When DailyBuzz Moms asked if I would blog about a proud moment I’ve had being a Mom, I knew right away what I would share. The most recent moment. It’s a topic that has been on my “to write about” list for a few weeks now.
Two years ago, I switched Nick from a private to a public school. For a variety of reasons. He went from being a student in a school of 123 to one of 721. To being in a one-class-per-grade-level, to (now), there are seven classes for his grade level (fourth). A much bigger school in a million different ways. With his third grade year being his first year at the new (to him) school, I expected he’d have to play a bit of catch-up. I kept him out of Cub Scouts and soccer so he could concentrate on getting comfortable at the new school, get a handle on homework expectations, and have a chance to settle in and get his bearings.
As the first report cards came out that year, he did well, but was definitely coming in at a disadvantage. His peers at the new school were ahead of where he left off at the old school. He poured nearly everything he had into his school work and homework, and wasn’t seeing it pay off. As his teacher and I met during the year at the regularly scheduled parent-teacher conferences, she always said the same thing, “He tries so hard.” He never gave up.
By the end of third grade, he was still playing catch up in terms of curriculum, and we chalked it up to it being a transition year. Fourth grade started. He had surer footing, no longer the new kid, now knowing the expectations, what teachers and subjects he liked at the not-so-new-anymore new school and what he didn’t. His homeroom teacher this year? World of difference. She has made him excited about subjects he didn’t particularly care for before (Math), to the point that he seriously loves the subject. And it shows in his grades and report card. Science? Loves it. (And the teacher is amazing, which is half the battle).
…
