Tag Archives: teacher

Proof is in the grade!

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Hello everybody!

I hope you guys are well.

Happy belated Veterans Day (THANK YOU to all veterans and those currently serving) and my thoughts are with the people in the Philippines and their worried friends and family throughout the world.  May help arrive as soon as possible and heal those in need.  May the people who lost their lives rest in peace.

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So, I’ve been wondering whether or not I did the correct thing in asking for my daughter to be placed in another first grade class with a new teacher.  I got the answer this past Friday when my daughter’s teacher wanted a word with me regarding speech therapy for Olivia.  I told her that we tried to get her therapy last year while she was in Kindergarten, but due to her above average grades, they felt that she didn’t need the therapy.  Olivia’s new teacher balked at that.  We are starting the process once again in order to give my daughter the help she needs because this year it’s affecting her spelling, writing, and communicating skills.  There are certain letter sounds in which Olivia has a hard time pronouncing so if she’s writing a word that includes these sounds, she spells the word wrong.  At home we do practice with her enunciating certain words and letter sounds, but she still needs a therapist.  Within a week, her new teacher picked up on this and that’s why I’m loving her.  Also, my daughter was given her first spelling test with the words of the week, which we studied for by writing them over every day, looking at homemade flash cards, and making sentences for each word.  She scored a:

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The proof is in the grade.

I did the right thing and the added bonus is a teacher who’s going to battle for my daughter to get the services that she rightfully deserves.  Last year, Olivia’s Kindergarten teacher mentioned that there was some issues regarding her speech, so we started the process of requesting speech therapy for her.  It was completely drawn out.  My husband and I scheduled and attended meetings, I wrote many letters and finally (many months later) my husband took Olivia to be evaluated, per an appointment made by the Board of Education.  This evaluation proved that Olivia was not struggling in school.  They concluded that she was above average, but that’s not what we asked for.  She can’t say certain letter sounds, but because she was achieving superb grades in Kindergarten, they decided that she would grow out of it.  That was their conclusion.  Obviously they were wrong, because it’s starting to affect her now in the 1st grade and if not dealt with, it might get worse, but I’m not going to let that happen.  No matter how many letters I have to write or meetings I have to attend, my child will get the assistance that she needs.

I’m her advocate.

I’m her mom.

Take good care all.

Until next time…

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Age appropriate

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Hello everybody!   I hope you guys are well.

Not so long ago, my daughter uttered two words that sent chills down my back as well as my husbands’.  They weren’t good chills and the words that she said were Justin Bieber.  Ugh!  She’s five years old.  Why is she inquiring about him?  Well, she told me that her friends at school watched him on TV.  I simply told her that they were watching him because he was a singer and left it at that.  Yes, she’s curious, but I don’t want her in the realm of these young teen celebrity’s shenanigans.  I don’t want her screaming her head off and crying her eyes out in admiration for someone.  That drives me nuts when I see little girls doing that.  It’s just not age appropriate and we as parents have to understand that they only have one childhood.  Why would you want to take that away from them?

Just like a toy that has age guidelines that we should adhere to, we should do the same when it comes to entertainment.  I don’t want her to know about One Direction, Selena Gomez, Taylor Swift, etc.  She’s five.  Yes, they got the Gangnam style fever only because we introduced it to them so we have to really think about what we want to expose our children to.  Yesterday, I had a conversation about this with my daughter’s teacher at school.  It was parent/teacher night.  My daughter’s report card was excellent and I’m very proud of her.  She has advanced in several subjects and her teacher mentioned how she shows a great interest in reading and writing.  I wish we had more time to speak because her teacher mentioned how parents are their children’s first teachers.  I told her that I had written that same comment on my blog and felt wholeheartedly that we have to teach them, but also try to keep them young and not advance them too much where they lose their innocence.  We, as a whole society, need to see this and understand it.  It’s for our children’s benefit.

