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School and more school.
Mar. 25th, 2010 01:09 amI called up the boys' old school in Nebraska this afternoon for a few things. We'd ordered and paid for classroom pictures back in the fall, and at the time we moved, the composites were not yet created or printed. I wanted to make sure that we were still on tap to get them, and also to give the school our new address.
In addition, I wanted to make sure that we didn't miss out on these yearbooks. Especially for A.J., as these have been his classmates since kindergarten, and I really wanted him to have this special last memento. I ordered both of them, and the check then went out in today's mail. I spoke with the PTA gal in charge of the yearbooks, and she's excited about the pictures I'm emailing her. I had lots of pictures from many events this past fall: chaperoning the 2nd grade zoo trip, the Activity Center Family Night, the fall carnival, and the Halloween parties. I'm happy she can use so many in the yearbook. :-)
We miss the old school (it was our "home" six and a half school years!), but there are bright, wonderful things going on at the boys' new school, too. Their new elementary plans many more family activities - there's constantly something going on. This past Saturday, we woke early and all attended a Pancake Breakfast to kick-off the book fair and conference week. The boys both chose M&M pancakes, but Philip and I had plain ones. (M&Ms in maple syrup?!) The boys each picked out four books from the fair, and I flipped through several cookbooks, tempted.
They both had their conferences yesterday afternoon, and the news was just wonderful. You really just can't ever get tired of hearing teachers tell you your children are so incredibly bright, you know? Jack's teacher has run out of reading curriculum for him in the classroom, and she was recommending extra books and texts that are located in A.J.'s 6th grade classroom. (When we went to A.J.'s room for the second conference, Jack grabbed a recommended book from the shelf and sat quietly reading it at an empty desk. He almost made it through Chapter Two!) He's really enjoying cursive writing, and his teacher seemed amazed that his cursive handwriting is better than his left-handed printing. He's in the advanced reading club for the library, as well as the higher math club at the end of each school day.
A.J. is thriving as well. With the new methods of teaching and extensive testing, his teacher was amazed that he absorbs so much information without ever taking notes. Sometimes she doubts whether he's really paying attention, but she said he can always, always answer the question or recall what she has just said - even if his nose had been in a book just two seconds before. He's getting better about keeping his desk more organized (in his years of messy desks, I've never been able to understand how he can stand it. Now, however, he's straightening up, and it's great preparation for middle school next year when he changes classes every period.) His test scores are good, and he was very proud of his two most recent book reports (which were on display in the classroom).
We couldn't have been more proud! :-)
Also, last Friday, the 2nd grade classes invited parents to attend a small music concert highlighting many of the concepts and techniques they've learned. It was a lot of fun, and Jack was again one of the tallest students. (He's always on the back bleachers, I swear!)
( A few videos from the concert. )
Also, I'm surrounded by school pictures. Their last school took them each year in the fall, and then they created a composite class picture for each room. We ordered those, but I hadn't mailed them out yet. (I had intended to include them with our change-of-address and holiday newsletter mailings, but I never wrote those items.) This new school did the same in the fall, but they also took spring pictures just last week, as well as an actual classroom photo (the kids standing next to one another), and we received those pictures at their conferences. Now, we hadn't realized that they would take individual pictures again (the school only sent home forms about the class photo), so we took the boys for updated professional pictures at the mall. Now I have ALL of these photos to mail out at the same time - eeep!
In addition, I wanted to make sure that we didn't miss out on these yearbooks. Especially for A.J., as these have been his classmates since kindergarten, and I really wanted him to have this special last memento. I ordered both of them, and the check then went out in today's mail. I spoke with the PTA gal in charge of the yearbooks, and she's excited about the pictures I'm emailing her. I had lots of pictures from many events this past fall: chaperoning the 2nd grade zoo trip, the Activity Center Family Night, the fall carnival, and the Halloween parties. I'm happy she can use so many in the yearbook. :-)
We miss the old school (it was our "home" six and a half school years!), but there are bright, wonderful things going on at the boys' new school, too. Their new elementary plans many more family activities - there's constantly something going on. This past Saturday, we woke early and all attended a Pancake Breakfast to kick-off the book fair and conference week. The boys both chose M&M pancakes, but Philip and I had plain ones. (M&Ms in maple syrup?!) The boys each picked out four books from the fair, and I flipped through several cookbooks, tempted.
They both had their conferences yesterday afternoon, and the news was just wonderful. You really just can't ever get tired of hearing teachers tell you your children are so incredibly bright, you know? Jack's teacher has run out of reading curriculum for him in the classroom, and she was recommending extra books and texts that are located in A.J.'s 6th grade classroom. (When we went to A.J.'s room for the second conference, Jack grabbed a recommended book from the shelf and sat quietly reading it at an empty desk. He almost made it through Chapter Two!) He's really enjoying cursive writing, and his teacher seemed amazed that his cursive handwriting is better than his left-handed printing. He's in the advanced reading club for the library, as well as the higher math club at the end of each school day.
A.J. is thriving as well. With the new methods of teaching and extensive testing, his teacher was amazed that he absorbs so much information without ever taking notes. Sometimes she doubts whether he's really paying attention, but she said he can always, always answer the question or recall what she has just said - even if his nose had been in a book just two seconds before. He's getting better about keeping his desk more organized (in his years of messy desks, I've never been able to understand how he can stand it. Now, however, he's straightening up, and it's great preparation for middle school next year when he changes classes every period.) His test scores are good, and he was very proud of his two most recent book reports (which were on display in the classroom).
We couldn't have been more proud! :-)
Also, last Friday, the 2nd grade classes invited parents to attend a small music concert highlighting many of the concepts and techniques they've learned. It was a lot of fun, and Jack was again one of the tallest students. (He's always on the back bleachers, I swear!)
( A few videos from the concert. )
Also, I'm surrounded by school pictures. Their last school took them each year in the fall, and then they created a composite class picture for each room. We ordered those, but I hadn't mailed them out yet. (I had intended to include them with our change-of-address and holiday newsletter mailings, but I never wrote those items.) This new school did the same in the fall, but they also took spring pictures just last week, as well as an actual classroom photo (the kids standing next to one another), and we received those pictures at their conferences. Now, we hadn't realized that they would take individual pictures again (the school only sent home forms about the class photo), so we took the boys for updated professional pictures at the mall. Now I have ALL of these photos to mail out at the same time - eeep!
