First Term Report Card

Schools have four terms here in AU. The terms are usually 8-10 weeks long, with breaks of two to three weeks in between. It sort of sucks. Since we are a two parent working family, these breaks are killing us. I'm sure when kids get older, it's fine to send them to a sports camp or what ever they're interested in. But right now, at five, we both think that Mitch is just too young to be sent to a camp at an unfamiliar place, run by people that we don't know. His campus only has 160 boys so it's not the type of school that has on site Holiday programs. So I guess right before the term ends, the schools usually mail out report cards or evaluations. We just got Mitch's first term evaluation, and I'm less than pleased. Let's start with the categories. In addition to breaking the report down by subjects, there are like 100 specific applications. My gripe is that most of these aren't even applicable to his grade level. Is it really necessary to grade a five year old on "demonstrates understanding of addition process using concrete materials" or "recognizes that text can be produced using word processors". Obviously the report is used for up to 6th grade. It just seems like a one size fits all, which I'm not sure is the best approach. The grades, er, "achievements" are A B, C, D and E. A is "Working beyond, and E is "Working below". Pretty standard, much like the US. There's nothing lower than E, so I figure E is the equivalent of F. Except, "working below" sounds much better than "fail". But my main gripe has to do with the grading that Mitch received in two applications. He got a "D" in "Pencil holding technique". He holds the pencil with the tripod grip, and can color in the lines. So I ask you, isn't that worth at least a "C"? To make it worse I brought it up to the teacher yesterday thinking that she would look at me with astonishment and say something like, "I gave him a D, really? I must have made a mistake". Instead, she suggested that we might want to consider occupational therapy if his writing doesn't improve by next term. I was gobsmacked. I'm a fan of high standards like most parents, but there is no way that we are enrolling him in OT to improve his pencil grip technique. In fact that's another gripe - I just don't consider OT an extracurricular activity. My next complaint is his PE grading. He got "D"s for almost all PE achievements - in particular - "Basic Body Movement". Does the PE teacher have him confused with another kid? Anyone who knows my kid, will agree that he has absolutely no problem with basic body movement. In particular, the comments section states "some trouble with hopping". Overall the grading was "C", which I'm fine with. I just wonder if the expectations are a little high? One thing I can't dispute was the recurring theme throughout the comments sections, "chatty, needs to learn to listen to others, a little talkative, needs to resist the urge to talk, likes to talk"... I get it - he's a chatty Cathy. Look at his parents, what do you expect? Don and I didn't even talk about the report with Mitch. He'll catch up if need be in the next few years. We're totally not sweating it either. After all, doctors have terrible hand writing. Am I right, or am I right?