What I Learned from my Daughters 1st Year of Grade School

Hi Moms,

Amelia has officially transitioned out of Kindergarten and boy was that an experience for all of us. As most of you already know, Amelia is my oldest so going into grade school was nerve wrecking for me. I was afraid for her, going into a new school, with older kids and no one that she knows.

I tried to remember myself transitioning into elementary for the first time but I honestly could not remember that far. I do, however, remember my first day of high school as freshmen. My high school is the biggest in the city of Danbury, CT and therefore has the biggest population. Although I did know some classmates that would be there, I had no one to walk me into homeroom on the very first day. I was so nervous getting off the bus that morning. I did not look left nor right, I was tunnel vision to where I thought my locker and homeroom would be. At this point, I was about 14 years old.

Amelia was only five, when she took the bus, all by herself. I met her at the school as I had to bring in her supplies for school. I found her getting off the bus and walking (all by her self) into her kindergarten class. I teared up with how proud I was of her bravery.

Kindergarten was a learning experience for me, to say the least. Amelia started off just fine but as time passed, her grades lowered, her state tests scores were below average, and I felt a sense of miscommunication from her teacher. When her second progress report came in, in comparison to her first, he grades had dropped. I grew concerned since I had previously connected with the teacher and asked her to please let me know how I can be of support to Amelia at home and if she was lagging, I would like to be informed. So this report card took me by surprise. I had not been made aware that Amelia was not progressing as she should.

I always told myself that when my children started school, I wanted to be an involved parent. I wanted to chaperone a couple trips and come for her spring and winter concert. I wanted her to know that I support her and I would always be in her corner. I expected the teacher to reach out to me once she noticed Amelia’s progress declining since that was the very first thing I said to her when we met on the first day, to keep me informed on Amelia’s progress.

I showed concern about the test scores and the teacher reassured me how well Amelia was doing in her class. She told me not to be concerned with the tests because its her first time taking a test. I took her advise and let it go. When the midterm scores came in that she did not show improve, I decided to take further action; to make matters worst, the principal attached a notice with the scores advising us that Amelia may need summer school if she did not show improvement. I emailed the teacher and cc’d the principal and school social worker for a meeting. There was no way my daughter was going to be forced to attend summer school when I have not my part as a parent to help her excel.

The meeting went well. Her teacher reiterated how well Amelia was doing in her class. The attendees agreed to keep me informed on Amelia’s progress. Her teacher agreed to send home work for her to practice at home. The assistant principal set up a follow up meeting when the final test scores came in towards the end of the school year to discuss Amelia’s progress and potential attendance to summer school, if need be.

Each night, Amelia and I practice her site words, her reading, her numbers, her adding, her subtraction, everything. I followed up with the teacher monthly on her progress. When it came time for test taking, she knocked it out the park! Her grade exceeded the requirement for her age group and she got an outstanding score!

The moral of this story is to remind you guys to get involved. Ask questions and support your child as best you can at home. It starts with us. Had I had allowed the teacher to just send my kid to summer school, she may have ended up as another statistic. However, there was no way I was going to allow them to place my child in summer school without having tried or exhausted all of our options. The teachers will only push as much as you will so push hard for your child and you will how they too will excel, like Amelia did. I was so proud of her. I believed in her, I knew she can do it.