We had parent teacher conferences with Elliott's teachers yesterday. It's amazing how different it went than last year in kindergarten. It seems that in kindergarten, Elliott was prone to cry, not listen, and talk too loud. In first grade, one of his teachers said he was one of her best behaved! She said he does tend to rush through things sometimes in an effort to get done as soon as his friends, but he's quick to listen and calm down if things get crazy. His other teacher had nothing but good things to say as well. They both said he is very bright, and good at everything he does. He loves to draw and read, and goes through a lot more books than most of the kids do. He ends up with more free time in class because one of his teachers lets him get started on some stuff while others are finishing up something else, so he's able to focus more closely on it. He loves Science.
His scores are pretty much off the charts on reading. His reading level is about that of an average 5th grader toward the end of the year (just an estimate since the test they give first graders only goes through 4th grade levels, and he surpassed those), and his reading comprehension is soundly in the 4th grade level. Not bad for a six year old!
Math is still a little bit of a struggle for him, although he's still able to score in the 60th-80th percentile overall on math tests, and got an A for the first quarter. It just takes him a little longer to get it done, and it frustrates him. It seems that his best friend in his math and reading class, is fast at math, and it irritates Elliott that he gets done so much before him. Then again, that same friend gets irritated by how much faster Elliott is at reading tasks.
Elliott liked school last year, but he LOVES it this year. We are very happy over all with our school experience.
