Easing into things

I have been at Aquarian for about a month now and I finally feel settled into the swing of things and the schedule all is becoming more second nature for me.  Portfolio share/conferences were great because I got the chance to meet all the families for the first time.  Also, I have a good relationships with the parents who are regularly in the room volunteering and they have told that their kids have said how much they like it when Ms. Laurie teaches, so that made me feel pretty good!  I am leading reading groups now and we are talking about non fiction so that is something new and fun for me.  It is such a fun class and the atmosphere/environment are so positive, it is hard not to enjoy the days.  I still think my passion for teaching is with younger Pre-K/K students, but it is fun to be delving ito 3rd grade activities--they can do so much!  The kids in this class have a great community, too.  I find that in teaching specific skills, the curriculum isn't as project/discovery/exploration based as I would like.  I wonder if this is just a part of teaching older students--it seems like the expectations don't allow time for exploration based learning.  And I struggle with how important grades are to both the students and their parents--is this common with this grade or is this just the school/class environment?