James's Last Day of 1st Grade 2018

James's last day of first grade was Thursday. He was sad to leave Andrew Muller Primary School (though it only goes through second grade) and all his elementary school friends. But he's pretty excited to be a big second grader next year. His elementary school in Omaha will go from grade K through 5th grade so he won't get to be the big fish in a little school yet, but he will be able to go to the same school as Miranda for a few years.

 

So handsome and ready for second grade!

First Day/ Last Day comparison

Off to school with Miss Barbara

Home for the summer!

Miranda's Nursery School Graduation 2018

Today was Miranda's last day of nursery school but she had her graduation on Monday. Her teachers sent this cute little book about her progress in class. I'm so sad to leave Wisdom Tree. Next year she starts real Pre-K in Omaha!

 

Her classmate Philip (from Mommy n' Me) with his grandma

Miranda and Fiona (I think)

Here comes Ella!

Performing some songs

Close up

Me, Kevin and Miranda

With her best friend Ella

Ella and her mom Carrie

Decorations


Aw, hope next year is as good!


Also, Wednesday was crazy dress day


Today was Pajama Day

First and last day photos! (Last day approximate.)

Last Days of Kindergarten 2017

James is done with Kindergarten! He's so little and basically perfect right now that I would totally stop time if I could (except that Miranda is a threenager so I definitely wouldn't stop time). The Kindergarten Move-Up Ceremony was Monday, and they split the class into two to minimize the craziness, so we really only saw half the class "moving up." They mostly sang a bunch of really funny pop song covers but with new lyrics about entering first grade.

Entering the cafetorium

The principal greeting us

Everybody is ready to sing; James is chatting with some girl he just met.

All the Kindergarteners

Afterward, we went back to the classroom to give Mr. J a gift from the class. It included a big art project from the kids and gift cards to every conceivable thing in our town.

Mr. J seeing his gift

Handprints from all the kids.

Me with my little graduate and little photo bomb

Tuesday, we had some early summer relaxing with his friends Kyle and Nicholas.

Swimming at Kyle's

Snack time!

Thursday was the real last day- a half day. We out him on the bus in the morning, and picked him in the afternoon to leave for Cape Cod.

First and Last Day of Kindergarten

Goodbye kiss from Miranda

;

Last Kindergarten bus ride

I asked him about his Kindergarten classes, to get a sense of what his little life was like. The things I knew were that he got on the bus every morning at 8:54 a.m., and school started 9:45. He also had a snack every day at 10:30 and his lunch at 1:30, followed by a brief recess. He got on the bus at 3:15, and after a long time waiting to get on the bus at the end of the day, he'd get home at 4:20-4:30 p.m.

He told me that: "Mondays is music in the morning, Tuesdays is art in the afternoon, Wednesday is gym in the morning, Thursday is computer class in the morning and library in the afternoon, Friday is gym in the morning, and on the bus you could sit in the back even if you aren't a 1st grader yet.

My favorite thing is gym because I get to run around a lot. Computer was my second favorite, my third favorite was art, and my last favorite was music."

Class of 2029! (Adult size shirt to wear when he's 18.)

James's Last Week of PreK 2016

The last week was "Spirit Week" and included the following activities:

Monday was "Crazy Hair Day."

Tuesday was "Costume Day."

With Emma (Anna) and Ellie (Elsa) and Pirate James

Wednesday was "Field Day." They were supposed to wear a sports shirt.

At school they changed into their Team Shirts for their competitions.

Back row: Lyla, Cora, Miss Tasha, Lexi, Ellie

Front row: Emma, Natalia, Rebecca, Mylah, Dillon, and James

Thursday was the event I had been waiting all year for!! PreK Prom! With music and dancing! We spent like $50 on shoes for James and Miranda and James wanted to leave as soon as we got there. He said he "felt shy." He has never in his 5 years, ever felt shy before. Okay.

A little Pre-Prom dancing on our lawn


The entrance

Lyla and James

James and Dillon

Lyla, Dillon, and Lexi dancing

Group picture! Dillon, Lexi, Rebecca, Lyla, James (background Mylah)

Finally, Spirit Week came to an end, and so did PreSchool. I loved his school and I'll miss it so much!

Friday was Beach Day! Last Day!

Ready for summer!!

James's Nursery School Graduation 2015

James had his first move-up ceremony! On the one hand, I feel that wistful my-little-boy-is-growing-up feeling. On the other hand, it's only nursery school. He goes to preschool next year, and Kevin and I both started school in preschool. I'm really glad he got a little school this year though because he was home a lot with me before that and he needed some socialization with other kids. He's come a long way with sharing and cooperating. Plus we really enjoyed that he went to a nature and science nursery school with a lot of outdoors time and worm-handling and gardening.

Same sign as first day.

One of his friends, Celia.

The move-up ceremony was really quick. Like don't-blink-quick. The kids walked out, sang a butterfly song (which James did not seem familiar with, perhaps because he didn't actually attend school this week), and then they called their names for certificates. They also got a little gift bag with a book, their art projects and their final report card. James got his first perfect report card with improvements in sharing and caring and whatnot. 

Ready to perform a song about a butterfly before "graduating"

Close up! James, ?, Peyton, Riley, and Micah

Future Class Clown? What he did when he saw I was taking A LOT of pictures.

With his teachers Ms. Sue and Miss Andrea standing right there no less!

Getting his certificate (15 seconds)

Posing with his certificate. Ready for summer then PreSchool!

My own report on his progress is that he definitely communicates like a toddler now and tells little stories about what happened. He been able to read and write all the letters since before he started nursery school, but now he can sight-read some words. I'm not sure if he knows about sounding stuff out or not, but I think I might clue him into that this summer. He can also do a little simple addition. I'd also really like him to focus on Spanish this summer. Honestly, the hard part is making myself focus on it when it's so much easier to just stick to English.

Then they all got to play a while because they're 4 years old.

With his best school friends Elena and Sabina

He trusts Dada will catch him.

We told him we were proud of him for working so hard and being good in class. Then we took him for ice cream.

Good job, buddy!

Post-graduation ice cream treat! (J picked cotton candy and M shared lemon with Dada)

• James's First Day of Nursery School- September 2014
• James's Nursery School Video- Fall 2014
• James's Nursery School Holiday Party 2014
• Reading at James's School- March and April 2015