Iris’ last day of first grade was yesterday. We had a parent picnic for the occasion. I was able to leave one baby at home with daddy while I took the other one. It was refreshing just to have one baby. It seemed so easy! Anyway, it was nice to see Iris’ teacher and some of the other parents I have come to know through school functions.
Along with the last day of school came Iris’ report card. As part of national standardized testing Iris of course took some tests this year. I am happy to report she scored 99% in a reading test that measures phonological awareness, phonics, concepts of print, vocabulary & word structure, comprehension, and writing. This means that every first grader in the United States took this test. This means that Iris is better in these areas than 99 percent of all of the first graders in the United States. I am so, so proud of my little girl. She is reading at a 5th & 6th grade level. Not only is she reading at that level, she is comprehending and assimilating what she is reading.
I think this comes from many factors. As an English teacher, librarian and book lover myself Iris has always been surrounded by books. We have always read a lot together. She just loves to read naturally, too. She gets books as gifts and has always had her own bookshelf in her room. Iris reads for hours every day. I never have to tell her to read or motivate her to read. I buy her a lot of books just because I want to encourage this – it obviously has been a great investment.
She did well in math, too. About the 80th percentile. But 99 percent rocks. Way to go Ms. Iris.
