End of Kindergarten Celebration

Today was the end of kindergarten celebration at Michael's school.  All of the kindergarten classes came into the auditorium for a short program.  The classes sang 4 songs and then they all sat down to watch a slide show of pictures throughout the year.  I loved seeing Michael up there performing.  I can't believe that this school year is already over.  At times, it seemed like it was moving so slowly but looking back, it just flew by. 

Michael really enjoyed his first year of school.  He was asked what his favorite thing about kindergarten was.  I was a little surprised at his answer because I figured it would be PE, recess or lunch.  This is what he wrote:

He has made new friends and become better friends with others.  I know he is going to miss some of his friends next year when they are in a different class.  Hopefully they can stay in touch and have some play dates this summer. 

Salvatore and Michael

Bryson, Mallorie, Michael and Mark

One of his teachers is retiring after this year and we will be sad to see her go.  She has really been great with Michael.

The program was a great end to his first year of elementary school!

Michael's First Day of Kindergarten

Friday was Michael's first day of Kindergarten. Todd and I were both able to take him to his first day. When he woke up in the morning, he went downstairs and was so excited to see his lunchbag and what was inside.



We headed to school and took him inside. Only half of the class was there as his school does a staggered start for kindergarten to get the kids used to going. The entire class will be there tomorrow. When we arrived, his teacher showed us to his cubby and we put his bookbag in there. Michael already has a friend in his class and he arrived shortly after we did. The boys sat down to read some books together. It was so nice to see Michael settling right in.



As we left, it hit me that we now have a child in kindergarten. It was a bittersweet moment but I knew how happy he has to be there and I loved his enthusiasm. All of these firsts are hard as a parent but seeing Michael so happy makes the adjustment so much easier.

When he got home, Michael said that his day was great. He told us about what they did for the day and where they went around the school. We also talked about the kindergarten playground, which was fun too. He asked when he could go back to school!

The only thing that did not go smoothly was the bus ride home. Apparently Michael's paperwork got lost so he could not ride. His teacher said that he was all ready to ride it with his friend and Todd had even gotten off work early so he could see him leave the bus. At least now we know that he will ride the bus, even if he didn't get to on his first day.

Kindergarten Evaluation

Monday was the day that Michael had his evaluation for kindergarten. This is the first year that they are doing these before the start of school at his elementary school. The teachers are going to use the evaluations to help decide which teacher they should have. I think it's a good idea to meet the students ahead of time.

I only know what went on in the evaluation based on what Michael told me. The teacher asked me if he went to preschool. It lasted about 10 minutes. I had Katie and David in a conference room and was filling out paperwork while they played with toys. As we left, I asked Michael what they talked about. He said that they asked him about some shapes, colors and letters. Since it didn't last that long, I doubt that they asked him much more. It will be interesting to see how they use the evaluation to place the students in each class.

School starts 2 weeks from tomorrow but Michael's first day will actually be Friday, August 19th. The school staggers the start for kindergarten so that the first half of the alphabet goes the first day and the second half the second day. I think it's good to get them used to the new school.