a lot, but we do a lot of reminding. And we've definitely experienced the lack of impulse control; I think it's just a little easier for me since I can be one-on-one, and her teachers have a class of 12. But Ms. Cheryl was very encouraging about the improvements Bella has made and how we can work on it together!
Check it out! Bella can write her name! It's very, very rough, but I had no idea she could do this! I think my favorite is her letter "B".
Clearly we need to work on cutting along a straight line! This was Bella's rectangle. At first, I just thought it was scrap paper until Ms. Cheryl asked if I wanted to take it home. Oops!
The conference went so great, and I loved getting to talk to Ms. Cheryl about the good parts and the "needs improvement" parts!
It's still weird to say that the older Bella gets, the more protective I feel. When I was a teacher and we would have a student who was just so disrespectful and manipulative, I could never understand why a parent would come in and defend the child. Or even believe them over us! In a very small way, I am starting to understand that urge. I still don't agree with it and I'm hoping I'll be able to fight it if Bella is ever in that situation, but I definitely understand it more.
And this was only Bella's three-year old conference with a teacher who loves her! Whew!
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