End of the School Year

The last week and a half of school for Lucas was filled with lots of  fun activities.  He had his spring sing which featured about 20 songs the first graders had learned during the entire school year.  I was in charge of decorations so I was at the school every day, for a couple of hours each day, for a week getting ready and then tearing down.  It was worth it, as the kids put on a great show.   

Lucas also had his first field trip of the school year that I volunteered to chaperon.  We went to the farm and the gardens at Thanksgiving Point, which I had only been to the gardens in the past.  The farm was a lot of fun and there were a lot of baby animals to see.

Not that I doubted teachers abilities in the past, but this day really renewed my respect for them and all that they do.  At times I had trouble keeping track of the six kids I was responsible for, I can't imagine doing it 5 days a week for six hours for 22 kids!!  When we got back to the school at 2:00 I was so ready to release those kids into someone else's care. 

Mrs. Gonzalez, above left, is such a great teacher and I will miss helping out in her class.  Going into the school year we heard stories about what a mean teacher she was and so I thought about trying to get Lucas switched to a different class.  After meeting her I decided to leave things as they were and see how the school year went.  After a week or so of school, Lucas came home and said he was sure he had the mean teacher everyone had talked about and I asked him if she was mean to him and he said no.  I asked him why he thought she was mean and he said because a 2nd grader told him she was mean.  I  told him that I had met his teacher and she was really nice, so there was no way she was the "mean teacher".    Lucas ended up being the only boy in his class that never had to pull his card for getting in trouble and there were definitely "difficult" kids in the class that were treated differently because they were definitely difficult as I witnessed myself.  She ran a tight ship and it worked.  Lucas learned a lot this past year.  At the end of the school year Lucas and I are both sad to leave her class and know that there will be many more great teachers in his future, we just need to give each of them a chance.

Landon ended his first year of preschool with an exclamation mark.  He had a tantrum just as we were leaving the house and so I guess the fact that he sat in his chair in front of the parents was a plus.  Unfortunately that was all he did.  When it was his turn to get up to say and spell his name for everyone he did not move or say a thing.  Then when it came time to sing he did not move his lips but rather sat there looking out at the parents (ME) with a smirk on his face and his feet in the air.  Needless to say we did not celebrate at the end of his program and went straight home.

On Lucas's last day of school he had his outdoor dance festival.  Landon and I went and watched and again I was amazed at what his teacher was able to get him to do that I am not.  He danced with those girls like there was no tomorrow.  :)