Kindergarten Klass: Jimmy's First Report Card
In kindergarten there are no letter or percentage grades. If the student has mastered a particular skill, there is a + on the report card. If that skill has not been mastered, there is a - . There are letter grades for conduct and certain activities and extra-curricular class time, such as music. Those are the universal E, S, I and U (Excellent, Satisfactory, Improvement needed and Unsatisfactory).
So here's how my genius son measures up!
Reading and Development:
Knows Basic 11 Colors . . . +
Recognizes Name . . . +
Listens Attentively . . . - (I saw that one coming.)
Math & Science Development:
Notices Likenesses & Differences . . . +
Identifies Positional Words . . . +
Identifies & Compares Shapes . . . +
Counts & Creates Sets of Objects . . . +
Counts Orally . . . +
Participates in Scientific Process . . . S (I guess he doesn't volunteer so much.)
Other Activities:
Participates in Social Studies Activities . . . S (Again, with the volunteering theory.)
Participates in Music Activities . . . E (He gets the music interest from me.)
Health/Physical Development:
Uses Glue Appropriately . . . - (Yup, I saw that one coming too.)
Holds Pencil/Crayon Correctly . . . +
Jumps/Hops . . . +
Social/Emotional Development:
Listens Attentively . . . S (At home he gets a "needs improvement".)
Follows Directions . . . S (He has his own ways, of course.)
Works Neatly . . . S- (I could tell that by his schoolwork.)
Uses Work Time Appropriately . . . S (Ugh! Another "satisfactory".)
Treats Others with Respect . . . S (Well, he is a boy, after all.)
Shares Cooperatively . . . S (Yeah.)
Overall Conduct Summary . . . S
First Reporting Period Note from Teacher:
"Jimmy is a wonderful addition to our classroom. He is eager to learn but needs to work on neatness in his classwork."
Jimmy also received a certificate awarding him for his perfect attendance this grading period.
Now, about this neatness of classwork and appropriate use of class time . . . Jim and I had a wee chat with him last night about what this means. Jimmy told us that when he finishes his classwork and is waiting for the next thing, he simply gets bored and starts to draw pictures all over his paper. Not that this is a bad thing entirely -- I mean, yes, he could stop drawing dinosaurs and robots all over his schoolwork while he's waiting for others to get done with the assignment. But this means that he is not stimulated enough. He wants more to do. He is eager to learn more and move on to learning the next thing.
In addition to what I have said above, Jimmy brought home a survey-like form for us to fill out about the district's gifted and talented program. It asked us to rate from 1 to 5 (1 being he is below average of other kids his age, 3 being average, and 5 being he is way above average of kids his age) things like . . . Is your son/daughter creative in making up stories to tell? Does he/she pay attention to detail? Does you child find different solutions to a problem? Is he/she a social butterfly? You know, basic skills a kindergartner may or may not have at this stage. About 50% of our answers were 5, and the rest were split between 4 and 3. He particularly excelled at the creative aspect and reading skills we have seen him demonstrate at home. I sent the form back to school with him this morning. I wonder if he will be tested for the gifted and talented program based on our numeric responses . . .
Another thing about kindergarten I have noticed, especially recently, is that my son is reading. Not just looking at the pictures in a book and making up a story to along with them or reciting a story from a book he has been read a hundred times, but really, really, really reading! These last couple of weeks Jimmy has sat down with me and read to me from Dr. Seuss books and articles in his Highlights magazine. Sure, there are words with which he has a lot of trouble, especially those with silent letters and confusing stuff like that, and I read those to him, but that only happens about 10% of the time. Last night he was reading an article in Highlights about the different kinds of firetrucks. And I just sat there and listened to him tell me all about tanker trucks and ladder trucks and safety rescue trucks. I had no idea there were so many different kinds of firetrucks. Jimmy has really mastered sounding out letters until he has read the word. My buddy is so smart! I don't even remember reading until I was in first grade.
Overall, we are pleased with Jimmy's kindergarten learning. I am especially overjoyed at his reading skills. It's nice to have someone read me a story for a change, hee hee!
So here's how my genius son measures up!
Reading and Development:
Knows Basic 11 Colors . . . +
Recognizes Name . . . +
Listens Attentively . . . - (I saw that one coming.)
Math & Science Development:
Notices Likenesses & Differences . . . +
Identifies Positional Words . . . +
Identifies & Compares Shapes . . . +
Counts & Creates Sets of Objects . . . +
Counts Orally . . . +
Participates in Scientific Process . . . S (I guess he doesn't volunteer so much.)
Other Activities:
Participates in Social Studies Activities . . . S (Again, with the volunteering theory.)
Participates in Music Activities . . . E (He gets the music interest from me.)
