School Pictures and PTC

The kids got their school pictures back last week and I thought they both turned out very well. I wanted to share them with everyone. Our scanner still isn't working (I don't think it ever will work again, we'll have to get a new one someday) so these are photo's of pictures and not the best quality, but you get the idea. We also just had Parent Teacher Conference and I thought I'd share a little of what they're teachers said about them.

My beautiful Sarah Kate. I can't believe how big she's getting. 2nd grade already and growing up so quickly. What a cutie!

Sarah Kate's teacher, Mrs. Melander, said she's doing great in school. She excels in everything she does. She got her first round of testing back and she's at or above grade level in every area. Mrs. Melander said for reading they expect scores to drop significantly over the summer, due to changing from decoding in 1st grade to reading sentences in 2nd. Sarah apparently jump up in scores as much as the average kid goes down. She's definitely our bookworm and I love it. It's so much fun to see her really get into a book. Currently her books of choice are the American Girl books and she's really enjoying the way life was back in the 1800's and early 1900's. Mrs. Melander also said Sarah Kate is very sweet and a great helper. She can always count on Sarah to do things without being asked. She gets along well with others and is very pleasant in class. She's kind of a brown noser, like her mom, but I don't mind. She loves school, excels with a challenge, and is learning more and more everyday. She's one of those kids you don't need to go to parent teacher conference for, but it's good to go anyway. :)

Benjamin James! Lately Ben's been having trouble taking good pictures. He stares blankly at the camera with a half smile. I worked with him on the way to school the morning of pictures, and I think he nailed it. What a handsome devil and a great kindergarten picture!

Ben's PTC was a success as well. He's an awesome boy whose doing very well. His IRI (reading test) scores were very good as well. Being in Kindergarten he wasn't test on much more than letters and their sounds, but he did very good with all those. Ms. England said she wishes she had more to challenge Ben. He's very advanced in his class and he gets bored easily. They're looking into getting some new computers in the classroom to challenge him more. For now Ms. England's just doing what she can. Ben's still going to his Discovery class every Monday, he's allowed to go to the library by himself every morning to get a new book because he reads his book every night, and when he finishes his work first he's allowed to read a book or do a puzzle while waiting for the rest of the class instead of putting his head on his desk. He's enjoyed the special attention and the feeling of being cool because he gets to do things the other kids don't get to do. He's working on the other aspect of kindergarten. He's the leader at his table and is very strong willed. In true Ben fashion he thinks he knows what to do with his work and often doesn't listen to the directions. They're working on a number of things like that. He's a good boy, he's just still learning how to work in a team and follow directions, things most kindergarteners need to learn. I'm very proud of him and I love that he loves to learn. I'm so excited to see what he becomes.