Sometimes I call this boy Smarty Pants. He really is. He made such strides in reading and math over the summer but I didn’t know exactly how huge they were until last night at Parent Teacher Conference. I had already talked to his teacher about sending him home with harder homework and she also has been giving him a higher level of books to read.

He’s a fantastic reader! He not only knows words way above his 1st grade level but the way he reads is really good for a 6 year old. He has articulation and expression even when reading a book for the first time. His favorite books to read are non-fiction Science books (natural disasters, spiders, etc). The other day he described, at length, buoyancy to me. He was slightly off, but had the right idea. It’s pretty cute hearing him talk about things that interest him. He has such enthusiasm!

So here’s the report:

• On a scale of 1-5 he got a 5 on Respect, Attention, Preparation, and Participation. He got a 4 on Focus.
• His Academic Goal: “Photography. Learn more about taking pictures.” Ha!
• His Behavioral Goal: “Be friends with those who don’t have friends.” Yes!
• On spelling he is 5 levels above what the class is currently learning.
• On math he is in the hardest of the 3 books offered in his class. They are all story problems.
• On reading, the avg level of a 1st grader in the fall is a 3. Nate is a level 16. 16!
• His teacher wrote, “Nate is very bright! He shows respect towards the teacher. Nate is always trying to do better and be his best.”
• She also told me that she loves how she can see him think. He really tries to work through a problem before asking a question, which is uncommon for this age.
• He wrote a note to me and Rob and signed it, “Love Dr. Nate”.

So what does all this mean? Well, she says he is and always will be at the top of his class. She said he could easily skip a grade but she doesn’t recommend it. She believes it is better to keep him with his age group and build up his confidence and just give him harder work. At the end of 2nd grade he will take the “advanced” test which would allow him to go to a class with peers on his same level but at a different school, which is probably what we will do, but I’m not going to think about it until the time comes.

Nate is joyous, soaks everything in, asks thoughtful questions and seeks answers, and catches on quickly. Rob and I are so proud of him and his success!

I took this pic when he came home from school with his tooth in a ziploc baggy.