Yesterday R and I had a conference with C’s preschool teacher. Once again I found myself so grateful for the preschool—it’s really about preparing the parents for “real” school as much as the children, what with all the permission slips, conferences, field trips, and assignments such as “bring in something that starts with D.”

I’m not writing this update as a letter to C, because I don’t think it would be appropriate to tell her a lot of this—but she is extremely advanced in comparison to her peers in the class. Especially considering that she is the youngest in her class, by several months. The teacher did some basic assessments with each of the kids and C knows her letters, her numbers, opposites, shapes and colors, and apparently kicked butt on a series of identifying, matching, sorting and categorizing exercises.

Here are some highlights of the meeting. Am I going to brag? Lordy yes. Is this going to be exhaustively detailed? Well, this is a personal journal and memory book in addition to a public blog. You have been warned.
• She LOVES being at school.
• Music and chapel are two of her favorite things. Of course she knows both the music and chapel teachers outside of preschool. Suburban Pres. is her home, after all.
• Her attention span is apparently outstanding. She never needs to be redirected during circle time.
• She is right on track with gross motor skills, although she is wary and afraid of the wobbly bridge on the playground. (Me too!)
• She still will not wear a smock. It’s just a thing with her. On the other hand, she adores costumes and would remain in dress up clothes all day if given the opportunity.
• During the section of the assessment dealing with opposites, Mrs. D asked C whether she was big or little (in comparison to an adult, I think). She replied, “I’m a BIG sister,” thus proving that everything is relative.
• She is occasionally shy around new people, although she feels very comfortable going to the teachers for help.
• She plays with all of the children equally. She is "neither a follower nor a leader, but is just herself" according to the teacher.

These last two bits thrill me the most. It was no surprise that she is bright, but I love that she can be assertive with her teachers and is socially well adjusted with her class.

Finally, Mrs. D shared with us some of her lesson plans for the rest of the school year. They are doing a letter a day and will start practicing writing around April. She anticipates that if C stays on this track, that she will be reading simple words by the end of the summer. She also urged us not to let her get bored, in school or at home, and predicted gifted education in her future.

Whether she turns out to be diagnosably gifted or not, she is very much a gift.

Gotta go, the divine miss M is stirring. She is also a gift, although I have to admit that after last night's poor sleep, I was tempted to return her for store credit.