I want to think that it was simply an awkward complement or just a note that he did understand it but there was something about the way it was phrased that just didn't sound like that - I think it was more what cricket asked, it felt like he was being criticized for doing something above his grade level, taken in context with the rest of the comments. It's really just a little thing, and usually I'm an *extremely* mellow mom about this type of stuff and would never even have noticed it. I've also been a science fair judge for years...so I know that there's no way a judge would have a clue what level of math a student is capable of and would ask questions to see if the student understood the project etc... which is why I just thought the comment was a little odd - how would she know what grade level to expect him to be at? I'm not even sure that in the context of this small school fair she'd know what grade level he's at... which really might be where it's coming from... he's really tiny for his grade level, and most of the kids at the fair were in lower grades, so maybe she thought he was younger than he is.
Anyway, it's not a biggie. The "judges" were just there to listen to presentations and give feedback to the kids - there weren't any awards or anything, everyone who participated got a certificate and a copy of the feedback from the judges. DS' feedback overall was very positive, but he himself thought the "above grade level" remark was a little odd.
polarbear
