PTC

Today was the first parent teacher conference of the year.  I really like D's teacher.  She is so nice.  She has been teaching for 30 years.  She does a marvelous job teaching the Challenge 1st/2nd grade split.  D wanted to come with me so I called a neighbor to stay with the girls.
She had one word to describe D, enthusiastic.  "He is a very enthusiastic learner."  This was said without any sarcasm or fateful pauses.  And if you know D you know that he is an enthusiastic learner.  He gets really excited to learn new things. 
D needs to work on keeping his work neat.  He starts out writing neatly and keeping his paper clean.  As his work progresses it gets sloppier and messier as he doodles more and "decorates" his paper.  uh...I have no idea where he gets that from....
I had a few questions for D's teacher.  Roy and I have been discussing D's educational placement.  We are very happy with the challenge program so far and feel like this is the best place for D right now.  However, we have been wondering if he should be in 2nd grade rather than first.  I was able to talk to her about that.  She assured us that D is doing well in 1st grade and that she would not recommend changing him.  He is a good size for a first grader but would be a small second grade.  Although D is at the top of his age, he would be a year younger than some of the second graders.  He also fits maturity wise with the first graders more than the second graders.  Most of these are things I've felt but it is good to have his teacher reaffirm it.
The second question I've wondered about is how he fits in with his peers while they are playing.  She confirmed that he is fine.  He plays well with his peers.  She has raised two daughters who also went through the Challenge program.  She has observed a lot of play time with a variety of kids and expressed her opinion that often times the kids in the Challenge program "play differently".  This makes sense when I watch D interact with his peers.   He has more fun with the kids who are interested in things he is interested in.   Huh.  Now that I type it sounds really obvious.  We all have more fun with people who share our interests. 
 All in all, it was a great PTC.  I'm excited for D to be in this class.