First Day of 5th Grade

School started again today and Lexi is a big 5th grader. I can't believe this is her last year in elementary school. I swear she started kindergarten a year or two ago. She has really grown over the summer. She is now up to my lips, so it will not be long before she catches up and passes me. 

Lexi was very excited to see her friends and get back to school, but she was "not want to learn." That basically means, she doesn't want all the work only the fun parts. Oh well.  Lexi picked out her clothes this year. I, of course, had to approve, but I gave her a lot of the decision making. I did insist on longer shorts though. She wanted ones that were about finger tip length. I just like the Bermuda ones better. 

The school has an whole bunch of new kids thanks to boundary changes. A school nearby was at 125% capacity and our school has been at 75% capacity, so they shifted a bunch of those kids over. This is a new year, with lots of new kids. 

We are walking our neighbors, Sofia and Isabella, again this year. Their parents are teacher in another school. They need a little help getting to school and coming home.

Big 5th Graders: Lexi & Sofia

Got to the school a little early (Lexi did NOT want to be late, which we NEVER are)

Lexi with her homeroom teacher, Ms. Torres - She has 3 main teachers this year and a few more for specials like P.E., Art and Music.

Meet the Teacher

We had Meet the Teacher Night. On Tuesday, I logged in to find out that Lexi has Ms. Torres for homeroom and Jordan has Ms. Brown. We wanted to meet them, distribute our supplies, buy the required planners and folders, and see who their switch teachers are. That is a lot to do in the 1 hour allotted time. It is much easier for people who only have one kid. I guess that will be me next year since Lexi will be in Jr. High.  ...GASP.  How did we get to this point so quickly???

Lexi's teacher seems nice. We only chatted a little and I got right to work filling out the classroom paperwork. Fortunately, her teacher will have her sort the supplies on Monday. I like that!  I didn't end up taking any pictures at the school. I guess being busy and having a church activity that we had to run to just made me forget. Oh well. At least we snapped the one above before heading out.  

Meet the Teacher - 4th Grade

Tonight, we went to the elementary school for Meet The Teacher. Lexi and Jordan always enjoy seeing old friends, looking around the school to see what changed, distributing their school supplies, and of course meeting their new teachers. Both kids have splits this year, which means they have one teacher for half the day and then head to another class for the second half. Lexi's homeroom teacher is named, Ms. Gonzalez. She has a very out-going friendly personality and looks like she is about my age. Her other teacher is quite reserved and shy (at least around adults), but is probably just a little younger than me. 

First Week of First Grade

Lexi had a great week.  On Tuesday morning, when we walked her to school, I told her that I hope she has a great day.  She said, "Of course I'll have a great day.  I have the nicest first grade teacher ever!"  As the week progressed, I began to wonder if the teacher has found her pet.  Apparently, Lexi ran lots of errands for her every day.  She walks kids to the front office and the nurses office.  She delivers papers for the teacher.  She was even sent out to gather the few kids that didn't make it back from recess one day.  This makes me laugh.  Last year, her teacher did not exactly appreciate Lexi's "mothering ways."  I can see his point.  He loved to treat everyone equally and didn't want to helping the ones that might need his attention.    This year, she has a teacher that will put her to good use.  Hopefully, they both have a great year.  

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday - school spirit day

First Day of First Grade

It was Lexi's first day of first grade.  I woke her up at 6:30 am and made juice for her (orange/apple/pear).  A few minutes later, Jordan came downstairs and joined us.  Then I got them a bowl of homemade granola, while I made her lunch and got her backpack ready.  We came upstairs so she could brush her teeth and get dressed.  The first thing she said was, "I thought this outfit would be a lot cuter."  I told her it was really cute and guided her to the bathroom.  I fixed her hair and got Jordan and I ready.  After that, I took pictures before heading out.  We even took one on the way.  

