My first parent teacher conference

I was a little bit anxious before I went to S's school this morning. This was the first formal parent teacher meeting that was scheduled and was just meant to provide me with an update on how S is settling in school now that she's completed 6 weeks.

I was worried that her teacher would tell me that S was not doing well or there was something she needed to improve upon. Also, I was secretly hopeful that her teacher would tell me that S was a child prodigy and she was already ahead of her class. As to be expected, it was neither of the two. Everything is fine. Just fine.

S is settling in well. She is making friends with the kids, even older children. Apparently, she's quite popular with the older kids as she likes to observe what they're doing but doesn't trouble them. Her teacher said S is always busy during school and keen to do her activities. She's rarely idle or waiting to be told what to do.
Whenever we ask S what she did at school, she always says 'cutting and pasting' and 'sewing'. Her teacher clarified this morning that she does other activities as well and maybe she doesn't mention it because she doesn't know what to call them. That's a relief.

Her Chinese teacher was very happy with her. She said that S says Goodbye and Good Morning in chinese very happily and repeats all the words that she's taught. Where other children need encouragement to try to speak a different language, S always responds. Her teacher was very satisfied with that.

Her class teacher also mentioned that S participates in the group activities. When they ask the group questions, S will put up her hand in response even though she's relatively new to class. And when the teacher asks her to elaborate she gives a shy smile but doesn't always answer. She's the youngest in her class and has been there for less than 2 months so it's quite good that she's actively engaging during the group sessions.

I have to say thanks to Choxbox for introducing the montessori philosophy to me through her blog. I'm really glad that I've sent S to a montessori school. She's enjoying it and I really buy in to their education philosophy.

All in all, everything's just dandy.