Proud Parents

So we had Parent Teacher Conferences last night and I am a very proud mama! We heard nothing but great things from ALL of the teachers. We really are blessed to have kids that are working hard and loving school. It has been quite a challenge, but we are grateful. Here is the rundown.
Cayden - Cayden's teacher, Ms Anderson, LOVES Cayden. (We tend to hear this every year from his teachers. They all LOVE Cayden!) She is a big "The Office" fan, so I did some Photoshop magic and made her an awesome little poster of her and the men from The Office. It was hilarious. Anyway, she said that Cayden is just an amazing student. He LOVES to learn and learn and learn. He is getting great grades and always turns his work in. He is really loving writing poetry lately and is also great at math. He really excels in science (this would be something he gets from his dad.) And he is an really good friend to everyone.
McKell - McKell has made huge strides since the beginning of the year in her confidance and independence! This according to her first grade teacher, Mrs. Stoll. She said that McKell is just a super student and she loves having her in class. She said she has a thirst for knowledge and a true love of learning. She has never seen ANY student at this age who has such a deep desire to know things. (Again, we'll give this one to her dad). She said that McKell is especially fascinated with History and asks really deep and thought out questions that prompt a lot of good discussions in their class. She is very sure of what she believes in and stands up for it. She can tend to be a little bit social and chatter a little too much (oops, here come Mom's genes!) One thing that we found really interesting is that Mrs Stoll pointed out that McKell is incredibly sweet and kind to others and she fears it borderlines on being naive and she worries that as McKell gets older, that the other kids might recognize this and take advantage of it. That was really interesting to hear. How do you work on that one? McKell really is very trusting and sweet and kind by nature. I guess we'll just have to work with her in those social settings. We were also told that McKell is an incredible reader!
Ashlee - Ash is always our wild card, but we are happy to report that she is doing GREAT! She has the sweetest first grade teacher, Mrs Riches who truly truly loves Ashlee. In fact, she got kind of teary eyed last night when we were talking to her because she said she is already dreading the thought of not having Ashlee in her class next year. Wow, that is nice to hear. But not too surprising...Ashlee can have her challenges, but by darn, she is endearing for sure! Mrs Riches said that Ashlee is a star when it comes to anything where she has to present something to the class like an oral report etc. She said she is amazing at it! She is doing so much better in everything and they are seeing huge strides. This was a big relief after our middle of the year "slump" that we hit. She said that Ashlee is doing much better on staying where she is supposed to be, raising her hand, etc. which are all things that she struggles with. I asked how she was interacting with the other kids and she said that she does great. And she is with a group of kids that really look out for her and praise her etc. That makes me feel so much better. We were told that there is a kid in the class that is new this year so he didn't get to have Kindergarten with Ashlee to warm up to her and he is struggling with her a bit. He apparently has a bad case of "little man syndrome" and is really mean to Ashlee. But luckily, the teachers picked up on it right away and are in constant talks with his parents, who of course, sided with their son for whatever reason. Her teacher said that she finally really let them have it and told them that this was not ever instigated by Ashlee and that he needed to stop. She thinks the parents finally clued in that their little "angel" isn't so innocent in all things. YES!

So, that is our report from Navigator Pointe. When I have an evening like I did last night, it makes ALL of the hours I spend in the car going back and forth to that school worth every bit of it! I just can't put a price of time, money, gas, etc. on my kids' education and for us, this is THE best option. I know Charter schools aren't for everyone, but for us? Yeah, we'll keep it!