Grading a Child Like Teddy

I know I've talked about it before, but it must be incredibly challenging to grade a child like Teddy. He is held to the standards for other first graders, which means that obviously his report card holds the 1's you'd expect to see. Report cards now are 1 through 4, though I've yet to see a 4 yet even on AJ's report card. I tend to chuckle, or at least smirk, as I ready Teddy's grades because most 2's should be 1's, but I'm certain his teachers look for where they can squeak out a slightly higher grade because it must feel terrible to give a child all low marks.

I know teachers have a number of students to grade, especially those who teach specials like art, gym and music. But the comments they provide mean the world to AJ and truly hold the value for us as parents for Teddy more than any number.

I particularly love what Teddy's music teacher said about him. Even the use of the word "yet" leaves the option open that he'll master that particular skill in the future. She recognizes what he cannot do, but she clearly sees his joy for music and all he can do. And, trust me folks, for Teddy to actually stay in his seat through music class is a tremendous accomplishment for the child who cannot stay seated for a meal ... even though he loves food.

I truly appreciate Teddy's music teacher!

I started the year worried about how Teddy's teacher would handle Teddy and his classmates as he was new to that role. He exceeded my expectations and was everything we could have hoped for in Teddy's teacher: someone who saw the potential in Teddy, encouraged him to work hard yet understood his limitations, coordinated his supports at school and communicated well with us. We had daily communication from school, updates about big and little things. He was also willing to address Teddy's elopement directly, accept responsibility for the mistakes made and put in place a solid plan moving forward.

We were blessed with a great teacher for Teddy. 

Obviously with COVID-19, the school year ended much differently than we expected. I know school will look much different this upcoming year, and it's challenging to image what that looks like for Teddy's classroom, which is already rather unique and candidly a mixture of students with constant runny noses and a need to taste test most things, including things that aren't theirs.

For now, though, we'll celebrate the end of first grade for Teddy. There's one score that was missing from the report card, though, and that's the one for us as parents for surviving the end of school with remote learning. I'm not sure we quite deserve a 4, but we kept everyone alive, which is at least a solid 3.