Tonight we had Carson's Parent-Teacher Conference. I knew that academically everything would be fine, and it was. I also knew that behaviorally everything wouldn't be fine, and it wasn't.
Academically, he is doing great. He does all of his work and he gets most of it right. As I've been reviewing his papers since the beginning of the year, I have noticed that whenever he misses something it is because he rushed through it and not because he doesn't know the answer. I'll ask him the answer and he will get it right. I'll ask him why he got it wrong the first time and he says he doesn't know. I think it's because he knows he's smart and he is trying to whip through everything as fast as he can so he can goof off. One thing I am most proud of him for is his reading ability. He is a great reader and he loves it. I think it is very important to be a great reader and to love to read. Carson's teacher gave us a paper containing diagnostic information about his reading skills. He is in the top 1% of kids nationally in the 2nd grade as far as reading skills. Yes, I am bragging. He needs to start reading harder books because he is reading far above his grade level.
I feel it is very, very important to be a great reader and to love to read. Books are one of the best ways to get an education. My dad is the person that instilled my love of reading in me. My dad was a very smart person. He dropped out of college after two months and never went back. He worked for the railroad for 44 years to the day and his particular job didn't require a lot of intelligence. But he read constantly. He would read four or five books a week. Since he read so much he knew a lot of information about a lot of different subjects. I used to call him all the time with random questions that I needed help with for work, and each time I would call I would be sure I had a question that would stump him, but he always knew the answer. My dad taught me to read when I was three years old and I've loved to read ever since. When Carson was born my dad started reading to him from the day he was born. Carson would be snoozing on my dad's lap and my dad would be reading to him. It was so funny. Unfortunately, Carson is the only one of my children to benefit from having my dad around. My dad died when Hayden was two weeks old. He died of cancer and he was so sick by the time Hayden was born that he couldn't even hold Hayden. A couple of times we propped up some pillows on my dad and laid Hayden on his chest so he could talk to him, but he was so weak he couldn't even hold him. A couple of days before he died he wanted to read to Carson and Hayden, so Carson climbed up into bed beside him and we set Hayden in his carrier up on the bed beside him and he read a book to them both. I was lucky enough to get that moment on video. Even though he was only around for a few weeks after Hayden was born, somehow his love of reading even rubbed off on Hayden. Hayden is only in Kindergarten and he is already reading chapter books. A funny story about my dad is that six months before he died his doctor told him he couldn't drive anymore because he was on so much pain medication that it was dangerous. My dad agreed, but he said he would only drive to the library because it was less than a mile from home. The doctor told him that he couldn't even drive that short of a distance. My dad was so mad at that doctor. During the whole time he had cancer and was dying, that was the one thing that he was really ticked off about. The library was so important to him. So my mom would drive him to the library and drop him off and he would call her a few hours later and come and pick him up.
Getting back to Carson, since this is supposed to be about him, his behavior at school leaves a lot to be desired. He is disruptive because he talks when he's not supposed to, he bugs other kids and he doesn't mind his teacher. I knew that we would be discussing all of this at his conference. We spent probably two minutes discussing his academic progress and the rest of the time we talked about his behavior. I just knew we were going to come home after the conference and I would be very disappointed with the whole thing, but, surprisingly, I came home feeling very positive about everything. His teacher is such a great teacher. As we talked about his behavior she got Carson's opinion on everything: what he is good at, what he needs to work on, what his goals are and what he can do to accomplish those goals. She had him tell her specific things that might help him accomplish his goals, such as doing extra work or reading when he is finished with his work, sitting in a different seat so he's not around specific kids he's tempted to bother or talk to when he shouldn't be, and projects that he can work on during class. I really thought it was great that she was so positive with him and let him decide for himself what things should change to help him, instead of just telling him that he needs to behave better. I think the fact that the ideas were his (with a little help here and there) and that he knows he is in charge of himself will really help him change the way he behaves. On days he gets in trouble he will often tell me he didn't get in trouble, or he doesn't remember why he got in trouble. He has a planner that he brings home every day that tells what he did that day and that he can write down upcoming events in. We decided that each day at the end of the day he will write down in his own words how he thinks he did that day. Then his teacher will write down what really happened. Then if he was truthful about what happened he will get a sticker or a reward. That way we will know what really went on at school, and he will start to look at himself and the way he acts and he can focus on what he needs to work on.
Overall it was probably the best parent-teacher conference we've ever had and I am extremely impressed with his teacher. She realizes that he's a very smart kid and he needs help figuring out how to focus on certain things and she has come up with some great ideas on how to do that. Hopefully the rest of the school year will go smoother for him than the first couple of months have so far.
