Parent-teacher conference

Can I brag for a minute? I met with Jack’s teacher today for a post-progress-report conference. I wasn’t concerned about anything, I mostly just wanted to go hear about how wonderful Jack is. And I was not disappointed.

Jack got all “S’s” and a few “S+’s” in everything except for knowing his phone number, that was an “I” for “improving.” (I taught him our phone number last year, but failed to practice it with him, so he forgot it.) Mrs. M. said that she’s actually pretty stingy with her “S+’s,” but Jack just knows his numbers and patterns too well. He’s the best in the class at patterns, in fact. He also is a good leader and follows directions really well; she never has to tell him anything twice. (This is slightly different from my experience with him.) All in all, he’s a joy and delight to have in class.

But you know the best part of the whole thing? She said that he’s a good leader and will help kids who are struggling with their work, and that he is kind about it. Because if I had to choose between raising a child who is kind and raising a child who succeeds at school, I would a thousand times rather raise a kind child.

Oh! And they asked the kids today what they want to be when they grow up, and Jack said he’s going to be a scientist. “What are you going to study?” his teacher asked. “Whatever interests me,” he said.