As Katherine ate her after-school snack  yesterday, she started to cry. I could barely make the words out through the sobs but I could tell that she was the last one in her class to finish a test and that she felt really badly about it.

I do believe in an academic kindergarten but… I don’t really believe in ‘testing’ in kindergarten and I certainly don’t believe in test anxitey in kindergarten. So after I calmed her down, I immediately sent an e-mail to her teacher.

Because we have hit the teacher jackpot  this year, Katherine’s teacher called me within the hour. And that’s when I was reminded of the little Seabiscuit among us.

For years, Rob and I have called Katherine “Seabiscuit” in reference to the great come back from behind, underdog racing horse. According to Wikipedia, Seabiscuit was “a champion Thoroughbred racehorse in the United States. From an inauspicious start, Seabiscuit became an unlikely champion and a symbol of hope to many Americans during the Great Depression”

As a second child, we often are reminded of Katherine’s strengths in unexpected ways, having given so much attendtion and credit to Caroline. Yesterday was one of those days.

It turns out that Katherine was the last one to finish because she was the only one that worked through to the end of the test, a handwriting assemement to measure growth over the year. As her teacher continued to talk, she and I came to realize that Katherine would need a little more support to understand what a great student she is. Turns out earlier in the week, for example, Katherine placed at the top of her class on her spelling assessment. In places where many students in her class only scribbled or left spaces blank, Katherine spelled entire words.

Her teacher also told me that she is one of the hardest workers in her class. She perseveres through hard tasks with amazing focus. Looks like the personality trait that led Katherine to play until she (and Rob!) had won all the prizes in the picture above is going to work to her favor in school.

Go Seabiscuit!!