Report Card

Last month, Teddy got his report card. Now, if you know Teddy, you know that although Teddy has many strengths, most of those are not items captured in the academic setting. (Heck, if you've read my blog before, you should know that.)

Report cards are different than when I was a child, at least for elementary school. The grading scale is:
4 - Advanced
3 - Proficient
2 - Basic
1 - Below Basic

I've learned from my experiences with AJ's teachers the past two years that 4's are simply not given at this age, so let's pretend the scale goes from 1-3 for purposes of this post.

First, let me say that I know from talking to Teddy's teacher that she strongly dislikes assigning grades because she recognizes that they don't capture the effort, skills and progress of the children she teaches. I completely agree.

Still, Teddy's report card made me laugh aloud. Most of his grades were understandable 1's because of the categories on which he's graded. He did get a 2 in science, though, for Earth and Space Science. How? Why? He also got a 2 in Health, which also befuddles me.

Now, something like gym, I feel his grades are more accurate. He got 2's across the board there, which is still really generous but balances his interest and efforts with his actual skill level.

Music was where I had to chuckle. He got a 3 for Engages Appropriately With Music, which I think is realistic. However, the poor kid didn't stand a chance for Singing. He got a 1. Seriously ... why would you grade a non-verbal child on a skill that requires verbalization?!?!

An accurate assessment of Teddy.

The one area that I felt fairly captured Teddy and scored things that make sense for Teddy was the life and career skills. He got mostly 2's, which is fair. He did get a 3 for Initiative and Self-Direction, and I don't think this is an exaggeration. Teddy has a lot of ideas, and he's persistent in following through on those ideas. Now, that 1 in Leadership and Responsibility goes hand-in-hand with that 3. A lot of Teddy's ideas are not responsible, but that doesn't stop him from pursuing them.

Now, if they scored him on adorable smile, he'd get a 3. Heck, maybe they'd even give him a 4 for those dimples.