School’s Out

Yesterday was the last day for the 2022-23 school year. Now we have a 75 day summer break. In August we’ll have two in pre-k (at two different schools since Noah will still be in ECSE), one in kindergarten, one in first grade, one in second grade, one in third grade, and a sophomore and a senior in high school.

Fritz is all done his junior year. When he unloaded his backpack he saved a pile of stuff and said there was information about applying to college in there because that’s coming up quick. He took AP US History this year and while it was a lot of work he also learned a lot.

Adrian finished his freshman year. He loves DATA in spite of the long bus ride (his best friend is going to another magnet at the same school next year, though, so the bus ride will be a bonus. There were three or four fires set at their school the last few months so he did indeed learn what happens when there is arson. He said he won’t have holidays because he’ll be going to summer school for six weeks (taking art and PE so he can get all the appropriate credits to graduate because of iCSI).

Zeke completed second grade. I have no idea where he got play tennis for what he plans to do over the summer. He’ll be playing some other sports, but not tennis. He doesn’t know why he said that either.

Mayci finished first grade. Of course she said she wants to do her summer workbook this summer because she loves school and anything that looks like school. The year was a little rough due to having a completely inexperienced teacher, but we made it through! I just hope Anthony doesn’t get her next year.

Anthony finished kindergarten. It turns out the kid is crazy smart, incredibly ADHD, and a little bit lazy and stubborn (maybe more like a lot stubborn). If Nicholas doesn’t get the teacher Anthony (and Mayci) had for kindergarten I’m going to be sad because I absolutely love her. Then again, if he has the other kinder teacher we’ll have collected the whole set (when I said that once a principal said they should totally make teacher trading cards so you can collect them all).

Nicholas finished pre-k. By walker he means the way he gets home from school. I always love how little kids answer the what do you want to be when you grow up question. I’m sad that the teacher he (and Mayci and Anthony) had for pre-k is retiring this year so Joel won’t have her. The assistant principal said they hired an amazing replacement, though, and I’ll love her.

Noah has completed pre-k3. I love that he wants to be Noah when he grows up (and even very carefully spelled it out for me). He’s made amazing progress this progress this year and his teachers both said they hope to get him in their class again next year because they just love him. It’ll be nice when he’s in kindergarten and they all go to the same school and no longer have to get him on and off his bus and deal with a second elementary school, though!

And then there’s Joel who got to be the only one at home this whole school year. He got incredibly spoiled and has been my dad’s shadow (not sure who is going to miss the other more – probably my dad since Joel will be busy in school). I love that he said he wants to be a grown up when he grows up.

Baby Beluga

Anthony performed in the kindergarten Baby Beluga show. They sang songs complete with hand motions and were just generally adorable. Their costumes were pajamas which made it extra fun.

The decorations were very cool and made mostly with pool noodles and balloons. The kids sang so well. They really did very well!

Zeke, Mayci, and Anthony’s Third Quarter Report Cards

The third quarter is over and Zeke, Mayci, and Anthony have received their report cards. They all worked hard and are doing the best they can. Zeke’s learning issues are becoming more and more apparent, Mayci is continuing to excel everything, and Anthony’s behavior is under control thanks to finally figuring out the right medications and timing.

Zeke
Language Arts – C (79%)
Math – D (68%)
Social Studies – B (86%)
Science – B (88%)
Satisfactory in Conduct and Theater Arts
Excellent in Health, Art, Music, and PE

Mayci
Language Arts – A (97%)
Math – A (97%)
Social Studies – A (100%)
Science – A (94%)
Excellent in Conduct, Health, Art, Theater Arts, Music, and PE

Anthony
Kindergartners get 1-4 where 1 is not able to do it at all and 4 is completely mastered.
Anthony got a couple 2s in conduct and all the rest 3s. He got a mix of 2s and 3s in language arts and reading. He got a couple 2s and mostly 3s in math. He can rote count to 100 now. He got one 2 and the rest 3s in social studies. He got one 2 and the rest 3s in science. He got a 3 in health. He got a 2 and a 3 in music and a 2 and a 3 in PE.

Take My Picture!

The other morning Anthony, with a little help from Joel, sorted our Perfect Blocks into piles by colors. Anthony wanted me to take his picture with them and send them to his kindergarten teacher (which of course I did).

We told him he needed to clean the blocks up before we headed to school so he found a way to make doing that extra fun. He got his little HEB shopping basket and loaded all the blocks into it and then poured the blocks into the bin to go in the toy tower. (And of course wanted me to take a picture of him doing that to send to his teacher, too).

Joel’s Registered for Pre-K

The documents have been uploaded and the forms filled out and Joel is all registered for pre-k next year. This means in just about six months I’ll suddenly find myself with a lot of extra time with Noah and Joel in Pre-K, Nicholas in kindergarten, Anthony in first grade, Mayci in second grade, Zeke in third grade, Adrian in 10th grade, and Fritz in 12th grade. Sounds kind of like heaven.

Zeke, Mayci, and Anthony’s Second Quarter Grades

Zeke works so hard in school. He earned every one of his grades with a lot of hard work. It’s amazing how hard he’s come over the last couple years. School comes easy for Mayci. She’s very smart and (when she doesn’t make careless errors) it shows in her grades. She loves school so much.

Starting in first grade kids get percentage grades for language arts, math, science, and social studies. They get E (excellent), S (satisfactory), or U (unsatisfactory) in everything else.

Zeke’s Grades
Language Arts – 88%
Math – 74%
Social Studies – 78%
Science – 83%
Conduct – S
Health – E
Art – S
Theater Arts – S
Music – E
PE – E

Mayci’s Grades
Language Arts – 95%
Math – 91%
Social Studies – 100%
Science – 97%
Conduct – E
Health – E
Art – E
Theater Arts – E
Music – E
PE – E

Kindergartners get lots and lots of grades on a 1-5 scale with 1 being well below grade level and 5 being well above grade level. Most of the grades given are 3s. Anthony is doing really well, especially in conduct which is something we’ve been working hard on since pre-k.

Anthony’s Grades
Music – all 2s
PE – all 3s
Participation – all 3s
Conduct – almost all 3s, a couple 2s, and a 4 in respecting authority figures
Language Arts – two 2s and a 3
Reading – an even mix of 2s and 3s
Math – mostly 2s and a 3; he can rote count to 29
Social Studies – an even mix of 2s and 3s
Science – all 3s and one 2
Health – 3

Summer Workbooks

This summer Anthony completed the PK-K Summer Quest workbook, Mayci completed the K-1 Summer Quest workbook, and Zeke completed the 1-2 Summer Quest workbook. They had lots of fun adding stickers to their maps all day and were so proud when they made it to the finish line ready for their next year of school

I’ve been going through Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons with Zeke and Mayci for two summers now and we managed to finish it just before school started, bringing them both to a second grade level in reading. Some of those lessons felt disjointed and some of the stories were downright strange, but it truly did teach them to read very well.