First grade has brought a slue of new experiences for our family. The first one being how dang expensive it is to have a kid in school. Yes, he is in public school but maybe private school would be less expensive in the long run. OK, yes, I am exaggerating but take this week for example. This week there was a mini fundraiser to buy mums ($6 a piece), an offer to buy a school directory ($7), a full blown fundraiser from Innisbrookwhich we felt compelled to buy something ($19-$44), two flyers were sent home for upcoming activities/fundraisers for the next two weekends not to mention money for lunch because Sam insists that he needs to eat hot lunch because all of his friends do. Is this normally how it is or do we just have a fundraising obsessed school?
So while I am sharing I have to say Sam's schoolwork has me totally stressed out! His homework takes an hour most days (yes, an hour!) which is hard to fit in with soccer practice and dinner and any sort of family time. But most of all, I think his teacher is underestimating his reading ability. She has him in a reading group that I think is stage 1. His flashcard words are: a, by, and, the, we, me, they... He knew those words before he started kindergarten! He is reading more around a stage 5. Maybe I should send in to school one of the books he is currently reading at home. I just don't want him to get bored and intellectually check out or hate school because it doesn't challenge him. I wrote a note to his reading group teacher, hopefully she will give him something a little more challenging. If not, maybe I will go into class to observe. He is too young to pretend to be slower than he is so he doesn't stand out in class, isn't he?
1 comment:
I remember being constantly told by my kindergarten teacher to "stop reading so fast, the other kids can't keep up". It broke my heart and made me feel like an outsider. I would definitely encourage you to sit in on one of his classes.
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