Isaac and India both had their parent-teacher conferences this week, but because I stayed home with them Tuesday and Wednesday as they were sick, Salomé had to attend both meetings solo in the evening. While I’ve met both of their primary teachers, she’d only spoken with them over the phone and via email, so it worked out okay, especially since she has the insider’s take on what questions to ask beyond “how are they doing?” Both reports were good, with Isaac’s teacher raving over his writing, in particular, while India, after some early difficulties, has adapted very well to her new setting.
When it comes to writing, Isaac tends to work slowly but in a level of detail that far surpasses his classmates. His teacher had previously mentioned that he was the best writer in the class, which we took in stride, but she showed Salomé some of his classwork that we never get to see to prove it and it’s true. While most of them are on the level of “My house is red.” and “I am 7 years old.”, he is a natural storyteller who is big on detail and elaboration. It’s the way he talks, too, which can be maddening sometimes because he talks CONSTANTLY, often rambly and hesitantly, as his ideas are sometimes bigger than he can properly express, but he tries nevertheless… apparently similar to how I talk when I’ve had too much to drink! Needless to say, Isaac as a writer is a very pleasing thought, even with the realization that, like Salomé’s father realized when we got engaged, that he’ll likely never be well off financially. 🙂
When India started at her new school, going from a class of 6 kids to one of 25 — with a 1:2 mix of special ed and general ed — we were a little worried about how she’d adjust and whether or not it was too big a leap forward for her. My gut told me that it was better to find that out in kindergarten and have to take a step back later in the year than to ease her along slowly only to realize we’d held her back, and so far, so good. She’s made some amazing cognitive and behaviorial leaps in the past, but watching her breeze through homework assignments while actually enjoying them has been more than I expected so soon. She still has problems with transitions, and is apparently a perfectionist when it comes to completing in-class assignments that brings that problem to the fore, but the overall assessment is that she’s coming along just fine academically and has been adopted by the class and various teachers as the baby of the group.
In other kid news, we’ve been watching Transformers pretty much non-stop since Isaac got the DVD for his birthday — surprisingly, Salomé loved it, actually rushing me off the phone one night because “Bumblebee just lost his legs. I have to go!” — and there’s nothing funnier than hearing the two of them recite a bit from Anthony Anderson’s over-the-top interrogation scene: “Don’t talk to me, criminal!” Funny, that is, until it’s India and she’s saying it in response to being reprimanded for something. Then it’s turn around and quickly walk away to the bathroom before you explode laughing funny!
