Progress Report

Today was Sam's last day of school.

He came home with a giant manila envelope full of all his drawings and assignments. Tucked inside was also his Four Year Old Program Progress Report for the 2012-13 School Year.

He was evaluated in many scholastic areas on a scale that ranged from I -- In Progress to P -- Proficient. I am proud to say Sam is proficient in such tasks as demonstrating an understanding of chapel lessons, demonstrating lengthening attention span, and expressing beginning geographic thinking (no surprise here! the kid is going on his third continent and has a geography professor for a grandfather). Sam is still working on retelling Bible stories with understanding (as am I) and identifying the four seasons and his characteristics (in his defense, he has lived most of his life in a two season world--rainy and dry).

I got a kick out of the teacher comments. I doubt I would recant them here if they said Sam took peculiar pleasure in beheading dolls or ate sand:

"Sam joined our class at the end of February and quickly adjusted to our classroom routines. He is a very friendly, social little guy and quickly assimilated into our class and began forming friendships not only with his classmates, but with some of the boys in the class with which we share our playground time. Sam is very verbal, has a strong vocabulary, and loves to share his ideas during group discussions. He seems to have a strong interest in science and nature, and has enjoyed our units on birds, plants and insects, often sharing his own observations and background knowledge. Sam has phonological awareness; he recognizes most letters, identifies many letter sounds, and is beginning to identify and generate rhymes. Although he is still working on number recognition beyond 12, he has a good grasp of early math skills such as sorting, patterning, ordering and mathematical reasoning. Sam is a good listener, follows directions, and always gives his best effort on his projects. He is an enthusiastic participant in Music class and in Prayer and Praise and enjoys dramatic play with his friends. Sam has been a wonderful addition to our class!"

All I can say is I'm glad he has phonological awareness. Here's to hoping he has enough for the rest of his family.