Caitie: Caitie; Conference; Charlie; Caring; Class; Crazy; Cute

I attended parent/teacher conference on Thursday, October 25th. I was the first one scheduled... bright and early at 8am.

Here's how Caitie's report card works for the first quarter:

Academic Subjects Grades

E = 90% - 100% (excellent)

S = 70% - 89% (satisfactory)

N = 60% - 69% (needs improvement)

U = 0% - 59% (unsatisfactory)

Performance Level
Refer to Common Code Standards

4 = Exceeds (independently performs above grade level)

3 = Meets (performs at grade level)

2 = Approaches (performs below grade level with support)

1 = Fails Far Below (below grade level with little progress)

Caitie got E+ and 3 in all subjects (reading, english, math, science, social studies), and E+ in art, music, and PE (physical education). She got S in Student Effort and Penmanship. Her teacher, Mrs. L, said Caitie is reading at a third grade level; she's one of the highest in her class. Caitie's the first one to finish the word lists for the year, she can't go any higher; she did her last one yesterday. I hope she keeps up the good work. :)

I wasn't sure what to expect as far as math went... they're using a new math cirriculum this year, one I'm not too happy with so far. When Caitie first brought math worksheets home, it seemed like typical first grade stuff... from what I could remember, anyway, it's been a few years since I was in first grade. ha But it wasn't long before she brought home math worksheets that looked more like what fourth graders, or above, would be doing. I thought it was just me, but when I asked Michael to look at them, he couldn't figure them out either. I was terrible at math, still am, so helping Caitie with her math homework has been quite a challenge, especially since she's already being introduced to concepts of algebra and geometry. The 'basics' I can deal with, but algebra and geometry... ummm, not so much. ha I'm having to learn right along with her. Caitie doesn't know what to do when it comes to her math homework, so I'm having to figure it out and then teach it to her. Her teacher said she's doing good in math, so I guess I have no reason to worry.

Caitie did a book report on 'Charlie the Ranch Dog'. As you can see, she had to make a 'visual' to go along with the book. It was to be made with a plastic pumpkin. This was in mid-October when pumpkins were popular. She turned it in on conference day. She has since gotten it back; she got a 100 on the project. For those of you who follow the Pioneer Woman's Blog, she wrote this book. She's written several in the last few years; mainly cookbooks and a couple of children's books, along with one book about her rancher, now husband, romance. She also has a cooking show on the Food Network Channel. She's quite the success story. Caitie wants to be her... or a rancher's wife, anyway... um, yeah. More on that in another post... maybe. ha (just in case you're wondering why caitie looks a bit out of it in the pic below... it's because we had to get up extra early that morning for the conference and she was still sleepy)

Here are the girls outside of Caitie's classroom after the conference; we had just left the room. Caitie wore red that day for Character Counts week. It wasn't schoolwide this time, only some classes did it, and they only wore the colors for each character trait instead of dressing 'goofy' as they did the last two years. I dressed Bailey in red as well. Red represented 'caring'.

The conferences were held on Thursday and Friday of that week; both were half days. It was around lunchtime when I picked Caitie up from school on that Thursday, so we went to a park for a picnic and then playground time.

Later that day it was homework time.

Caitie was given her class picture and school portrait that day. Here is her class picture, minus one or two students that weren't at school on picture day. Caitie is the second one from the left in the first row. The pic is kinda dark, so it's hard to see everyone.

Caitie enjoys art, and does very well. She usually gets A+ on her art projects. Here she's holding a pic she got an A+ on; it's of two birds in a tree. When I first saw it, I thought she just colored it, I didn't realize she had drawn it as well. It's hard to see here, but the detail on it is impressive. She doesn't take much time and isn't as detailed on drawings she does at home.

Here is Caitie's school portrait...

She said school portraits are cheesy...

and undignified...

and just plain silly...

she wanted to be incognito...

but finally settled on chic...

Not really, but it sure was fun being indecisive. (i got the school portrait CD package; it comes with a fun editing feature. that's what i used to do the school pics above)

Here's the actual pic with a blue/gray background... not my favorite choice for a background color...