Posts Tagged ‘kindergarten’
The month of May never fails to be packed full of various end-of-school-year activities. This week we were treated to Austin’s language arts program. The program featured songs that demonstrated all of the wonderful things the kids learned this year. These second graders know vocabulary words most adults don’t know. The kids sang the words to Dr. King’s I Have A Dream speech, to Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken, and chanted multiple poems by Shel Silverstein. It was a wonderful program…everything written by the amazing Mrs. Jones…Austin’s very talented teacher. Austin has grown so much this school year and we can’t thank Mrs. Jones enough for her hard work on behalf of Austin and many other second grade students.
Austin Mills-8 years old, second grade
Austin has grown so much this year...not only cognitively, but physically as well. He is up to my chin and the clothes he is wearing in this picture are size 12!
Today was Olivia’s kindergarten graduation. It was charming to watch all of the kids sing their little hearts out. Olivia is so sophisticated and mature these days. Olivia was awarded the Caramello award for being sweet , kind, never complaining, and mello! The award came complete with a Carmello candy bar. Her teacher Mrs. Lund is fantastic! Olivia has learned to read this year and she is so excited about this. She is a little unsure about having to go to school full day next year when she becomes a first grader. It’s such a hard adjustment, but I know she’s ready to be a big kid!
A side note on Olivia…after a very lengthy trial period for her hearing aids, Olivia has decided not to continue wearing them. I kind of sensed that something happened at school to trigger her decision. One morning, I fixed Olivia’s hair into two pony tails and she freaked out because she was worried that someone would see her hearing aids. I quickly changed her hairstyle and she went to school with her hearing aids on. The next day, she refused to wear them. She went from very excited about wearing them to not wanting to wear them at all. With the hearing aids on, Olivia tested in the normal hearing range for both ears.
Now, we are going to have to work very closely with her first grade teacher to make some necessary modifications so that Olivia isn’t missing anything. We are fortunate that Eastwood is equipped with the Front Row speaker system, which is a fantastic thing. The teacher wears a microphone necklace around his/her neck and their voice is amplified around the entire room. Olivia would most likely have problems hearing subtle differenced in words like if a spelling word was pot, she might hear pop. The audiologist with the district has been wonderful and very supportive, so we hope to work through things together. Maybe in the future when Olivia is presented with more challenging listening situations, she may want to try hearing aids again. We’ll just have to wait and see!
Olivia on graduation day! OK, the girl has the most amazing eyes and lashes ever!
Such a sweet girl...
Wow, the past couple of weeks have been quite the adjustment! School, school, school…is all that is going on around here. School started for me last night. I am taking two classes, equaling six credits. One is a class on assessment of the reading process and the other is an early literacy instruction course. I am so excited about the material we’ll be covering in these classes as well as the opportunity to actually get back out into the field with some students as I fulfill my assignments. I will be working in an elementary school in Rose Park, with a demographic that I am most familiar with. It should feel like going back to Maple School and that’s what I’m so excited about. This semester will be filled with tons of hard work, but I look forward to experiencing some growth along the way. What a treat it is to finally be able to participate in some good adult, academic conversation! Even more exciting is that most of my classmates are kindergarten teachers! Yea for kindergarten! Way to represent!
I've officially traded the diaper bag for a backpack...
When Mom's away at school, Olivia keeps Julia company during treatment.
In other news, I had Julia’s preschool parent meeting today. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t completely nervous about Julia going to preschool next week. I brought the two teachers the booklet provided to us by Primary Children’s Medical Center about CF and school. I told them to read it and to give me a call so we can set up a time to meet together to discuss Julia and answer questions. This is new and uncharted territory for me. We may need to have an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) drawn up just to cover everything in writing, but for now, I just want to meet with her teachers and go from there.
If any of you more experienced CF parents want to give me some advice, let me have it please. I’m open to anything and everything. I know how to send a kid to preschool, but not how to send a CF kid to preschool, not at all.
Julia is in for a big shocker when I walk out of the door and leave her at preschool. I’ve told her all about it, but I fully expect some drama. She has been enjoying having the house to herself when the older two are at school. The first day we dropped Olivia and Austin off at school, I said, “Well Julia, it’s just me and you.” Julia kept saying the rest of the morning, “It’s just me and you mom. What are we going to do?” She cracks me up!
Julia and I at playgroup...just me and Julia!
We are still waiting for Julia’s culture results, but I’m expecting the call any moment. The wait is killing me! I just want to know…
Today, Olivia started Kindergarten! She has been so patient, waiting an entire week longer than her brother to start school. She had a great first day and she is excited about her new teacher and her new school.
So grown up!
Adventure awaits!
It’s that time of year when the kids return to school. Austin will start Monday! He is so excited…and let’s just say, I’m so ready. I can’t wait to have a little more quiet and a little less fighting. Olivia had her Kindergarten picnic today and I’m excited to share some pics because I took them with my sister’s really nice camera and they are so beautiful! I someday will have a nice camera, but for now I’m having fun borrowing one! Olivia starts Kindergarten in a week and she can’t wait! She wishes she was starting right along with Austin. Julia…she’ll be starting in September. I’m super nervous at this point as this is my first with a special needs child. I’m sure it will be a good thing for Julia, however she’ll be very surprised that I’ll be walking out the door without her, even though I’ve told her all about how mommies don’t go to preschool. This is a new chapter for me as all of my children are in school in one form or another. A new adventure for us all!
Beautiful Julia!
Beautiful Olivia!
Austin at Eastwood
Monkey girl!
Olivia monkey!