Just how "active" should an Active Parent be when it comes to school?

I wonder about this a lot so I'll set it up for you and I'm curious to know what other parents think.

First of all, I'm really happy with my kids' school and all of the teachers they've had so far. I really trust the teachers because I can see how well my kids are doing and how much they like their teachers. Plus I've volunteered my time in the classroom as well as being a room parent for Holden last year and now Lucas this year. So I also get to see first-hand how things are going.

This is the first year that Holden as a 3rd grader is actually being graded on an A-F scale and not just S/U. I've found myself paying even more attention to every single grade he brings home on every assignment and test. He's received mostly A's with just one B+ here or there so he seems to be doing just fine. But Friday he brought home his first C+.

The assignment called for them to put together a flip book that they had to cut out, listing 5 keywords with definitions of each. They also had to draw pictures for each. Holden only drew 1 picture (a very elaborate one) and his teacher wrote "C+ pictures?" - so because he didn't draw 4 of the pictures, he got a C+. I asked Holden what happened and he said he didn't have time to finish. Of course I had a million questions some of which I asked and some I kept to myself... Why didn't you have time? Were you messing around? Did everyone else finish? How much time did you have? Is a C+ grade appropriate for only a few pictures missing? Did it take longer because he spent too much time on his drawing?

It may seem like not that big of a deal, but I want to make sure my son is getting a fair grade and that he has enough time to complete his work. AND I want to know if he's distracted or bored or doing something else when he should be working. Holden doesn't offer up much information as he's like his dad... forgets things as soon as they happen if he doesn't think they should take up brain space.

If it's just the first time, would you contact the teacher and ask her about it? Or just leave it alone unless it happens again? My first instinct is to ask her. What harm could it do to ask?

But then I step back and think, well maybe I'm being too anal and Holden will be okay. It only happened once and I've told him he needs to concentrate and finish his work. Plus, I want to trust that his teacher is fair and doing what she thinks is best without questioning her every move.

It probably sounds anal me even asking but I just want to know what you would do.

Farm of Tom

Bill's mom has been here for the past two weeks and she's leaving on Wednesday. So yesterday was kind of our last day to do something fun before she leaves.

We went to Tom's Farm in Corona which is a neat place with a wine & cheese shop, antiques, live music in the square, craft fair, food, candy shoppe and rides for the kids like a train and carousel.

The weather was beautiful and it wasn't overcrowded so it was a nice little afternoon.