Last Day of School

We have reached the end of another successful school year. Charlotte finished her year in Miss Marianne's 3 year-old class on June 2, and the boys finished kindergarten yesterday.

Charlotte's class had only 10 kids in it, and all of them seemed to get along well, and got very close. She was friendly with everyone in her class, and has been invited to many birthday parties and had play dates outside of school. Her teachers were both sweet and kind and took good care of her all year long. Although she always claimed she learned "nuffin" at school, I hear her singing songs I've never taught her, and she knows all her letters and numbers.  She's such a goofball.

With Miss Marianne. She was pretending to be shy

With Miss Jen. Still shy.

 The boys finishing kindergarten felt more momentous to me. It was, overall, a wonderful year. Benjamin is 100% reading, and Asher isn't too far behind. This means that text messages are no longer private, and spelling things to Eric doesn't work. Unfortunately, Eric learned German as a second language and I learned French, so we are out of ways to keep secrets!  Both boys seem to have a grasp of math and problem-solving. Today Eric bought them workbooks so that they could keep up with reading and math over the summer and they sat down to work right away. So far, they have maintained a curiosity and love of learning, which is what makes kindergarten successful to me!

the one half-decent picture I could get

Benjamin with Mrs. Damico. Behind those glasses he is crying.

Both boys made friends and liked their teachers. Benjamin was crying when I picked him up from school- just like me, he hates change and struggles around transitions. This year, the struggle manifested in a minor case of kleptomania (a pencil, an eraser, too many prizes at the dentist's office). He gets very attached to his teacher and routines.

Asher and Ms. Guidetti 

Asher was a model student this year- no disciplinary action was taken at any point. The prior year, his teacher had suggested that I should be a homeroom parent to help his teacher understand Asher better.  It turns out that Asher needs no understanding- he was a joy to have in class and made no trouble at all.

Ms. Guidetti's class, or the portion of class who attended on the last day

This morning, I found this:

Asher had drawn it in a small notepad Ms. Guidetti had given him. So sweet.

Now on to summer- all 3 kids will be going to camp at Camp Magar. I realized that I will be child-free 5 mornings a week- a phenomenon I haven't experienced since before the boys were born. I have grand plans- organize the attic, wash and store my sweaters. We'll see how far I actually get!