Capturing our adventures one photo at a time...
Despite what I said yesterday, this isn’t the last week of summer! Turns out we have another 2.5 weeks to go thanks to a newly delayed opening.
I don’t know what this school year is going look like but I’m loving all the extra time with this crew. I say “Long live summer!”
Also, happy birthday Lou Lou! We hope it’s a great day and can’t wait to see you soon!
We finally got all of the class photos in from school!
Samantha’s 4K class with Mrs. Day…
Back row: Dewey, Julia, Mrs. Day, Jane, Walton
Front row: Julian, Asher, Samantha, Violet, Gordie, Mallory, Harry
Spencer’s class in 1st grade with Mrs. Cox…
Back row: Alexa Brooklyn, Carter, Aleph, Jack
Middle row: Spencer, Everlee, Caroline, Margaret, Murray
Front row: Alli, Elizabeth Anne, Eliza, Simon, Rose, Charlie
Maxwell’s 3rd grade class with Mrs. Dyess…
Back row: Frank, Mac, Lily, Cotes, David
Middle row: Davis, Eloise, Grayson, Owen, Kate, Maxwell
Front row: Emma Kathlyn, Trent, Trey, Bo, Louise, Cate, Louise
A great school year with fantastic teachers – and the strangest year end ever!!
Well, we did it! We finished the school year and I’m going to say we finished it strong!! The last day they were in school was Friday, March 13th. We then had a few weeks off while the world figured out what was going on and then we officially started online school on Monday, April 6. We’ve done 6.5 weeks of school at home. There have been tears, there’s been lots of learning on their end and my end, but we have made it! They would start their work by around 8:00 every morning and were usually finished by 9:30 or 10:00. It definitely got easier as it went along and we got used to all of the different programs and adjusted to the new structure. We did school at the table…
at the counter…
in the dining room…
and even on the couch like this! ha!
Samantha didn’t get any assignments from school so I printed some worksheets and used workbooks for her to do a letter a day. We worked all the way from A to Z!
Like I said, we’ve all learned a lot. I had to be very hands on with it all and right there beside them while they were doing their work. Maxwell was pretty self sufficient most of the time but Spencer definitely needed help navigating everything. I’m so so grateful I am no longer working and was able to sit there every morning helping them do what was most important!
Maxwell did have two really big projects during quarantine that I am so proud of. The first was a research paper for his enrichment class. He had to research and write a paper on the history of Birmingham, complete with a bibliography! We tackled it together and he ended up with a fantastic, well written paper that his teacher was very proud of. This was a big project and one he had never done before and I am so proud of how he took it on and got it done!
The second big project was the 3rd grade biography assignment. In typical times, the parents get to go up to school and see the kids give a speech as their chosen famous person. Nothing about these times is typical so the speeches were done via video but Maxwell nailed his! He did it on Bill Gates and I’d say he looked pretty sharp in his Bill Gates glasses with his Microsoft computer…
He did a fantastic job recording his speech which was about 4 minutes long and got great praise from his teacher.
All three of the kids have worked so hard on their school work and have handled this strange situation with such grace and good attitudes. Proud just doesn’t even seem like a big enough word to describe how I feel about them. Fingers crossed we are back in regular school in the fall but, if we’re not, I know we can handle that too!
We had a fun surprise on our mailbox this week! Samantha’s globe welcoming her to Kindergarten arrived!! Unfortunately, her in-person orientation at kindergarten got cancelled but we are hoping they do something special in the fall to welcome them to school.
She was pretty excited to get it and she’s VERY excited to start Kindergarten and finally be at the big school with her brothers!! This girl is ready!
Maxwell’s globe and Kindergarten orientation here.
Spencer’s globe Kindergarten orientation here.
I’m so excited for this girl to head to the big school and thrive!! Kindergarten, here she comes!
Well, they made the call on Friday and cancelled school for the rest of the year. It’s not totally cancelled – we’re moving to E-learning as of Monday April 6. It’s not ideal but I’m so glad we have that option. We were able to pick up the boys’ chrome books last week which will make it all a lot easier. I’m sad for all that we are going to miss – sports, preschool graduation, dance recital, field day, Kindergarten orientation, and the list goes on. I’m sad that my kids are missing their friends and the social interaction they love and need. But, I’m so glad this is happening in spring instead of at the beginning of the school year. I’m so glad that they are of the age where they will easily catch up on anything they miss. They are of the age where they still think it’s fun to hang with their parents (most of the time!) and love to play with each other. They are of the age where I can still understand their math work! ha! We’re going to make the best of it and hopefully look back on this crazy time as fun and exciting. I keep telling kids they are living through history in the making!!
I wish I had known that Friday 3/13 (Friday the 13th!!) would be the boys last day of school. I would have taken a picture or something?! I do have a few pics from school left…
Samantha celebrated 100 days of school on 3/10. Little did we know she’d only go to school 102 days! They made cool crowns, took 100 of a snack (she took Teddy Grahams), and had a pizza party!
Other fun art from school…
I wonder if these are the same 3 things she’d take into quarantine with her?! 🙂
Spencer got to go to a bowling birthday party with the boys in his class the last week of school. What a fun crew!
Spencer’s class also got a treat when they had their writer’s celebration!
We sure will miss our teachers and school friends but will make the best of school at home!