Good news from school

Both schools, really.

Caroline:
We just found out that Caroline will, in fact, have a spot in her current preschool's Georgia Pre-K program! We're thrilled about that for several reasons, not the least of which: it's FREE (which B is always quick to point out)!

The girls' preschool didn't offer a GA Pre-K program when Anna Claire went through, so we were faced with some decisions. Their private Pre-K was great, I had no doubts about that, but it also wasn't cheap (especially when compared with "free"). Instead, we opted to look for GA Pre-K programs at other centers. You might recall that I 'camped out' for a spot at one, arriving several hours early to sit on their curb in order to secure a spot in line, hoping that it'd mean she'd have a spot (it did). We also entered her into a 'lottery' system at another center, where we got lucky and she was 'drawn' for one of their slots (which we eventually took).  When I got word (this time last year) that our preschool would be applying for a GA Pre-K program (it's done on a basis of demand, etc, as the state tries to have only as many slots as they can fill, which makes financial sense of course) - I was ecstatic! They found out last summer that they would have 1 classroom (they had applied for 2). That meant that they were essentially guaranteed to have at least 1 class for Caroline's year as well. We just weren't sure whether Caroline would get 1 of the 20 spots in that class. They worked out a system based on family enrollment date, and we found out last week that Caroline would definitely have a spot available (which of course I jumped on, and let them know that we would *definitely* take it!). They still have a wait-list and are hoping to get at least 1 more classroom for next year (they applied for another 2 for next year). They won't know til Summer, but I'm glad we're not in limbo until then!

Anna Claire:
A few things have happened recently - she started the Target (gifted) Program. She seems to be enjoying it for the most part, but I do think she's aware that she's not the "smart kid" in the room (they're ALL smart kids!). It'll be an adjustment, but I'm hoping it'll be a good one. She can learn that it's okay to take risks and be wrong sometimes (they emphasize problem solving and creativity).

We also just had our parent-teacher conference and got her mid-year report card. Again, essentially "all A's" (but not, since they don't use letter grades).  Her teacher told us that she's doing well all around. She's still reading well ahead (about a 3rd grade level now), and doing well in math, and acing all her spelling tests, as well as getting along very well socially with her classmates, etc. A somewhat bigger accomplishment though, in my opinion - she's gaining maturity! She came home with a "Student of the Day" award the other day for "being a graceful finalist."

A bit of backstory - her classroom is leading a school-wide Pennies for Pure Water campaign for Haiti (since pennies are 'easy' for the kids to get/give, and one cent buys a tablet that purifies 5 liters of water). They volunteered to collect, count, and promote the campaign. That's where our display of (newly found) maturity came into play. Seems that 17 of the 18 kids volunteered to promote the campaign with a spot on the school TV news, of course they could only take 4 for the spot. Ms. B says she struggled with how to best handle it, and after discussing it with the class they decided to take a vote and the top 4 vote getters would get to do it. Ms. B also briefly explained how 2 people might get the same number of votes, and then they'd have to decide how to handle things (see the foreshadowing there?). Sure enough, Anna Claire and a classmate got the same number of votes. Ms. B says she explained how a run-off works, and also that it can sometimes result in hurt feelings for the one not chosen. Anna Claire volunteered that "if she didn't cry when she got out in Sparkle (a classroom game), then she surely wouldn't cry if she didn't get chosen" (really, a worry, because she's a pretty sensitive kid). But, in a wonderful display of maturing grace, when the other boy won the last spot, Anna Claire told him "congratulations!" Ms. B was just so pleased with the display, that she made Anna Claire the Student of the Day for it. I too, beamed! That's a really big step for my girl, and shows just how much she's grown so far this year.