Academically, he is doing great. He does all of his work and he gets most of it right. As I've been reviewing his papers since the beginning of the year, I have noticed that whenever he misses something it is because he rushed through it and not because he doesn't know the answer. I'll ask him the answer and he will get it right. I'll ask him why he got it wrong the first time and he says he doesn't know. I think it's because he knows he's smart and he is trying to whip through everything as fast as he can so he can goof off. One thing I am most proud of him for is his reading ability. He is a great reader and he loves it. I think it is very important to be a great reader and to love to read. Carson's teacher gave us a paper containing diagnostic information about his reading skills. He is in the top 1% of kids nationally in the 2nd grade as far as reading skills. Yes, I am bragging. He needs to start reading harder books because he is reading far above his grade level.
I feel it is very, very important to be a great reader and to love to read. Books are one of the best ways to get an education. My dad is the person that instilled my love of reading in me. My dad was a very smart person. He dropped out of college after two months and never went back. He worked for the railroad for 44 years to the day and his particular job didn't require a lot of intelligence. But he read constantly. He would read four or five books a week. Since he read so much he knew a lot of information about a lot of different subjects. I used to call him all the time with random questions that I needed help with for work, and each time I would call I would be sure I had a question that would stump him, but he always knew the answer. My dad taught me to read when I was three years old and I've loved to read ever since. When Carson was born my dad started reading to him from the day he was born. Carson would be snoozing on my dad's lap and my dad would be reading to him. It was so funny. Unfortunately, Carson is the only one of my children to benefit from having my dad around. My dad died when Hayden was two weeks old. He died of cancer and he was so sick by the time Hayden was born that he couldn't even hold Hayden. A couple of times we propped up some pillows on my dad and laid Hayden on his chest so he could talk to him, but he was so weak he couldn't even hold him. A couple of days before he died he wanted to read to Carson and Hayden, so Carson climbed up into bed beside him and we set Hayden in his carrier up on the bed beside him and he read a book to them both. I was lucky enough to get that moment on video. Even though he was only around for a few weeks after Hayden was born, somehow his love of reading even rubbed off on Hayden. Hayden is only in Kindergarten and he is already reading chapter books. A funny story about my dad is that six months before he died his doctor told him he couldn't drive anymore because he was on so much pain medication that it was dangerous. My dad agreed, but he said he would only drive to the library because it was less than a mile from home. The doctor told him that he couldn't even drive that short of a distance. My dad was so mad at that doctor. During the whole time he had cancer and was dying, that was the one thing that he was really ticked off about. The library was so important to him. So my mom would drive him to the library and drop him off and he would call her a few hours later and come and pick him up.
Getting back to Carson, since this is supposed to be about him, his behavior at school leaves a lot to be desired. He is disruptive because he talks when he's not supposed to, he bugs other kids and he doesn't mind his teacher. I knew that we would be discussing all of this at his conference. We spent probably two minutes discussing his academic progress and the rest of the time we talked about his behavior. I just knew we were going to come home after the conference and I would be very disappointed with the whole thing, but, surprisingly, I came home feeling very positive about everything. His teacher is such a great teacher. As we talked about his behavior she got Carson's opinion on everything: what he is good at, what he needs to work on, what his goals are and what he can do to accomplish those goals. She had him tell her specific things that might help him accomplish his goals, such as doing extra work or reading when he is finished with his work, sitting in a different seat so he's not around specific kids he's tempted to bother or talk to when he shouldn't be, and projects that he can work on during class. I really thought it was great that she was so positive with him and let him decide for himself what things should change to help him, instead of just telling him that he needs to behave better. I think the fact that the ideas were his (with a little help here and there) and that he knows he is in charge of himself will really help him change the way he behaves. On days he gets in trouble he will often tell me he didn't get in trouble, or he doesn't remember why he got in trouble. He has a planner that he brings home every day that tells what he did that day and that he can write down upcoming events in. We decided that each day at the end of the day he will write down in his own words how he thinks he did that day. Then his teacher will write down what really happened. Then if he was truthful about what happened he will get a sticker or a reward. That way we will know what really went on at school, and he will start to look at himself and the way he acts and he can focus on what he needs to work on.
Overall it was probably the best parent-teacher conference we've ever had and I am extremely impressed with his teacher. She realizes that he's a very smart kid and he needs help figuring out how to focus on certain things and she has come up with some great ideas on how to do that. Hopefully the rest of the school year will go smoother for him than the first couple of months have so far.
