Parent/Teacher Conference

I started this post a little over a month ago:

This week I went to parent/teacher conferences for two kids before school. (The other kid told me that his school was having conferences the morning of and I work nights, so I couldn't arrange to go.) The first one was on Tuesday with my daughter's teacher. She is in second grade.  I got mixed reviews from her teacher. It seems she is doing great in math. She was able to answer some questions on the assessment that she "wasn't supposed to know yet." That was quite exciting to hear! Then came the rough to hear news. She is behind in reading. She is testing a grade level behind. I had to ask questions about how to help her. My boys have always been so advanced in reading that the teachers were in awe. Reading just came natural to them. I asked her teacher what I could do. She gave me some suggestions. As far as what they are doing at school to help her...she will be starting a new program next week that will last 10 weeks and has been known to help, and she has been working with a teacher that helps kids who are behind in reading for a few weeks. She, then, told me her other concern. Noel is a bit too social in class. She talks to and plays with her friends when she should be learning. We explained to my sweet little girl that if she would pay attention more in class, it may help. She paid extra attention in class for the rest of the week. When I called the kids' dad to let him know what the teacher said, he said he will talk to his mom and get some suggestions. For now, I am going to set aside time for reading with just her in the morning (I found out when she is reading by herself at night she is just looking at the pictures.)
The next day, I had conference with Sean's teacher. It was quite a different experience. He reads at a very advanced reading level (she didn't tell me the grade level), and is in an advanced math program. She, for some reason, wasn't as positive as I would have though. She pointed out that he tested as "advanced" on his math and reading TCAP tests. Then, she stressed that he tested as, "only proficient (at grade level)" in writing. (I though that was pretty dang good considering she had said that as a school they were a bit behind in writing.) Her main concern was the same I have heard since Sean was in kindergarten, he isn't very social and will not work in a group unless he is forced to. I, again, called the kids' dad to let him know what the teacher had said. He was pleased and not surprised at what she had said about his personality or test scores pointing out that Sean's aversion to working with a group is a lot like mine (social situations are hard sometimes).

UPDATE: Noel is now checking out grade level books at school, and reading them out loud very well. The changes that were made at home and at school have helped her a lot. I can't believe how quickly she is improving!