Monday, August 25, 2008

School Daze

5th Grade, 4th Grade, 2nd Grade, 1st Grade!

This summer went by so fast! It is already time for school to start- I can't believe it. Before school we went to breakfast. It was fun to sit and talk to the kids without the distractions of being at home. They each are so excited for the new school year.

Hannah is such a great student and so self-motivated. Her favorite subjects are writing and math. This year she has the opportunity to win the Golden Explorer Award. It is something they do in 5th Grade. There are about 30 things they must do- some of them are very challenging. Mrs. Davies said last year she only had 2 students win the award. At first, Hannah wasn't going to try it because she said it stressed her out. But after her 2nd day of school and listening to Mrs. Davies explain the specifics, she came home ready to go!

Haylee has Mr. Bradford this year. He is the famous 4th grade teacher at Spanish Oaks. He has a way of motivating the kids to learn and holding them accountable for their own work and behavior. Haylee is a great student. I was so impressed with her hard work last year. Her 3rd grade teacher told me she wanted to challenge Haylee and give her harder spelling words. My reaction was, "But she studies all week just to get the basic words down." She said that Haylee always scored 100% so she wanted to push her a little. Haylee did not back down from the challenge and kept scoring 100% even with the advanced words. I know this perseverance will pay off as she goes through school.

Alex is a natural. At everything. I never worry about him and academics at school. He is very smart. He loves to read and enjoys learning about things even at home in his free time. (For Christmas, we got him "The Dangerous Book for Boys". It is the best book ever! If you have boys, check it out!) He is motivated to do well and wants to please his teachers and his parents. His teacher Mrs. Sanders will spend some time on values and choices this year. This will be good for Alex. (I'm hoping the 2 instances of cheating last year were isolated incidents). Sports continues to be a main thread in Alex's life. He is in soccer right now and can't wait until next year when he can start playing football.

Andrew (some of you know him by Logan) is at school all day. Heaven help us! He is my only child that is not self-motivated to do well in school. In fact, he could care less about learning. He has done a good job of keeping his reading skills up this summer so I hope he will continue to improve. He has a very tender heart and I'm sure has already fallen in love with his teacher. He exercised his independence by choosing to be called "Andrew" this year. Even though he is totally a Logan and I would like to refuse to let him go by Andrew, I am proud that he cares enough about something to stick to it. I am desperately trying to call him Andrew at home so that he does not develop 2 personalities. Although if it means he is motivated and excels in school, a split personality may not be a bad thing.

Now we're down to one at home. I quit my job so me and 2 year old are spending our days together. I'm trying to enjoy it, especially since he will be a kindergartner in 2011. Sobering thought.

1 comment:

Rindee said...

Is that a tradition to go out for breakfast the first day of school? It sounds like it would be a fun tradition. My kids are always so excited for the first day of school they get up so early and are walking around with their backpacks on by 7:30 am. Might as well go out for breakfast! You're such a good mom.

2011? Huh. I never thought about it like that. Looks like I'll have kids at home till 2013. Whoa.