Rich and I met with Raf's teacher last night, Mrs. Bogardus. She is a wonderful teacher: very patient, kind, and has a mentoring style that can only really life a child's spirits. With that said, Raf has been surprising us recently with some less than rule-following behaviors! This is a really great thing, but also, you know...!
Raf has been in a reading group this past few months and we've seen how he's progressed at a very fast rate with reading levels. He has a tendency to be a little impatient and rush things (so he'll read a page and read the bigger words but substitute small words for other small words, without changing the meaning of the text.. !). This hurriedness is keeping him back a little as he has to show he can do everything before he moves on, but he's moving forward in leaps and bounds. Mrs. B is very positive and underlay Raf's enormous 'capacity' and sophistication when it comes to understanding things. It did make us very proud because we know this is testament to a lot of hard work from Raf.
I really don't enjoy the testing culture that pervades all schooling here (and no doubt in the UK, too) but it was a relief to see that he's getting back on track in terms of independent reading, and in assisted reading (or whatever they call it) he is much further ahead than current grade level. He's doing very well in maths, too.
Our biggest goal was for Raf to love school in these early years, and he really does. He has lots of lovely little friends, and has a social life that I am envious of! He's formed such earnest little relationships with Rohit and Gideon, and a handful of other friends that he likes to hang out with. Not sure how we got to this point, but it's clear that Raf is entering a new phase of his life. Not really ready for it, but it's coming anyway...!
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