Tonight’s the first parent-teacher conference for us at the new school. It should be hoot. The Boy is struggling in a few areas (primarily because he doesn’t like to work, my opinion), so this should be an interesting night. I have a few questions, such as why the words on the spelling tests he brings home on Friday aren’t the words I worked with him through Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Obviously, communication is breaking down somewhere.

Overall, I think the longterm benefit of the new school will be positive, but we’re all still adjusting to the new system. I love the fact that we get teacher feedback every week, and that he is in the same classroom with the same teacher all day. He was switching between teachers for every class last year and it was pure chaos.

Still, the results aren’t quite what we’re working towards, and Justin has managed to lazy his way out of his computer games and Gameboy priviledges for… it doesn’t look good for the rest of 2001.

His problem is Communication, not knowledge — he knows the answers to questions, but his handwriting is so poor when he rushes (and he always rushes), you can’t tell which is a word and which is something that’s been scratched out. I’m trying to convey that it’s better to clearly convey the wrong answer than it is to give the right answer so poorly that no one can tell what it is. (For a decent example, compare Clinton’s and GW’s ability to communicate — who comes off as the smarter person, regardless of who is actually ‘right’?) After all, the answer may be wrong, but at least you’re not lazy on top of it.

Communication is everything in the real world, and I find myself increasingly focused on making sure that he can function in that real world. He’s only got 7 years to get ready, after all.

The Boy’s birthday is on Friday, and at least one of his presents is going to be a Family Pass to the Denver Zoo (which is where we’ll probably be on Saturday). I was going to go get Pokemon Crystal for the Gameboy, but… see aforementioned groundage.