thankful.
This morning I took the boys to Chess Club at our elementary school. I looked around the packed library of kids playing chess and having a great time together and felt happy that my kids were a part of it.
As I was leaving the building, the music teacher stopped me in the hallway (I got to know her pretty well last year when Gracie was in her choir) to tell me how much she was enjoying getting to know Drew this year. She said he was well behaved and so much fun to have in class. It made me ridiculously happy to hear this because I have been wondering like crazy how Drew's behavior at school in general has been, but I hadn't heard anything from his classroom teacher. I was hoping that not hearing anything was a good sign that he was behaving, but you never know…. To have the music teacher volunteer that he was well behaved in her class was really reassuring.
As I checked email this afternoon, I got a message from one of Katie's teachers sharing some pictures with me that she had taken of Katie this week. She told me, once again, how happy Katie is while she is at school. I have received many positive reports about how Katie's days are going, but there is nothing like seeing photographs to prove that she is having a great time there.
Last night I attended the PTO meeting at our school and ran into Luke's enrichment teacher. She had many great things to share with me about all of the cool projects and challenges that Luke has been participating in while in her classroom. I am so thankful for the experiences that he is given by her.
While at the PTO meeting, I sat around the library with many other parents and realized just how much I feel a part of this school community. The PTO president addressed me during the meeting with a question and after I answered it, I realized that I had barely even felt nervous. I feel invested in this school and it is a good feeling.
The best, though, was today after school when Drew's teacher came up to us as we waited out front of the school for Luke. She smiled a huge smile at Drew and then told me how much she loves having Drew in her class. As I just explained, I have received ZERO specific feedback from her on how Drew's year has been going and I have been so very curious. Today she told me that he soaks up everything like a little sponge, loves to tell the class jokes (which are, evidently, quite funny. She says the school counselor so enjoyed Drew's joke today that he shared it with others at lunchtime.), and is blowing her away with his reading and writing skills. I was so happy to hear this I could have hugged both Drew and the teacher.
As a good friend was just saying to me, I think as parents the thing we most want to hear from our child's teacher- the person who gets to spend more time during the day with our child than we do- is that our child is liked at school. It's great to hear about the curriculum and class objectives, but all I really, really want from the teacher is the reassurance that my child is happy and liked while at school. I can't imagine how it would feel as the parent to send your child to school each day if you thought your child did not have friends or was not treated well by the teacher. It would be hard.
To summarize this rambling post, I am so very thankful for the schools and teachers that we have. These experiences and the reinforcements that life at school is good for the Hedenberg kids just make this mama's heart happy.
I am off to decorate lemon cupcakes with green frosting, green sprinkles, and green polka dots for a very special almost-six year old in the house. :)
As I was leaving the building, the music teacher stopped me in the hallway (I got to know her pretty well last year when Gracie was in her choir) to tell me how much she was enjoying getting to know Drew this year. She said he was well behaved and so much fun to have in class. It made me ridiculously happy to hear this because I have been wondering like crazy how Drew's behavior at school in general has been, but I hadn't heard anything from his classroom teacher. I was hoping that not hearing anything was a good sign that he was behaving, but you never know…. To have the music teacher volunteer that he was well behaved in her class was really reassuring.
As I checked email this afternoon, I got a message from one of Katie's teachers sharing some pictures with me that she had taken of Katie this week. She told me, once again, how happy Katie is while she is at school. I have received many positive reports about how Katie's days are going, but there is nothing like seeing photographs to prove that she is having a great time there.
Last night I attended the PTO meeting at our school and ran into Luke's enrichment teacher. She had many great things to share with me about all of the cool projects and challenges that Luke has been participating in while in her classroom. I am so thankful for the experiences that he is given by her.
While at the PTO meeting, I sat around the library with many other parents and realized just how much I feel a part of this school community. The PTO president addressed me during the meeting with a question and after I answered it, I realized that I had barely even felt nervous. I feel invested in this school and it is a good feeling.
The best, though, was today after school when Drew's teacher came up to us as we waited out front of the school for Luke. She smiled a huge smile at Drew and then told me how much she loves having Drew in her class. As I just explained, I have received ZERO specific feedback from her on how Drew's year has been going and I have been so very curious. Today she told me that he soaks up everything like a little sponge, loves to tell the class jokes (which are, evidently, quite funny. She says the school counselor so enjoyed Drew's joke today that he shared it with others at lunchtime.), and is blowing her away with his reading and writing skills. I was so happy to hear this I could have hugged both Drew and the teacher.
As a good friend was just saying to me, I think as parents the thing we most want to hear from our child's teacher- the person who gets to spend more time during the day with our child than we do- is that our child is liked at school. It's great to hear about the curriculum and class objectives, but all I really, really want from the teacher is the reassurance that my child is happy and liked while at school. I can't imagine how it would feel as the parent to send your child to school each day if you thought your child did not have friends or was not treated well by the teacher. It would be hard.
To summarize this rambling post, I am so very thankful for the schools and teachers that we have. These experiences and the reinforcements that life at school is good for the Hedenberg kids just make this mama's heart happy.
I am off to decorate lemon cupcakes with green frosting, green sprinkles, and green polka dots for a very special almost-six year old in the house. :)
Comments