The Little Girl

She isn't so little anymore, but to her parents she is always going to be the baby. We do remind her of that from time to time...
We had a conference with two of her teachers yesterday. She had been struggling in some of her classes and we all agreed a chat would be a great idea. I had sold dance tickets at lunch and stayed to do some follow up paper work that Riley helped me with. Bob showed up and we met with two of Riley's favorite teachers. They both explained that this is a huge transition for 5th graders. The current work that Riley is being given is really for 7th graders, so it's like skipping a grade and 95% of the 6th graders struggle for the first semester. The type and quantity of work is overwhelming at first. Most students fall into the groove and get going around November. Both teachers agreed that they saw a great amount of improvement in Riley already. They both told us that her "spirit" is awesome and that she is so mindful and helpful to others. They both recognized in her the things that we already know to be her strengths. It was so awesome to have her teachers see those same things. She had been dreading the whole conference thing but when it was all over she was grinning from ear to ear and holding her head up high. Her teachers were gracious enough to remind Ri that she has great parents and how fortunate she is that we are the caring, proactive parents that teachers like to see. Armed with that gracious compliment we set off to the tutors. We first stopped at the park where Ri has been doing her community stewardship work this week. Very impressive. Let's just say that we are proud of our little girl and look forward to watching her excel.