Just gotta brag

Its that time of year again: Report Cards!

Elementary school report cards are so different now than when I was growing up. They don't grade by A's, B's, C's, etc anymore. Heck, they don't even 'grade'! There's no "87% in science" or whatever. No, nowadays, its all done using the standards: GL - achieving grade level; BL - beginning to achieve grade level; NY - not yet achieving grade level; or M, modified program. These standards are used to rate the progress the child is making in each subject. It is kind of neat that they break each subject down into every single concept the child has learned; so under English Language Arts there might be up to 15 different things being 'graded'. This way the parents can see just what all has been taught and where their child was having difficulty, and then focus on helping them in those areas.

Also (at least in my boys' school), they rate the student's 'growth as a learner', using the standards: U = usually, S = sometimes, N = needs improvement. This is for things like 'accepts responsibility for his/her own behaviour', 'is organized', 'uses time effectively', etc. I'm actually glad they do that for us parents, letting us know which areas of behaviour our child is excelling at or having problems with.

Of course, with my two perfect, wonderful, brilliant, well-behaved geniuses, I always know how the report cards will play out. All GLs, all U's. (Actually, I think one time Gunnar got a S(ometimes) for 'listens to and follows directions' because he was goofing off in class with his BFF.) I tend to skim through the report card, looking for the part where the teacher writes his/her comments. That's what I want to see. I already know my child is brilliant in math, I already know he's organized, yadda yadda. But I want to hear the teacher tell me that! Its a pride thing, people. Haha.

I remember one time when Gunnar was in kindergarten at that school, the teacher wrote something like how she couldn't believe how mature and advanced Gunn's behaviour was compared to all the other kids (who were a year older than him). She explained further that while Gunnar would sit nicely in his desk, "ready and waiting to learn", the other kids would be crawling on the floor, climbing on their desks, and eating glue. Haha! And Gunnar would look at them like What is WRONG with you? and just act like they were all beneath him, which they were, of course. Oops, there's that pride again.

So, anyway, here are the comments that the teachers gave my boys (just FYI, Ardan is in grade 1, Gunnar in grade 5)...

"Ardan is developing strength and fluency as a reader. He is using many reading strategies such as reading ahead and context clues. Ardan can give detailed answers to comprehensive questions. He has developed an excellent sight word vocabulary. When writing, Ardan can generate interesting and unique ideas and relate them to the same topic. He incorporates the correct spelling of many of the sight words and attempts to sound out many unknown words. Ardan is beginning to use capitals, spaces and punctuation. He is able to print the letters neatly on the lines. Ardan is confident with the consonant and vowel sounds that we have been studying. He demonstrates a very good understanding of the math concepts covered. Ardan is a dedicated and independent learner!"

"Gunnar continues to demonstrate strong Math skills through his understanding of basic, as well as complex, multiplication and division concepts. Gunnar has shown confidence in his grasp of Chemistry by demonstrating a well-rounded knowledge of the material we have covered. Gunnar's writing continues to show creativity and thought as he competently communicates his ideas. Gunnar does a great job of recognizing words that are problematic and he consistently desires accuracy in the words that he uses. It was great to see him do such a tremendous job learning and speaking his lines in his role as 'Rock' for the Christmas play. Mr Lynn says, 'In Social, Gunnar consistently provides enough facts in his responses which are tied in effectively with the question to explain why or why not the people in the region are affected by certain things. He has demonstrated an ability to justify his opinion with effective supporting information. Gunnar worked well with his partner on the region of Canada PowerPoint presentation.' Gunnar's positive attitude significantly enhances the atmosphere of our classroom. It will be exciting to follow his progress throughout the final term."

** !! applause !! **