McGrath Moments

Cheers to Tot and Tales! Braeden is doing so well in Kindergarten and I credit a lot of that success to his teachers at Tots and Tales. The whole time that Braeden went to Tots and Tales(and we were paying all of that tuition $$), I often asked myself, will this all be worth it. Well, I can now say, ABSOLUTELY!

At Delaware Ridge, the K-2nd grade students do not get A, B, C, D, F grades. They get EE(exceeding expectations), ME(meeting expectations), AE(approaching expectations), BE(below expectations), but they also get an overall percentage grade for each subject. Braeden was at or above 95% in everything and even earned some 100%s. Ed and I were just so proud of him!

The conferences are actually called Student Led Conferences and Braeden went through and explained to Ed and I everything he has learned this semester. My favorite thing he described was how his handwriting has improved. He showed us a paper from the beginning of the year where he wrote his name repeatedly. Then he showed us how he can write his name now "with quality". He actually said that! "This is how I write my name now with quality."

They have this board in their classroom where they keep track of which number they can count to and identify. Each student has a star that has their name on it and as they count higher and identify more numbers, they can move their star. The entire class is over in the 10's and 20's. Braeden's star is all by itself in the hundreds. He worked on his numbers a lot at Tots and Tales and it has really helped him out. I know all of this sounds like bragging, but it such a good feeling to see your child doing well and succeeding.

The one thing that his teacher said he needs to work on is taking over too much in a group situation. She said he likes to take charge and doesn't like to give other group members a voice. A small part of me was actually proud of him for this. Everyone who knows me, knows that I am quiet in a group and not really a leader. I was sort of impressed that he was a leader, even if it was too overpowering! His goal for the second semester of school is to let others have a voice in a group setting and not be as overpowering.

One thing that I was disappointed in was his grade in P.E. Yes, I said P.E.! He only got an 88%, which kind of pissed Ed and I off. Who doesn't get an "A" in P.E.? Our neighbor actually contacted the P.E. teacher at progress report time because her daughter didn't get great marks either. He plainly said, "not everyone will get an "A" in P.E.!" Well Mr. P.E. teacher, my child is in Kindergarten, so what is it that you expect him to be able to do that he can't? Does he participate? Does he have good sportsmanship? Is he disruptive in class? What are you basing your grades off of? The only reason I am not going to contact him myself is because I don't want to be that parent YET. I will give it one more semester. My sister and I are two of the most nonathletic people you will ever meet and even we got "A's" in P.E. class!