Wednesday evening, we met with Will and Anna’s preschool teacher, Mrs. B., to discuss their progress. We really didn’t know what to expect, especially about Will. He still struggles with so many communication issues, and is often behind Anna in so many areas. Since we know we have a very bright little girl, we’ve not really known what to expect with Will, and don’t always know whether observations we make are results of his orphanage delays and natural language transitions, or just normal little boy things.
Thankfully, according to Mrs. B, most of what we notice is apparently normal little boy. She rated him pretty much average in all the areas of interest. She pointed out that he is the best caretaker of tools and supplies in the entire class, and has the ability to focus on tasks of interest to him much better than most of the other children. The children often have the opportunity to play with a tray of magnets of different shapes and sizes, including little brick-shaped pieces and washers and marbles, etc. Most of the kids spend their time trying to stick as many pieces together as possible, in whatever orientation they fall. Will, on the other hand, came running to her to show her his “train” – he had stuck 4 nuts on the bottom of a brick-shaped magnet, and then used something else to create a smokestack on the top. She was impressed with his creativity.
We have been hoping that he would progress enough this year to advance to kindergarten with his peers next year, so he will be the same age as others in his class, and he won’t be in the same class as Anna for the rest of their grade school years. I awaited this conference with nervous anticipation, to hear her assessment of his progress and predictions for next year. Much to my relief, she told us she thought he would be fine either way, but her honest opinion is that we should plan on sending him on to kindergarten. He may need some extra individual help once he gets there, but she said she has had far greater reservations about other children, who have gone on to kindergarten and done just fine. Whew.
Anna, of course, is doing just fine. She got good marks in every area, and Mrs. B said she is exactly on track socially and intellectually for a 3 year old. She’ll attend preschool for another year, and then go on to kindergarten. She’ll be a year behind Will, which will be best for both of them. Mrs. B couldn’t make any suggestions for things we should be pursuing more at home; just continue what we’re doing, reading stories, working puzzles, etc. Thank heavens for PBS TV programs.
A couple of Anna funnies: Apparently she really loves to sit at the writing station at school and cut with scissors. She told Mrs. B that we don’t have scissors at home. Darned right. We also don’t have markers, or crayons that can be used anywhere besides the kitchen table.
Mrs. B sits at the little table and eats snacks with them every day. She was sitting next to Will, and Anna was at the other end of the table. All of a sudden, Anna looked at her and said, “My mama is going to be mad at you!” While she was trying to figure out what Anna was talking about, Will immediately started trying to shove her elbow off the table where she was resting it. Both Anna and Will knew that elbows are most definitely not allowed on the table while eating is going on. So, some things are sinking in!
A few photos that I took for some unknown reason. I think I was amused by Anna the mummy, completely buried under her sheet. She’s afraid of monsters at the moment, so she has to sleep with the light on, and often has the sheet pulled up over her head. Not the blanket, mind you. That would be silly. Saint Kotcha was protecting her from the bed, and Saint Apollo was watching over her from the crow’s nest (the crib full of stuffed animals). I took the picture of Will completely in the dark, figuring that Nemesis would be sleeping on his bed as she usually is, but she didn’t happen to be there at the time.
And here are a couple of pics of our newly organized mud room. Yes, folks, after only 7 years in this house, I have unpacked the boxes in the mud room and organized things a bit better. I have the lofty goal of putting radiant heat in the floor and then tiling the floor so we can leave our coats and boots out there in the winter. I figure another 7 years or so ought to see that job completed.
