Jackson's PreSchool "Assessment"

Today,  Ryan and I met with Jackson's teacher at his school to talk to his teacher about his progress in 4 yr old preschool.  This is the time of year where they recommend the student to Kindergarten, or not, based on the Pre-K assessment they do.  I was excited to hear about our big boy's progress!  We love Jackson's teacher... she's so kind and patient and really loves the students - I actually enjoy her company!  So we sat down and after some small talk, we get into the evaluation.  Jackson aced everything on the first side of the page... Knowing his letters, out of order, and their sounds... Knowing his name and his parents' names, his phone number (he didn't know his address, so we have to work on that one).  

On the behavior side, he knocked it out of the park with one exception (as you can see below):  "Completes work on time."  Next to it, she writes "is a perfectionist."  I laughed at seeing this because I know he's like this... She used the example of one time the kids were given a worksheet and asked to color all the squares.. Most kids dug in.... coloring 1, then 2, then 3, 4, 5 squares.... Teacher looks at Jackson's page... He's still on the first square.  Most kids are on the 5th.  She said it's quite "cute."  He will trace the square, shade the outside carefully, go around the edges, and finally color the middle... all so delicately.  I agree, a perfectionist.  One of her observations that I was shocked to see was "Will focus on task at hand."  I told her that this is something we struggle with with Jackson... He tends to get distracted VERY easily and doesn't always want to listen... If he doesn't pick up on something right away, he gets very frustrated and wants to quit.  Well, she said she sees the exact opposite of him in class. Shocking to us!!  We were not expecting such great reviews on the behavioral side, but I'm proud of him for demonstrating good behavior and showing his best side when he's at school.  She told us many times - "He's just such a good boy."  Ryan and I walked out of there so proud and chests high - our big boy was doing a great job!  We're still about 85% sure we're going to Bridge him (A program offered for kids not quite ready for Kindergarten but past the point of preschool... it's basically Kindergarten, half days - just to give kids a little headstart, rather than him being in a class where 90% of his class is older than him).  The teacher was 100% in favor of either Bridge or Kindergarten... She said she thinks J would succeed in either one.  I'm just really happy that Jackson has had such a great experience at his first "real" school.... I'm excited to see what his future brings him!