Zachary started his new school this morning. It looks like it will be a much better situation for him. These kids seam to be a lot further ahead then his old school. All the kids welcomed him right away and he jumped right in with them. I stayed to "shadow" for about 20-30 minutes and took a few pictures and video to share with you. I hope you enjoy!
Walking into class!
Zach's New Desk.
Mrs. Patterson and the class sing the good morning song.
A video of the good morning song.
Then my camera ran out of memory space so that's all I have for now!
More updates when he gets home to tell us all about it!
HE GOT INTO THE GIFTED PROGRAM!!!!!!
The test scores are as follows:
25%-75% Average
Zach's Results:
45% Verbal Reasoning
77% Quantitative Reasoning (Math)
99% Non-Verbal Reasoning (Abstract Reasoning and Spatial Concepts)
He starts on Thursday. He will go to a different school full day on Thursdays to be in a class of all ages to work at their own pace with multiple gifted teachers.. One day a week the gifted teacher will come to his home school and work one on one with him. The other 3 days a week he will be in his regular class with a gifted packet to work on at his own pace. He is still encouraged to work with the class but not required. He follows the class schedule for lunches, recess, snacks and so on. None of his work is required as long as he is showing an active attempt and improvement. He will be re-tested at a later date to show progress! (At least this is what I am understanding about it. I will update after next week when we have a complete week to see how it goes!)
We have been talking to him about it and told him if at any time he doesn't like it or its too hard we will pull him out fast! He knows that he has to be a kid first but he WANTS THIS. We told him yesterday that if he doesn't make it we are still proud of him because he tried. He told us he really really wants it and started crying at the though of not passing the test. I hope he enjoys it as much as he thinks he will. I just hate the thought of him sitting in class bored out of his mind for 7 hours a day minis recess, lunch etc.
Zach has been acting out in class and I decided to send his teacher a email basically saying Zach is complaining of being bored. I wanted to know if this had any connection to his acting up in class. This is the email reply!!
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Ms. McKee,
I completely understand your concerns about Zachary. I have also noticed that Zachary is not excited about doing any of our assignments (because he already knows it all). He is the highest student in my class. Many of the other students have never been exposed to letters, numbers, colors etc… So, our curriculum does start off at the very beginning of kindergarten learning. Also, unfortunately we do not have a K-1 split class.
However, I do not want Zachary to be sitting in class bored and unhappy. So, I would like to refer him for “Gifted Classes.” I called the coordinator of the Gifted Programs at the district office and she is going to call be back tomorrow with more information. Referring a child for Gifted usually requires some paperwork and parent approval. Hopefully, it will not be too long of a process. However, in the meantime I will put together a curriculum that is at his level and will hopefully challenge him. However, having him with an individualized enriched curriculum will require him to work independently while the other students are working on the main curriculum.
Mostly when Zachary is acting up is when we are lining up or taking bathroom breaks. (Most of the boys think this is a time to push or touch one another). So, the whole class is still working on mastering procedures and following rules.
So, hopefully I will get some more information about “Gifted” tomorrow and we can go from there. We will be having a curriculum night sometime is September. The date is TBA. Please let me know if you would still would like to meet this week because I am often here late into the evening. Please keep me posted on how Zachary is feeling and what he thinks about kindergarten so far.
Thank you,
Kelly Grant
We have finished the first 2 weeks of Kindergarten. Zach really like his class and his teacher. He is doing great. He actually has a TON of homework M-T. I cant believe how much homework they have for this age. Its all easy stuff he already knows. "Write your name 5 times." "TRY to write the #1 as many times as you can" "Draw a picture of something you like to do as a family" etc. Its all so easy and he blows through it but it seams like a lot of homework per night. They have 5 things they have to do each night. *Shrug*
Zach told us they get gold stars and when they get 5 they get to pick a prize from the treasure chest. He has 3 stars. I quote "I have 3 gold stars. ***** in my class has 6 stars but he helps the teacher and I don't like that he takes up the teachers time" I am thinking this is Zach's way of saying this little boy is teachers pet and Zach doesn't like it! LOL
Starting Monday he goes full days. M, T, Th, F is 7:40am until 2:00pm. Wed. is early release at noon. I really excites me to see how much he enjoys school!
More updates later!
Shelley
Lucas at 3 months
Zach eating in the highchair at 6 months
Lucas eating in the highchair at 6 months
Shelley,
Today, Zachary stayed after school for some testing. We were required to give them a math screener test and I gave him an additional assessment. He did absolutely awesome! Zachary was able to identify all the letters in the alphabet accept for the lowercase “q.” He also was able to give me a sound for each letter in the alphabet. Zachary also was able to identify and write numbers one-twenty. He can identify numbers above twenty but the assessment only called for numbers 1-20. Zachary is also reading some sight words! I was so excited to see that he is familiar with reading twenty-seven sight words. He also knows his shapes and colors. He only missed one section on the math screener test. On the money section of the test he mixed up a dime and a nickel. The test is very cut and dry. If a student misses one item in any of the sections they do not pass. So, Zachary did great! I can tell that you have been working with him a lot at home. He is a very bright child. I will work very hard this year to challenge him academically since he is ahead of the game.
Zachary has transitioned well into kindergarten. The first couple weeks of school is always difficult because the children are still learning the rules and the routines. Next week, we will finally get into our real routine since we will be at school for the full day. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Ms. Grant
Kindergarten Room 4
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