Parent/Teacher conferences went well yesterday. We met with Kirsten's teacher first. Mrs. Cox is her regular classroom teacher and Mrs. Tamney is her special ed para assigned to her. She spends 2 hours one-on-one with Mrs. Tamney each day for math and language arts and then has inclusion. That means Mrs. Tamney is in the regular classroom helping Kirsten some of the day... she's alotted up to 90 minutes a day but there aren't 90 minutes when you take away speech thearpy, OT, specials, recess and lunch so they do less.
Kirsten is doing well with the modified school work since her ARD a couple of weeks ago. Both teachers are terrific. I've been reading How to Educate a CHild with VCFS (Kirsten's syndrome) and photocopied some of the pages for her teachers. Mrs. Tamney said she read through it and consequently has changed her teaching approach. Kids with VCFS have a different brain structure than "typical" kids so they don't think in the same way.They learn mostly through repitition. Mrs. Tamney is going to use Words Their Way to teach Kirsten vocabulary, spelling and composition. It uses chunk sounds like ST (in stick), SM (in smile), and SP (in spider). First she studies a picture and then moves on to picture and word and then to just the word. Brad and I are thrilled. Just another confirmation that the Lord put Kirsten at Bledsoe.
Kirsten's reading level has increased 2 levels since her last evaluation 3 weeks ago. Praise the Lord!
She does well in the classroom with the other kids. Mrs. Cox said her kids are all kind to Kirsten and readily help her. Kirsten also enjoys helping her classmates getting them a book or something else they may need.
Our meeting with Mrs. Gallant, Katelyn's teacher, went well too. The first thing she said was, "I love having your daughter in my class. I can always count on her to do what is right." Katelyn is doing well at school. No behavior problems and is doing well with school work. Mrs. Gallant said she's a very strict teacher who puts up with no nonsense. She said if she has to correct a student twice, she gives them a warning in their binders. If 3 times, she signs the binder. She reminds me of my teachers in South Africa. The kids learn and she's very nice but there is no nonsense in her classroom. I love it!
Katelyn loves school and is a rule follower. She enjoys school work and is sweet and positive. She really is the ideal student. She doesn't get much assigned homework and sometimes she even asks me to make some up for her bc she just loves school work that much.
All 3 of our kids are so different and we love them each dearly. These conferences made me think of Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not turn from it." That verse means we need to raise our children according to their personality, interests and in the way God created them. I can't raise Josh the way I raise Katelyn and likewise with Kirsten. Brad and I praise the Lord for our 3 precious kiddos and their unique personalities. They certainly make life interesting! :)
Here are the girls on the first day of school.
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