Report Cards

The kids got their first report cards and they both did great!  With all of this common core stuff the report cards read a little strange (from what I remember), but the main thing I take from them is that they are both on track and even ahead in some areas.  The report cards give the teacher the option to give a 1, 2, or 3 and say that students are not expected to receive a 3 until they have full mastery and typically that is at the end of the year since common core is measuring year long expectations.  So, with that said, Tyler only received a 3 in two areas but the rest were 2's and there were no 1's.  A 3 is "meets with proficiency," a 2 is "Developing Proficiency, and a 3 means that they require more time and experiences and shows limited achievement.  Both of Tyler's 3 areas were in Math (which he truly loves).  Katie, on the otherhand, received mostly threes.  In Language Arts/Literacy and Math she got a 3 in all areas.  She didn't get any 1's either, but got 2's in Science and Social Studies.  They both got overall scores of E - Excellent Performance, and got E for Exceptional Effort in all of their special classes.  I am very proud of how well they are both adjusting to Kindergarten. 

The disparity in the number of 3's isn't wholly surprising since Katie tries much harder to be a good student, and is a teacher pleaser which Tyler definitely isn't.  He has always been reluctant to demonstrate to teachers what he knows, for some reason, but I am completely comfortable that he is where he needs to be in terms of learning letters, and sounds, and especially vocabulary.  Some of it is the difference in teachers, too.  Tyler's teacher is not going to be overly impressed with much and really expects complete mastery and that there are very few areas where any student would have a 3 at this point in the year,  whereas I think Katie's teacher is looking at where she is compared to the other students and sees no reason to wait to give a three if she truly already has mastery of a skill (i.e. she can write all of her letters with very rare errors, but Tyler will sometimes write a few backwards which does technically mean that he doesn't have full mastery).  All in all, I am pleased with how they are doing and feel validated in the decision to put them in Kindergarten on the young side!