Kudos for M

Why as a mother do I get a warm tingly feeling anytime anyone says something nice about my daughter? I received an email from her principal yesterday, and he commented "We are glad to have M at school, and her teacher was remarking to me the other day what a quick mind she has and how much her penmanship has improved this year".

To really appreciate this comment, I need to give you a little background. We moved to Louisiana from Iowa this past summer. In kindergarten, M was well above the other students. Her teacher actually encouraged M to help the other kids, and was constantly applauding her eagerness to help. So, when we moved I found a private school here that I was happy with and we met with the principal and her teacher. They wanted to see if it would be possible to move her into 2nd grade with the other students her age (the deadline to start school is different, as based on age she should be in 2nd here). They were very impressed with her reading, and math comprehension. So, they put her into 2nd grade.

At the beginning of the year, she was struggling a little bit, and her teacher was contemplating putting her back into 1st. She had never been introduced to penmanship or grammar before, and her teacher was just concerned that she would fall farther behind and would possibly have to repeat the 2nd grade because she would not be ready for 3rd. And it doesn't help any that they give the student ciriculmn that is one grade above. So, technically speaking M skipped 2 grades!

I asked if we could at least wait until the end of the 1st quarter, and I would work with her more at home. Well, the end of the 2nd quarter came and report cards came home. M had all A's and B's and made honor roll. I so badly wanted to tell her teacher, "I told you so!" But I kept my mouth shut, and just said "I knew she could do it".

My hubby and I were discussing last night if M's school teaches them ciriculum a year ahead would she honestly be ready to graduate at the end of 9th grade and take the GED exam? I know we are just dreaming, but she had always been far ahead of other children her age. But it is nice to dream and be a proud mommy.