First Day of Kindergarten, 1st, and 4th grades

 School started over three months ago, but here are the Fallstrom children on their first day.

 Isaac was excited to start 1st grade and get to go all day.

 Finley was all ready for half day kindergarten.

 And Sareny was ready for the 4th grade.

Here they are, ready to go. Keith went to work late their first morning so that we could take them to school together. It was nice to have him around to help get lunches made and shoes tied.

The kids showing off their backpacks. Isaac used the same one from last year, and the girls got new ones this year.

 I love this picture! Everyone looks so cute.

First off, we took Finley to her class. Her teacher is Ms. Ruff, and she is really nice.

There are only 4 girls in Finley's class, and they were all seated together.

Finley got settled in coloring her apple, and didn't mind a bit when we left. (If only that attitude had lasted--she has had some days where she is really sad and cries.)

Isaac was glad to see a lot of friends from kindergarten, and to be seated by his friend Josh. He has Ms. Danuser as a teacher.

 He got settled in working as well.

Sareny's teacher is Ms. Bays. She was glad to be sitting by Peyton, a nice girl she had met on meet the teacher night.

 We left her ready to get to work as well.

And just like that, the school year was off. Keeley and I went home and wondered where everybody was. I always miss the kids so much when they aren't here. And poor KeeKee--she really did have a hard time adjusting. As Sareny said the week leading up to school, "I feel sorry for Keeley. She just has no idea that we are leaving her next week!" Too true.

Home School Reward with tia Lexi

Sareny was excited to earn a reward with her home school punches, and cashed in on a trip to Frogo. Lexi and Scott took her after swimming one afternoon.

It was fun to have special time with Lexi and Scott and be the only kid.

She is always asking when we can go to Frogo, but it is pretty pricey to take the whole family there. I came up with using it as one of the rewards, and it has been a hit!

Hillures Hoom Skool

 

The very first Monday after school was out, we started up homeschool, or Hillures Hoom Skool, as Isaac wrote on the cover of his math book. Kind of reminded me of that old saying, "Hookt on fonics wrked fur me!"
I ordered the same math books the school uses, and we have been doing math worksheets and reading everyday. The kids get punches on their special cards and can earn prizes of their choosing, so they have an incentive to do extra schoolwork. I have been amazed at how successful this program has been! One Sunday when I had not asked anyone to do any homework at all, Sareny completed seven math assignments. A different weekend, we were sitting around on a Friday night and the kids were all working on homework, just because they wanted to.

I have been teaching Finley to read for several months now, and when I find the time to sit with her one on one (with no Keeley anywhere nearby, or she will run over and start screaming and trying to get on my lap) it has been going very well. We are using the book Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. It has been so rewarding to see her beginning to sound out words and having success, and she is so proud of her accomplishments. She loves doing school work and would be happy to do more, but as I mentioned above, it is difficult with a baby around.
Anyway, the kids are all working hard and doing really well at home school. Hillures Hoom Skool wrkd fur mee!

Last Day of School

The last day of school came all too quickly. The kids, especially Isaac, were sad to have the school year over. Isaac actually begged me to put him in summer school. Much as I was looking forward to long days with all my kids home, no alarm clocks going off at 6:00, no frenetic schedules and lunch packing and getting everybody where they needed to go--it was still a little sad to see such a fun year come to an end.

Normally the kids wear uniforms to school, but on the last day they were allowed to wear whatever they wanted.

Admittedly, it is more fun and cute to wear outfits of your own choosing, but I have become a fan of the uniform. I like:
1) Not having to select/battle over what to wear every day--it makes getting ready in the mornings sooo easy.
2) Not having the pressure of getting my kids expensive, cool, name brand clothes so they can fit in or be "popular."
3) When I saw what some kids wore on the last day, I was reminded how nice it is not to be distracted by someone's booty hanging out of their too-short shorts.
But it was fun for a day!

 My little Isaac, waiting for his ride to come and pick him up.

 Sarenyanna decided not to take her backpack the last day and just brought this over the shoulder bag.

 KeeKee was attempting to run down the street, so Isaac tried to help me by grabbing her. She just wants to RUN!

