I don't know how it happened!

We had conferences with the boys' teachers last night. I just have to say that I LOVE how Byron does their conferences (at least in the elementary school) they actually work it out so siblings have back-to-back time slots!

Our first conference was for Taite. We've always heard great things and usually the conference that is held in February we get the option to skip because there is nothing to discuss :-) Last night was no different. They test the kids (in the month they've been in school) with 2 different assessments: AIMS and NWEA and for both methods, and all areas, Taite is exceeding the average. In reading words per minute, he is exceeding the above average area ~ he's off the charts! His teacher just had one goal (there is a goal sheet where Taite filled out his area, she filled out hers and we are supposed to talk about and fill out the families goals for Taite) and she suggested he could slow down a little on his math. His score is a 96%, but it could be better if he would go back after being done with a test and review things. I used to be the same way though, the first one done and I didn't like to go back . . . I'm not telling him that! At this point he is concerned about getting a higher score, so we'll support him and help him out. Another thing they give us that I should utilize more is a Lexile score. What they do is take the numbers from his reading comprehension, speed, etc. and give him a level that he should be reading at, as far as books go. Then there is a website I can go to and type in a title and see what level the book is at ~ this helps so he is challenging himself when reading, not just reading something easy. His teacher said the book they are reading in the Cub Time (the special reading group he is in) is really funny and one of her favorite books. She listed off a bunch of authors that she liked, so I am going email her for the list so we can get good "boy" books that will hopefully instill the lifelong love for reading ~ something you can do forever and anywhere!

When we saw Brayton's teacher she couldn't say enough good things! He's a great reader, he's really good at math, he helps other kids with reading and math and isn't cocky about it at all, when he has free time he usually digs out his chapter book and reads. She said he reads differently than other kids do, so she said it's nice to have the two styles in her classroom and the kids explain how they read and it helps the other ones who haven't "clicked" on the reading yet. I love how they structure the reading in 1st grade too! Based on the kids reading scores, they divide them into appropriate groups and then read with these groups at their levels. It helps them grow from group to group ~ she showed us that Bray's group has 4 in it and they will be challenged a little more because they are basically starting out at the top of where they hope to get them to at the end of this year. Each child received a Bang! game ~ it's got a wooden die in it and you roll a number then pull out that number of slips with words on them, if he can read the word, he gets to keep it, if he can't, it has to go back into the can (Pringles so they can reach in without seeing what they are taking). His game has 2nd grade words in it so it's challenging. I was surprised she tailored the games for each student. She said that when Brayton digs out his chapter book, the other students look to that as a goal for themselves and she said she doesn't know how, but he can read when the rest of the class is noisy and doing what 1st graders do! She admires that about him :-) Now all we have to do is find all 10 chapter books so he'll read them (I don't know if I told that story, where we went to the BookMobile to get chapter stories and he would only get ones with 10 chapters; not 9 or 13, only 10 ~ that's what the Magic Treehouse stories have)

As a celebration of their successes at school we went out to eat. Lately Taite has been wanting to order off the adult menu, so last night we treated him to that ~ sheesh, we won't be able to afford to go out to eat anymore unless it's at Mc Donald's! I always think he doesn't need to eat what he does, but he's growing and almost as tall as me, so duh, of course he needs to eat more :-) I hope and pray that the boys' success continues on the path is going. They both still really enjoy school and want to work hard. They love the praise their teachers give them (and we pass along) for the work they are doing. So I really do not know how it happened; these two doing so well in school, but I'm glad it did!