Yesterday was Erin's last day of first grade, and as you can see, she was all smiles when I picked her up. She had a great year, she really seems to like everything about school. She has many friends and is very social. She loves the after school program she attends on my workdays where she usually chooses to make art projects and write poems. Occasionally, when creative inspiration doesn't strike her I guess, she uses some time there to do her homework.
Though her school doesn't use grades and she is one of the younger kids in her class, on her final report card she "exceeds the standards" in all subjects and skills though if I had to pick her favorite class, I'd have to say art. A year of girl scouts has been completed and and she is looking forward to more. Next year will bring big changes though, as she's left the classroom and the teachers she's known for the past two years and will be in a 2/3 village.
A few days ago her school did kind of a orientation morning for all the kids like herself who will be moving up to new villages next year. All the first graders spent a morning in a 2/3 village along with the current second graders. All the third graders spent that morning in a 4/5 village with the current fourth graders, and all the fifth graders spent the morning working with Kindergartners in the K/1 villages, which is a fun mentoring opportunity that the oldest kids in the school really enjoy, I'm told. Erin was very excited about her peek into second grade life, though when I asked her what was different, she didn't offer many details.
For dinner last night, John asked the new second grader what she wanted and she requested hot dogs. Since we didn't have any John offered to go to the store. Erin asked me if we could go to a restaurant instead and I replied that we couldn't, and she said, "Well, we can PRETEND we're in a restaurant!" "Sure," I replied, as I was trying to get the dishes done. She went to her room and prepared two identical dinner menus for Kate and Allison--the front side is pictured first, and on the back of each she made a different little activity game, just like the kids' menus in a restaurant would have, she explained.
John came home and started grilling hot dogs and sausages while I prepared some side veggies. "Hey, that's not on the menu!" Erin argued, as she presented Kate and Allison with their menus at the dinner table and then read the selections to them. After their choices were made, she invited them to do the activities on the back. And we had a fine, celebratory second grade dinner.
Of course, "next year" and second grade sounds so distant, but the next school term is anything but that. She has a 6.5 week summer vacation. Erin, and the twins, will begin school again on August 6.
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