All the first graders in Wesley's school had an end of the year program for the parents. Jason and I had a good laugh watching him dance, and "grab" himself as he apparently had to use the restroom. He just happened to be in the front row, so hopefully al the parents were watching their own kids and not paying attention to the other ones, ha ha ha. It was like de ja vu, as the same thing happened in his kinder graduation! Wesley had perfect attendance in first grade, and had a really good year. He went on two field big trips - the first one they took the train to the Salt Lake Children's museum. THe second trip they went to the Salt Lake Natural History museum, and then ate lunch at a near by park. He also had a fun run, and a smaller field trip on a hike through some of the local mountain trails near the school. Wesley was blessed with an amazing teacher who I'm convinced was handpicked just for him. She has been teaching 35 years, and was a perfect match for him. She pushed him enough, while also showing him love and kindness which is exactly what he needed. She was always singing to the kids, and telling them how much she loves them. She was so encouraging, while also setting rules and enforcing them. His class was so well behaved. I was worried how Wesley was going to do in school all day since he struggled in his three hour kinder class - not academically, but he has a hard time focusing and regulating emotions, and so on. However, he did great, and I'm so happy. At the beginning of the year, every day after school Wesley would exclaim, "I LOVE school!!! it was soooo fun today!!!" As the months went by, his enthusiasm wore off. He would still tell me he had a "great" day, but that he doesn't like school anymore. He gets pretty board - I think he knows a lot of the material. However, when challenged, and when he is learning, school is great for his active little mind. He has always been interested in this world and has loved to learn from the time he was a baby. I think it is sad that schools focus on reading and math so heavily, and dont have much science or art anymore. We will see how he does next year, but I'm hoping it goes as well as this year has gone!
Chase graduated from preschool. Sweet little Chase does not want to go to kindergarten next year, and wants to stay at his "apple" school. He just loved his teacher, and really enjoyed his class. He is so shy, so it takes him months to get comfortable with new things. His school was good for him to help him open up a little bit. Every week they had a new theme, and they had such fun activities to go with it. They had a fire truck there for fire week. A clown came for circus week. They got to dress up for Western week and Hawaiian week, and a few other weeks as well. For his graduation, Chase went up on stage without a fuss, but once up there they put a big funny hat on his head, and that caused him to shut down. He does not like to be embarrassed, or to be the center of attention. from that moment on, he had the grumpiest face the WHOLE performance. He didn't sing. He didn't dance. He didn't move a muscle really. Poor little Chase was so out of his element, but he put on what they wanted him to, and used any instruments he was supposed to use, but he just sat with a super pouty (but cute) face. After it was over, I thought for sure he was going to tell me how much he hated it, but rather he said, "I had fun Mommy!!" During his Christmas performance, which I included pictures of at the bottom, he was scared but he still sang and had a cute, shy smile on his face most of the performance. I hope he does well in kinder. I worry about him a little, but for all the opposite reasons I worried about Wesley. I hope he can make friends, and speak up when needed. I hope he enjoys his new school as much as he enjoyed preschool. Its amazing that he is already five and getting ready to start school. He has always been my sweet little buddy, and its going to be really hard on me to send him off to school.
I'm grateful both of my boys have been blessed to attend wonderful schools, with amazing teachers. I hope and pray their school years continue to be filled with learning, good friendships, and fun. I hope they find joy in leaning about our amazing world, and can spread a little bit of happiness and cheer to others around them.
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