Monday, May 20, 2013

Special Is As Special Does

I don't get on here as often as I would like to. I feel like there are so many great things we don't always share of Eleanor. I guess my excuse is I try to live in the moment and enjoy those times, capturing as many memories on my camera. Sadly, tonight I realized the last time I was writing was after her Parent/Teacher Conferences in November.

Well, it's that time again. It's time to give you an update on our little monkey after Parent/Teacher Conferences. Let me begin my entry here in saying how LUCKY, Kurt and I are to have Eleanor in such a great daycare. It's truly a place where her teachers care about her learning. Each classroom has a curriculum and the kids don't just play but they learn.

I do think Eleanor is fairly advanced for her age. She can count to 20 - she needs a little bit of help after 11 but she can do it. She can sing her ABC's and she knows the entire soundtrack of Annie. Tonight we sat down with one of her teachers and it was confirmed at how special Eleanor really is. (Like we all didn't know that already, but it's nice to hear from an outside party.)

We had the pleasure of meeting with Miss Emily. She had been with Eleanor since she was in the Toddler Room. Recently our E has advanced into the Two's room so she's not with Miss Emily. But we've heard from our Daycare Director that her former teacher sneaks in to see Eleanor from time to time. They truly have a bond. The funny thing is ALL of her teachers tell us this. And I have to say, our monkey really knows how to make people feel special and loved.

Specifically regarding Eleanor's social and emotional development, her report card reads: "Eleanor is a highly empathetic and social child. She makes friends easily and finds herself often at the center of conversations and gatherings. She possesses a lot of charisma and demonstrates the early origins of leadership qualities." I almost started crying when we heard that Eleanor is a leader in her class. Which is something rare to see at that age, according to her teacher. She generally leads the pack of girls and has them follow her to certain parts of the playground to have fun together. Our goal is to continue to encourage this behavior. It is leaders who make great history, not followers, right?

One point in our meeting tonight that I think both the Ames and the Lazar families will find funny was the following: "Eleanor takes pleasure in cleaning and organizing a room. She has a keen aesthetic eye - she responds to how a room appears." That got me thinking - is that response from Eleanor nature or nurture? Or perhaps a combo as both Kurt and I are pretty crazy about organization, cleanliness and things looking nice. 

Our teacher did say that Eleanor is an extrovert and she responds to learning in more creative ways than one on one schooling. Miss Emily had mentioned she thinks E will flourish in an arts type of school where there is collaboration, music and other arts to help teach different parts of learning that don't interest her. In particularly, Math and Science. She's concerned that Eleanor will have problems learning in a traditional school setting. So that's definitely something for Kurt and I to chew on and see as she gets older what her options are with different school settings.

Regarding Eleanor's creativity, Miss Emily wrote and discussed, "Eleanor is a highly creative individual who learns best through art and music. She seems to retain more concepts (colors, shapes, etc) when she explores them through these mediums. 

Miss Emily also said Eleanor is highly theatrical. We all knew that, right? But what I found so great was reading that, "Eleanor is aware of her allure. She knows how to attract attention to and maintain the interest of others. She truly possesses a magnetic quality and a good sensibility too."

So overall, the Parent/Teacher Conference went well. We need to be weary of how she learns and what helps her retain things quicker, but overall it's confirmed that we have been blessed with such a wonderful daughter. 

I always thank God for the blessing of Eleanor. I know who we have as a daughter is truly unique but when you hear it from an outside party saying over and over in a meeting how special she is, it's pretty much confirmed that we really do have a great child.

It's been a crazy six months with us getting acclimated with so many different changes in our lives this 2013 but we're hopeful we'll be able to see more of you the second half of the year. We want you all to enjoy this blessing of a child in our lives. Please come and visit at any time and we hope to be to you soon too!

Lots of love,
Tonya, Kurt + Eleanor
Eleanor eating a hotdog at Cub's game this past Friday, celebrating Daddy's birthday.