Today we had our first ever student/parent/teacher conference. Christopher's school emphasizes the student's responsibility in the learning process, so it makes sense that even in Kindergarten, the student would be included in the conference. We discussed a self-evaluation that Christopher completed last week that included everything from whether he liked school, to self-assessment of his listening and social skills in class, and self-assessment of each academic subject. It's an interesting way to get the child involved and talking with the teacher about things that are hard for them, what they like about school, and their own perceived strengths and weaknesses. Then, with the teacher and parents, we could problem solve solutions when needed. Christopher and his teacher had also selected some of his "best" work from the quarter to share with us so that the teacher could show us his learnings in each subject. I think they keep this work and then use it as a reference to show improvements throughout the year. It's an interesting process that is undoubtedly different from the parent/teacher conferences at other schools or when I was an elementary schooler.

The result of all this is that Christopher is doing just great. They refrain from comparisons to the rest of the class and instead focus on self-improvements and accomplishments of the individual. It was obvious that his teacher is very happy with how he's doing in his academic subjects though, and told us that he's a joy to have in class. She emphasized how proud she was of him for being a leader in the class in showing kindness to others, and also praised his immense curiousity and desire and readiness to learn. For instance, a boy hurt himself on the playground yesterday. Christopher skipped most of recess to walk him to the nurses office and stay with him there so he wouldn't be alone -- signs of kindness. Then, this morning, he went to the school library to check out books on teeth and gum injuries after discovering that was what had caused the school friend's playground ills -- signs of interest in learning about everything going on around him.

You can't ask for much more than that!