A Zach report

We had Zach's parent/teacher conference yesterday. Considering it's just preschool, it was probably a little silly how much I was looking forward to it. But since Zach spends the majority of almost every single day with me, it's fascinating for me to think about what he does, what he's like, when I'm not around.

Zach's teacher, Mrs. H, had a little checklist of behaviors and skills, and each one was rated with things like "always, most of the time, sometimes, never." Zach's first report card! He had lots of As, something a parent always wants to see. :)

Much of our conversation wasn't a big surprise - he's good with his letters and numbers (he can count higher than any other preschooler in all the classes!), is doing better writing his name, interacts well with adults, follows directions, etc. I was not exactly shocked to hear that he tends to rush through art projects so he can move on to something he likes better. But it makes me laugh, since the first thing out of his mouth when I pick him up is "mom - come and look at what I made!" He's so excited to show me the results... yet doesn't like the process. Hmm. Perhaps we have a boy who just likes hearing praise!

I was mostly interested to hear how he was doing socially with the other kids, one of the main reasons we enrolled him in preschool in the first place. When I drop him off and pick him up, I don't notice him interacting with his classmates, and when I try to ask, he doesn't really say much about playing with other kids. He's very good about introducing me to everyone, but other than that, I didn't get much sense that he was actually talking to or playing with the many girls and few boys in the class.

So I was very pleasantly surprised to learn that Zach is one of the more social ones in the class. Mrs. H was very impressed that he knew all the kids' names, and that he actually uses them when he's talking to them. He apparently has some favorites; we discovered that he always asks Amalie if he can sit by her during circle time (and they often hold hands). We heard stories about him and Anna giggling together as they pretended they were whales as they ate their goldfish crackers. And other than getting upset when someone disrupts the cars and trucks he's lined up for a race, he is even doing well with sharing. Whoo hoo!

We were also quite happy to hear that Zach is willing to try the snacks that he isn't familiar with. Now if only we could get him to be so adventurous at home...!

I'll close with a few recent Zach mini-stories:

Zach: God gave us the sun. And places.
Me: Planets?
Z: No, places, like Burger King.

Z: Mom, I want to write a word, can you tell me how to spell it?
Me: Sure, what word?
Z: Exhilarating.

While playing kickball with his dad, running from 1st to second, Zach was saying "I'm going to get extra fantasy points for this!" (Zach has been quite interested in Scott's various "fantasy" teams - he helps dad pick which players should start each week, etc. It's getting a bit frightening the names he remembers.)

After I explained to him that I was going to a landscaping class, and what that was: [in a very concerned voice] But please leave the driveway, ok? Don't put any plants or flowers there or I won't be able to play kickball.

Z: Mom, when are we going to go to Egypt?
Me: Egypt? Why do you want to go to Egypt?
Z: Because they have a lot of food there.
Me: Why do you think that?
Z: I don't think that, I KNOW that.