Right after the kids left with their ride, I went in and saw Isaac's brand new white shirt I had bought for him sitting on the couch. The kids could take a shirt to have their friends sign. I pictured him sad and disappointed when he realized he left his at home, so I loaded up Finley and Keeley and we drove it down to him. His teacher said he didn't seem to care about the missing shirt. But he was glad to see us and was quick to have his friends sign his shirt.

 While we were there, I snapped a final picture with Ms. Isaacson.

 And one with "Mrs. Mina", the classroom aide. For more than half the year, I thought her last name was Hermina and that she was hispanic. Isaac always called her Mrs. Mina, but I figured out that he was dropping the first part of her name. Well, I was surprised to learn that she came from Poland as a young girl and that her first name is Ermina. One day during the year, Isaac asked me if I thought Mrs. Mina was nice or mean. I guessed mean. He said, "Nope! Nice. But her name sounds mean!"

 I snuck into Sareny's room for a couple pictures. They were playing some game with shoes.

She smiled at me. Her teacher was named Ms. McCord for the first part of the year, and Mrs. Troyer after spring break, when she got married. She was a good teacher and Sareny really liked her.

 And a last shot with her friends Aricelli and Christella.

Farewell to a fun year!

My Kindergarten Graduate

The kindergartners had a special ceremony a couple days before the last day of school. They all gathered on the stage and sat with their class while the parents arrived.

Then they sang a couple songs, including Forever Friends, which was apparently their favorite, and a song based on an older song that was used for a Philadelphia Cream Cheese commercial--Start Spreading the News. Their song said, "Start spreading the news, we're leaving today...something something...first grade first grade!" They were really cute, especially my Igits who was dancing a little bit.

Then each kid went up to the microphone and said, "My name is Isaac Fallstrom," although they obviously each said their own name. I was quite proud of my buki, as his voice was perfectly pitched and modulated and he was easy to understand. Many of the kids got nervous and rushed, or started speaking before they were stopped in front of the microphone, so you couldn't understand at least half of them. I think using the microphone at Primary helped him know what to do and not be nervous.

We went back to the classroom, where the teacher had individual awards for each child.

Here is Isaac walking down the red carpet when his name was called. And you can see Keith, Finley, and Keeley in the stroller in the back of the room. I was really glad Keith was able to make it to this special event.

Isaac got the Laffy Taffy award, for "having the most fun while learning." It came with a bag of Laffy Taffy's. I loved Isaac's teacher, Ms. Isaacson. She was so great and seemed to really love these kids, and Isaac loved her so much he said he might name his daughter Kelly (her first name.)

Ms. Isaacson also put together an awesome end of the year slide show that I was completely blown away by. She took pictures of each kid throughout the year on special days, like the first day of school, or just random days doing their work. Here is Isaac on his very first day of kindergarten.

It was so great to see our kids learning and having so much fun. It was such a special video. She also asked each kid what they wanted to be when they grow up. Here is Isaac.

Isaac said he wants to be a scientist so he can figure out why the bees are dieing. There were a couple of funny answers other kids gave--one boy wants to be Superman, and one girl wants to be a Target Worker! Pretty cute.
There is just something special about the kindergarten year, and I'm glad that Isaac's first school experience was so awesome.

Forever Friends, Forever You and Me

These little kindergartners were the cutest ever! For their end of the year concert, they had a Disney theme. They sang Be Our Guest, Mickey Mouseclub, Zippa-dee-doo-dah, Under the Sea, and then ended with a cute song called Forever Friends.

Isaac had such a great kindergarten year, and it was so fun to see the kindergartners looking so cute and proud on their big day.

I picked him up in his class afterwards, and snapped a picture with a few friends--Landon, Jack, Isaac, and Lucas.

Sareny had her concert that same evening. They played a medley on their recorders and then sang a couple of songs, including Let's go fly a kite.

 She looked so pretty and grown up. She is on the front row, the third from the right.

Lexi, Scott, and Elise came to support them, and we had a lot of fun watching them. I'm always a little bit jealous of the people who's grandparents get to come and watch their special things--that would be so fun, but it's been really nice to have some more family around now.