Our walk was a lot different today than it was last year.  Most of last year, we were the only ones or one of the few on the side walks.  This year, they cancelled school buses for houses that are within half a mile of the schools.  Lots of students and parents were out.  I tend to walk fast and push my kids along.  It took a minute or two longer than expected.  We still made it to class on time for the first bell.  

Jordan and I walked to pick her up this afternoon.  There were also a lot more parents waiting for the walkers.  She came out with a smile on her face.  She said her teacher is VERY NICE.  She is happy and made a new best friend named Lily.  I think this is going to be a great year.   

Meet the Teacher

This evening, we had Meet the Teacher.  We got there early to pick-up the school supplies we had ordered in the spring from the PTA.  They packaged it up for each student.  I am so glad that I put in the order because I don't have any money now, it is cheaper through them, and I don't have to run around town looking for everything.  (See the picture of the big box below - that has the required supplies in them.)  While we were standing in line, Lexi admitted to me that she didn't know who her teacher was although she has sworn to me many times that she knew her.  I laughed because it had been obvious.

A few days ago, a letter came in the mail saying we could look it up online.  I found out she has Mrs. Russell.  She said she knew who she was.  I asked her what her teacher looks like.  She told me that she dyes her hair all different colors and that she used to be thin, but she could be fat by now.  Lexi is usually so descriptive; I knew she was making it all up.  I decided to let it go.  After her confession, I admitted that I knew and that it is just better to tell the truth from the beginning.  When you do that, there is no guilty feelings.

Next, we carried the supplies to her class.  Mrs. Russell is an older woman maybe around 55 or 60 years old.  She seems very nice and actually a bit shy or reserved around the parents at least.  I noticed immediately that one of the desks in Lexi's section had the name Kyler on it.  I asked Lexi if that was one of her friends from last year.  She said yes and then he showed up a little later.  He is such a riot.  I hope they don't get in trouble.  Other than that, there weren't any kids from her kindergarten class in there.  She had a lot of "princesses" (aka privileged/spoiled girls) last year, so it is probably a good thing.  We spent the next half hour or so sorting her supplies, writing her name on the stuff that goes in her desk, filling out papers, and setting up her desk.  She is all ready for Monday.

Later, Lexi admitted that she had been nervous about her teacher because of her name.  Instead of Russell, she thought her name was wrestle.  She sounded so tough.  Lexi has quite an imagination.  If anything, I have a feeling her teacher will be too nice.  Maybe Lexi deserves it after her extra tough kindergarten teacher.  Hopefully, he set her up to behave and work hard throughout her academic career.

Last Day of Kindergarten

It was Lexi’s last day of school today.  Actually, it was also early dismissal so I guess it was more of a half day.  This has probably been the best week of school for her other than she is exhausted.  Grading ended last Friday, so she hasn’t had any homework or much school work.  She is a little emotional about it ending, mostly because about 30 to 40% of the kids will be going to a new school next year.  A few of her best friends will be gone.  She is also a bit down about it coming to an end.  She even asked me if she could repeat kindergarten next year.  I just smiled and said that they don’t let kids that have done as well as she has repeat kindergarten.

Kindergarten Celebration

Lexi's kindergarten had a celebration of education this morning.  I dropped Jordan off at the neighbor's house so that I could attend.  Her teacher called each student to the front of the class and gave them a certificate saying they passed kindergarten.  He also explained that this was an exceptionally great group of readers.  He had never had so many get to level 12 in AR.  I think he said 11 from his class, which is about half.  He talked about how good they were at breaking down sentences (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, noun markers, etc).  He also gave each of us a packet.  

One of the most interesting things in the packet was the reading evaluation that was done for each child last week.  To my surprise, Lexi is reading like a beginning of the year 3rd grader.  Last time he evaluated her, he expected that she would be reading like a second grader at the end of the year, so this was a surprise. We were also given some booklets that were created by each student.  Perhaps, I’ll post pictures of those tomorrow.  

Present to the teacher from one of the moms - so creative!

Reading Evaluation

Lexi's classmates