This past Tuesday was parent/teacher meetings at little V’s school.  It was time to see how V’s progress was going.  For the first quarter, there were parent/teacher meetings as well; for the second, they just sent home a report.  Now I know you are thinking to your self, it’s pre-k, what could they be reporting on but you would be surprised!

Since the beginning, V got good comments on how pleasant she was to have around, how she was a good listener, kind to her classmates and always shared.  However, being that (obviously) school was a whole new thing, she was learning how to focus her attention on one thing till its completion.  She needed a lot of encouragement to keep going and to work on it on her own.  (I could see that.)  The teachers understood V was behind on her speech but could also see that cognitively, she was right on track.  She is a smart kid and can do it, she just didn’t always want to.  They used her classmates as a measuring tool but understood each kid is different.  Back at the end of the first quarter, V was behind on learning her alphabet/numbers, etc.  She didn’t always recognize her name (they were focusing on the first letter of their name: the V) and it was an area the teacher gave us to work on at home.  All this can be summed up with what the teacher wrote: She is capable of producing more.  And she was right.

We have done our best to work with V at home.  We had a sign with her name on it at the kitchen table; we had a sheet for the alphabet, numbers and shapes that we would pull out and go through; I printed out different fun worksheets to have around at home; we read more; we talked about letters wherever we were and she began recognizing them in all different places; I made a point to really work on the different ‘homework’ assignments from school as well as from her speech therapist.  (I believe it is all related.  As her speech develops, so does her learning.  As her learning develops, so does her speech.)

All this to share with you, she has come so very far and I am extremely proud of her.  However, I am not the only one beaming with pride!  Her teachers, especially Ms. Gedeon, couldn’t sop about how great V is doing, how far she has come, how much she has learned, and how well she is thriving in all that they do in pre-k.  I love to hear about all that goes on in the classroom, how whenever the color purple comes up, everyone looks to V to show her purple shoes or how every. single. day. V talks about her puppy!  It fills my heart to overflowing to see her happy and a part of her little community of classmates.  To hear little voices call out “bye Velda”.

Yes, I teared up at the parent/teacher meeting.  I don’t think anyone noticed because I blinked them back but hearing all of this, seeing my little V growing up before my very eyes, understanding she has her own little life at school that momma doesn’t know about, it is all bitter-sweet for my little heart.  I gave her a few extra hugs that day, just in case I blinked and she was 15.

So to show our little V that it is a very big deal to do good in school (no matter what grade), we decided to treat her and go big!!  So we told her about a place that we could go to where you could watch a man throw food right in front of you!  Yup, Benihanna’s!!!  The following is our evening celebrating our 4-year-old, treasuring a moment before it was time to move on.  All the pictures were taken on my iPhone and it was a bit dark inside…sooo, they are not my best but I love them anyway!

I had to zoom in on the face she was making in the top picture.  I know she will love it one day!

in all it’s blurriness, it shows her excitement perfectly

she loved the chopsticks, so much she collected all the unused ones from the table and brought them home

my tea was oh so delicious I just had to take a picture

I find this particular ice scream shot a bit disturbing

my two loves

my little V : I want you to know I love you so very much!  Know that I will love you with the good grades and with the bad grades, because neither will change the fact that you are my living and breathing heart.