Fall Break: Day 1, part 2

It was a stormy day, so after lunch we went to one of their favorite places: Sci-Quest!

Calvin built rivers. Lu went in the tornado tube.

Cal built more rivers; Lu explored the tv station.

And Cal finally switched to another station while Lu unleashed her inner rock star.

80s Spirit Day

Lu dressing up and growing up!

Straight A Honor Roll!

Congrats to our Lucy, who made a goal to be on the straight A Honor roll at the beginning of the year--today she received her award!

Preschool Easter egg hunt

It was pretty hilarious. And dang cute.

The letter v

We made vegetable prints in "V" vases this week--Calvin Jesse knew that there was a "v" in his name, which the other kids thought was pretty cool.

3 Musketeers

This year, Miss Lucy walks home from school. It gives her a chance to decompress a bit, and get a little extra energy out before she gets home and has to start her routine of homework and practicing. While there's a whole herd of kids that walk home, most of them live a bit closer to the school; luckily, she's found some friends who have to walk almost as far as she does. Every day she comes home and fills me in on their latest adventures: there's been princesses fighting an evil wizard, robot aliens, and some sort of "freeze" game that I have yet to fully understand, among others. I love that she has such good friends, and that they're all so imaginative!

Second grade awards assembly!

Miss Lu was so excited to be on the A/B Honor Roll this year! We are pretty proud of all her hard work. Calvin Jesse was especially proud--he kept yelling "Go Lucy!" over and over :)

New school

Miss Lu likes her second grade class at Columbia--and I like her kind, experienced, organized teacher! They had a parent night a week after things started, and all the kids drew pictures of their families. Miss Lucy's? The bright one. With a warning ...

At the library

I love going to library time with Lucy's class. I love getting to know the kids in her class, I love reading to them, I love making them laugh with silly voices, I love checking in their books, and I love the extra grin and hug Miss Lucy gives me when she sees me there. 

I love teaching the kids how to look up books they are interested in on the computer, and seeing their eyes get big when they find out there are twenty books about Transformers in the library. I love it when they start to understand how to find a book by author, or how to look in a certain section for books on animals.

But mostly, I love seeing how comfortable Miss Lu is when she's busily reading a book. At the beginning of the year, she was sounding out little BOB book readers. And now she's checking out chapter books (usually something in the rainbow fairy series), finding a spot, and diving in.

Awesome.

We're scientists

In this house, and in this town, we are all scientists. At least, that's what Miss Lucy told me. That's why she keeps on throwing these (disgusting!) sticky, stringy hands up on the ceiling. She's given me strict instructions not to take them down. Apparently, we are performing experiments to see how long it will take them to fall on their own ... we're coming up on day three ...

Class scarecrow

 

Miss Lucy's first-grade class put together this scarecrow for the town scarecrow competition. She's been pretty excited that her scarecrow is out on the main street :)

Wisdom with age

Conversation between Miss Lu and a new friend:

Lucy: "How old are you?"
Friend: "Four and a half."
Lucy: "Oh, that's a good age. I liked four!"
Friend: "How old are you?"
Lucy: "I'm six. Six is fun too, but you have to do a lot more work. Like WAY more than kindergarten."


(Recent examples of all that first grade work)

First day of school!

 

I don't know who's more excited for school to start: Lucy or Mom ...

 

Miss Lu demonstrates her first grade attitude

Last day of kindergarten!

Miss Lu finished kindergarten with a special Kindergarten Star celebration. 

Her class performed the play of the "Very Hungry Kindergartner" (a la "The Very Hungry Caterpillar"), which included various dances and songs. Each child also read a short (2-3 sentences) story they wrote about their home.

Next her teacher Mrs. Whitaker called each child up to receive a special certificate and trophy. As the certificates were presented, she read something special about that child. Miss Lu's said "Thank you for the many creative ideas you gave to your stories in your journal. Thank you for your excitement about learning and your special smile you shared with everyone." 

Afterwards we all stayed to celebrate with a giant potluck picnic! All in all, it was a fabulous way to end kindergarten. Nick and I feel so lucky to have had such a wonderful, caring, patient, and creative teacher for our little Lucy!

First Day of Kindergarten

And ... she's off. Last night we packed her backpack, made her lunch, set out her clothes, had Mr. Nick give her a back to school blessing, and snuggled and talked about being a little bit nervous and how to make friends. This morning we walked to the bus stop this morning where we met about half a dozen other kids ready for school. Miss Lu did great: she introduced herself, told them she was going to kindergarten, and generally exuded excitement. 

When she climbed on the bus she didn't look back. As the bus drove away and all the moms waved, you could see the kids looking out the windows and waving. And when Lucy's window passed by, the only thing you could see was half a head—nose and eyes—poking up and looking out the window. 

I walked back with the other moms (who were really nice and offered their moral support on sending off a kindergardener), hopped into my car, and drove up past the school to my friend Joyce's street (which dead ends right above the school parking lot and has a convenient path leading down—way easier than trying to park down by the school). 

Miss Lucy and I had talked about the plan: I would stand out of the way down by the playground, so I would be there if she needed me, but she would find her way down from the bus herself. The bus pulled up, I watched as she made her way down and headed off ... past the stairs that led down to the kindergarten wing ... and just when I was about to go up and find her and bring her back I spotted her coming down the stairs. She was so excited as she figured out where she was that she ran right into the classroom (missing the fact that the kids were lining up outside with their teacher, Ms. Whitaker). But then I saw her come back out of the classroom and get into the line. As she was waiting I came over and called out a hello. She turned around, spotted me, and gave me a big grin and a wave. Thumbs up were exchanged all around. I told her I was proud of her and to have a good day and then moved out of the way. A minute or two later the kindergardeners marched into their classroom, and that was that. I'm so proud of her!

Zoo to You

The nearest zoo is down in Albuquerque, so when I heard about a free program where volunteers bring some of the animals out on tour I signed Lu up. 

I think the armadillo and Lucy use the same supplier for their batteries—the thing didn't stop running the entire time it was out.

They had sugar gliders, a South-American porcupine, a hedgehog ... and what did Lucy want her picutre with? The tarantula ... (that's her "spider face").