I feel someone tapping me and catch sight of the clock – it’s 5:58. “Mom, wake up!” Was it Christmas? Oh heck no. Even better. It was self-led conference day. What are self-led conferences, you ask? Good question and one I had asked myself several weeks earlier when the note came home from school.
Self-led conferences are similar to traditional ones in that you come to school at a specific time to hear how your child is doing. That’s about where the similarities end because it’s not the teacher doing the talking – it’s Nia! For ONE. WHOLE. HOUR. Not kidding. And the teacher is nearby, but not specifically in the conference and we were instructed to direct questions only to our child, not the teacher. Crazy cool concept, huh?!
We rotated between 4 different “cafes” (stations) on the 1st grade floor where she told us about her progress in specific subjects and highlighted how she’d grown as a learner (they had done prior reflection on this).
In handwriting she showed us early samples of her writing and drawing and then a recent book she had “published”. She then walked us through her progression as a learner. She was proud of how detailed her drawing had become and that she made far fewer letter reversals now.
For Math she selected a learning activity from the shelf and taught us how to do it. She told us the names of shapes and showed us how to make our own designs. There were also stops for reading (where she read us a book she had pre-selected) and a Unit of Inquiry station where she explained the various learning themes they had studied that year (ex: The World Around Us) and which was her favorite.
Nia was very specific about what she wanted us to wear for this special day. It had to be FANCY. She insisted that Nick wear a suit and even picked the specific one she wanted him in. And I had to wear a dress, which she also pre-approved. For herself, she insisted on wearing Indian dress. She wanted to wear a more formal Indian outfit but I was able to talk her down to this medium-dressy option.
In Host Country Studies we put together a map of India (SO HARD!!) and she told us about the specific Indian States they had studied in depth.
We also visited the Creative Arts Studio (no photos, sorry!) and her Occupational Therapy room, which has some cute name that I can’t remember at the moment. Throughout the year she had been working with the OT on 3 things: 1.) Breathing through her mouth, 2.) Strengthening her core so she can sit still better and 3.) being more courageous when it comes to physical activity. Her progress has been remarkable, especially on the last one.
Nia has a fear of climbing or playing on play structures. She’s very worried about hurting herself and usually opts out of trying physical things. Her OT worked with her bit by bit to get her to take greater risks. One of the most monumental things she did towards the end of the year was to ride the zipline and drop onto a bean bag. Sounds simple but it was such a big milestone for her. You should have heard the pride in her voice when she came home and told us that she had done it all by herself! Here she is showing us her new skill. :)
School just wrapped up on Friday and she’s got 4 weeks of fun school camps prior to us taking our summer vacation. It was a rocky start this year, but we’re really proud of how resilient she was and how she embraced the resources she needed to thrive (specifically counseling and OT). And now we’re on to 2nd grade!