Health/Physical Development:
Uses Glue Appropriately . . . - (Yup, I saw that one coming too.)
Holds Pencil/Crayon Correctly . . . +
Jumps/Hops . . . +
Social/Emotional Development:
Listens Attentively . . . S (At home he gets a "needs improvement".)
Follows Directions . . . S (He has his own ways, of course.)
Works Neatly . . . S- (I could tell that by his schoolwork.)
Uses Work Time Appropriately . . . S (Ugh! Another "satisfactory".)
Treats Others with Respect . . . S (Well, he is a boy, after all.)
Shares Cooperatively . . . S (Yeah.)
Overall Conduct Summary . . . S
First Reporting Period Note from Teacher:
"Jimmy is a wonderful addition to our classroom. He is eager to learn but needs to work on neatness in his classwork."
Jimmy also received a certificate awarding him for his perfect attendance this grading period.
Now, about this neatness of classwork and appropriate use of class time . . . Jim and I had a wee chat with him last night about what this means. Jimmy told us that when he finishes his classwork and is waiting for the next thing, he simply gets bored and starts to draw pictures all over his paper. Not that this is a bad thing entirely -- I mean, yes, he could stop drawing dinosaurs and robots all over his schoolwork while he's waiting for others to get done with the assignment. But this means that he is not stimulated enough. He wants more to do. He is eager to learn more and move on to learning the next thing.
In addition to what I have said above, Jimmy brought home a survey-like form for us to fill out about the district's gifted and talented program. It asked us to rate from 1 to 5 (1 being he is below average of other kids his age, 3 being average, and 5 being he is way above average of kids his age) things like . . . Is your son/daughter creative in making up stories to tell? Does he/she pay attention to detail? Does you child find different solutions to a problem? Is he/she a social butterfly? You know, basic skills a kindergartner may or may not have at this stage. About 50% of our answers were 5, and the rest were split between 4 and 3. He particularly excelled at the creative aspect and reading skills we have seen him demonstrate at home. I sent the form back to school with him this morning. I wonder if he will be tested for the gifted and talented program based on our numeric responses . . .
Another thing about kindergarten I have noticed, especially recently, is that my son is reading. Not just looking at the pictures in a book and making up a story to along with them or reciting a story from a book he has been read a hundred times, but really, really, really reading! These last couple of weeks Jimmy has sat down with me and read to me from Dr. Seuss books and articles in his Highlights magazine. Sure, there are words with which he has a lot of trouble, especially those with silent letters and confusing stuff like that, and I read those to him, but that only happens about 10% of the time. Last night he was reading an article in Highlights about the different kinds of firetrucks. And I just sat there and listened to him tell me all about tanker trucks and ladder trucks and safety rescue trucks. I had no idea there were so many different kinds of firetrucks. Jimmy has really mastered sounding out letters until he has read the word. My buddy is so smart! I don't even remember reading until I was in first grade.
Overall, we are pleased with Jimmy's kindergarten learning. I am especially overjoyed at his reading skills. It's nice to have someone read me a story for a change, hee hee!
Labels: Kindergarten Klass
brought to you by Leslie, a delicious part of your complete breakfast, at 8:10 AM
6 Comments:
Sounds like Jimmy is a good canidate for the gifted and talented class. Our grandson JJ in in the gifted and talented first grade class and he loves it. They have some afternoon programs at his school and he takes the poetry class, puppeteering class and a space program class. He loves learning too. He is one of the younger kids in his class so he is a little inmature but he is catching up. (His imagineary friends, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia enjoy going to class with him too.) Ha Ha.
Keep Jimmy reading, it's a great way to keep him going.
when i was a teacher, the most challenging thing in my day, week or year was the child who got bored because he/she had already mastered the work somewhere else. I was a student like that, and from time to time, I had teachers who were wise enough not to see that as a threat but an opportunity, and I blossomed with those guys. I hope I also learned from them
I guess I didn't get that survey. Jackson missed a few days of school because he was sick. I wonder if it went home during that time. I talked to another parent whose kid is in our class and I don't think their teacher gives E's in Social Studies or Science, but I'm not sure about that.
Yeah, kindergarden is considerably harder than when we went to it. I don't remember reading.
As for the glue, I remember squeezing the bottle and it not working, then squeezing it again and it ended up in my hair. Of course, I got in trouble, but it was the stupid bottle's fault (or so I thought at the time). So I feel for him about the glue.
Well, he's one (maybe more) up on me. I never used glue appropriately. I'm paying for it now. Heh.
Go Jimmy! Dude, he's what? Five? He's gonna not always make good use of time and/or be neat. It's what five year olds do! He's five, Mr/Mrs Teacher. FIVE! He's still brand new.
Post a Comment
<< Home