Even a manicure, for example, which my daughter has been asking to do, may seem like a small matter, no big deal for some, but it is a big deal for me.  I feel she’s still too young for that and I know that there are toddlers out there wobbling around with little pink nails, but that’s their parent’s choice and just because that child has painted nails doesn’t mean that I have to paint my daughter’s nails as well.  I have my own opinion, my own view and I know what’s right for my child at this moment.  Once you open that door, even just a sliver, into adulthood, you can’t go back.  I don’t want my daughter singing a Justin Bieber song.  I want to hear her singing, the “Star, Spangled Banner” and “America, the beautiful”, which she’s currently singing and beautifully, I might add, because she learned them in school.  That’s what she’s supposed to be singing as well as silly songs that her teacher has taught her.  I have nothing against the above mentioned celebrities.  I just want to protect my child and let her enjoy her childhood.  I know, believe me I know that one day she’s going to grow up and enter that world, it’s just not going to be today!

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I gifted my daughter this book, pen, and eraser at her school’s book fair for her wonderful report card.  She picked everything out and was very happy.

Take good care all.

Until next time…

MATH TEST

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Hello everybody! I hope you guys are well.  A couple of days ago, I opened my daughter’s homework folder to take a look at the papers that she brought home from school and was met with a big, wonderful surprise. Check it out:

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Her teacher wrote down that Olivia scored 100 percent on her math test.  Wow!  I’m still, yes still, having a hard time seeing her off to school, but my daughter, as you can see, is excelling and she tells me without any hesitation that she loves school.  Even when the weather outside is horrendous, she still wants to go and if I even mention staying home from school, she completely balks at the idea.  She says, “No, I want to go to school every day!”  I am amazed and grateful at how much she’s taken with school after feeling so overwhelmed before she even entered.  I will admit that I miss her greatly.  I look at the time and wonder what she’s doing at that particular minute, but I know that I cannot provide her with all the knowledge and social skills that she needs.  Yesterday, her teacher, informed me that Olivia did so well in her spelling test that she advanced to the next level.  That’s concrete proof that she’s doing a great job and I’m very proud of her.  I hope her love for learning continues until she’s a little old lady.

I know it’s perfectly natural to miss her and to be hesitant with sharing her with the world, especially this world today.  I know I worry a lot.  I know I drive myself and everyone else nuts.  I know I should just relax, but I can’t.  It’s who I am.  I’m a mother.

Take good care all.

Until next time…

My little artist

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Hello everybody!  I hope you guys are well.  Yesterday night, my husband and I went to our first parent/teacher conference.  It was pretty exciting to see the classroom where my daughter goes to learn Monday through Friday.  It was bigger than I had imagined so that was impressive and reassuring.  Before we entered the classroom, our daughter showed us her artwork displayed on the bulletin board that was titled, “Our Summer.”

I had provided her teacher with some pictures of our vacation to Massachusetts and my daughter drew a picture of us in our rental house and wrote down that she went on vacation during the summer.  I’m one proud mama! 🙂

My daughter has been practicing writing way before she started school.  Sometimes it’s a task for her, but when it comes to arts and crafts, she’s all smiles.  The other day she took a piece of paper and her scissors and started cutting away.  She was in the zone!  When she finished, I was so proud of my little artist that I took a small, forgotten frame and gave it a makeover to display my daughter’s new artwork.  I’ve had this frame for a long time, even before my first child, and back then I decided to paint over the original color.  I was new to arts and crafts so my attempt to redesign was amateurish.  I like to believe that I know a heck of a lot more now when it comes to crafting so my frame got a new paint job.  For some UNKNOWN reason (maybe a brain fart, I don’t know), I absolutely forgot to take a before pic.  😦  Maybe subconsciously, I didn’t want anyone to see how ugly the frame was before, but here it is now:

 

How awesome and fitting are the apples on this frame?  I gave it about four coats of Anita’s All Purpose Acrylic True Red (#11003) paint, used FolkArt Varnish Gloss (882) to make it shine, and for the panel inside the frame, I couldn’t wait to use the Americana Chalkboard paint, which as you can see, it worked!  I wrote, Mami and Olivia, because my daughter told me that she made us.  She cut out little pieces of paper, then glued them together, and drew what she wanted.  When she saw the frame with her work, her humongous smile was so heart warming.  Now, I’m making it my mission to have markers, crayons, scissors, glue, pencils, etc. easily available for her so her imagination and creativity can soar from her mind onto paper for everyone to see.

Just like this other piece, made with markers.

Take care all.  Until next time…