I am truly amazed by the PAL (primary advanced learners) program. And I can't rave enough about Layla's teacher, Ms. Moulton. She has been teaching gifted students for 15 years and she is amazing. The curriculum includes books written specifically for gifted learners, at their grade level, as well as math curriculum that they access on class ipads, laptops, and at home through the school website. Ms. Moulton's classroom is vibrant and exciting. The desks are arranged in different shapes and groupings, some with regular chairs and some with fun wobbly stools. The students can pick where they want to sit, but they spend most of their time on the rug and sitting around the room in various places. It is a very fun learning environment complete with two pet turtles in a tank.
While it is not my favorite thing to drive Layla to and from school each day, it is SO worth it! She is already happier, more mature, more positive, more responsible and kinder and it's only been a few weeks! I think she is able to be a better version of her already awesome self because she is finally in the type of environment that she thrives in. It makes my heart so happy!
Her new school is also focusing on a "growth mindset" this school year. They are focusing on having an attitude of growth, positivity, and learning with phrases such as "I can't do it ... yet" and "I haven't practiced enough" and "I will keep trying!" etc. It has helped Layla have less frustration over piano practice and be more patient with herself and others overall. I even find myself repeating some of the mantras to myself!
The one big downside to moving Layla from our local school is that we lost Chinese Immersion. While I am no longer sad about that for Layla, because the PAL program is exactly what she needed, I am sad for Marcus. When Layla was in Chinese, Marcus was automatically in the program when he starts kindergarten thanks to the grandfather rule. Since we pulled Layla out of Chinese, Marcus will not automatically be in the program and he will enter the lottery with the rest of the kids who want in. Unfortunately there are only 2 classes for Chinese so most of the spots go to younger siblings who are grandfathered in. There are only a handful of slots left for other students, so chances are that Marcus will not get into the Chinese program. I started a petition with my friend, Lara Lifferth, who is the Immersion Parent Coordinator at the local school, and we asked parents to sign if they would like to see a third class added to each grade level to allow for more students to participate. We didn't get as many signatures as we'd hoped, and we ended up meeting with the superintendent of the school district who told us a third class cannot be added. I was very upset, mad, sad, and annoyed, but I have finally made peace with it.
Maybe Marcus will get in to Chinese Immersion, and maybe he won't, but either way I will be fine with it. I don't know if he'll end up in the gifted program like Layla, it's hard to say. He is very smart, but I don't know that he'll have the same level of interest in learning as Layla does. Time will tell. As long as he's happy and learning what he needs to, I will be happy with regular school, Chinese, or gifted. I think the next year or two will be really telling for him. He has been doing the same online preschool that Layla did at his age and he is loving it. He is doing so well at it and it makes me so proud! He is truly a smart boy!
Marcus is SO excited to be in preschool at Miss Tiffany's! Layla also went to Miss Tiffany and we love her. Marcus has preschool Tuesdays through Thursdays from 9 to 11 am. He is growing up so fast and I can't believe he'll be in kindergarten next year! It really breaks my heart because I will miss him immensely! But I am proud of the people my kids are becoming and I'm happy that they get to go to good schools.
No comments:
Post a Comment