Belated School Posts

Summer vacation is 1/3 over already! I left for NYC on the last day of school, and then having the kids home from school everyday has been as chaotic as I suspected it would be. I finally went through the photos I took from the last few days of school. I wanted to do a quick school post for history’s sake. The kids had a great year this time around and I wouldn’t want that to go uncelebrated.

First post: Kindergarten Boys!

The boys had a fabulous kindergarten experience. Turns out it was the right decision to hold them back a year. They were considerably taller than everyone else in their classes (they looked like giants among ants), but they kept up with everyone academically and are even a bit ahead. I put them in separate classes too which also turned out to be the right decision. I’ll probably do it again next year even though it was a bit of a pain to keep track of it all and they would throw fits when one got a class party, a treat, or something else special that the other one didn’t. (You should have seen the commotion when Jonathan’s class got a root beer float part and Jeffrey’s didn’t - sheesh!)

The boys were blessed with fabulous teachers. I love these teachers so much. They had HUGE kindergarten classes (the standard if you live in Utah) and they managed them so well. I loved them even more when I would go to parent-teacher conferences and they would tell me how well behaved my boys were in class. I was elated to hear that kind of report, as you can imagine.

Jeffrey’s teacher was Mrs. Longenecker, but she was anything but long. She is the tiniest person I think I’ve ever seen. Jeffrey was almost as tall as she and at least as big around! Mrs. Longenecker is a very sweet teacher, sweet voice, sweet smile, the works; exactly as you would imagine a Kindergarten teacher to be. Jeffrey loved her.

Mrs. Naylor was sweet too, but more strict and structured, with high expectation for behavior in her classroom. This turned out to be the perfect combination for Jonathan. Mrs. Naylor had several special needs kids (Jonathan was not one of them) in her classroom and she had them all reading on the right level by the time school was over. Jonathan flourished in her classroom and is reading so well!

I worked in each of the boys classrooms for an hour each week this year. I quite enjoyed myself. It was good to be so involved in their individual classes. I knew all of their friends and their teachers so well. I’m going to try and do the same thing next year. It’s nice to be in a position were I can go and help at school without having to worry about other kids at home.

This little girl is Makayla. She looks innocent and sweet, but she is an aggressive little love bug. She was after my boys all year. She would come up to me in class and whisper in my ear, “I have a crush on Jonathan, I think I’m going to marry him.” Jonathan wanted nothing to do with that kind of talk, so when he wouldn’t respond to her advances she would switch to Jeffrey whom she would chase during recess. He wasn’t interested either, but she never gave up. Turns out it was she who was the giver of the Ariel Valentine.

Jeffrey’s best friend in class was Tarin of course. They are faithful friends and loved being in the same class this year. This is she and Jeffrey on pet day. Winnie was the hit of the show, of course, except for maybe this little guy…

…talk about smitten.

It was a good kindergarten year for all of us. I’m now happy to report I’ve essentially made it to first grade! What will I do with myself all day with nobody home? (I’m not worried about it in the slightest)