First Parent-Teacher Conference?

Today, Eddie and I went to Gracie and Luke's Day Care (a.k.a. school) for our very first Parent-Teacher Conference. While we were waiting for Miss Joanne, we sat in the infant/toddler room and watched as our Twinsies sat in chairs, at a table and used spoons to eat Cheerios and milk. Huh? I've never even handed them spoons! Needless to say, I was a bit stunned to see them using utensils and not flinging Cheerios across the room. They sat and ate their breakfasts with gusto while other kiddies finished and started wandering about the room.

When Miss Joanne was ready for us, we went into her office and sat across from her. Here is the short version:

Gracie - Is able to follow one-step instructions and requests, is very close to speaking one or two word sentences, shows empathy toward others, defends her "territory" and stands up for herself, is doing much better at self-soothing at nap time, but is still working on it. Miss Joanne seemed very happy at Gracie's accomplishments and seemed especially pleased with Gracie's most recent advances. Since I've seen the difference in Gracie at home in the past two months, I heartily agreed. They are working on removing her binky for the majority of the day, exept at nap time. Miss Joanne seems to think that it will be just a bit longer and the binky will be history.

Luke - Communicates using gestures and is starting to use sounds to communicate ( is developing words), plays well with others, is still learning that it is okay to defend his "territory", and requires more hands-on time with the teachers, eats very well. He is still working on self-soothing at naptime, but is doing much better. He used to wake up several times each nap period, but now he sleeps solidly.

Eddie and I were very pleased at Miss Joanne's report. It is nice to know that our Twinsies play well and are well liked by the other toddlers and the teachers. I think the nicest thing was that Miss Joanne really seems to have this age nailed and has instituted several activities/policies designed to help the children develop new skills. One thing she has started is family eating time. The children used to be served all at once, but now, each item is brought to each child and they are asked if they would like to have some.

"Luke, would you like some corn today?"

"Gracie, would you like some fish sticks today?"

Overall, we were very pleased and came away with some important new ideas for interacting with Gracie and Luke and helping them to continue their development. I wonder if all of their Parent - Teacher conferences will be this nice?

We were so pleased, in fact, that we sat the Twinsies at their own table for dinner that night. Gracie was happier to eat than Luke. This scene did not last long.