ICE CREAM REWARD

The kids received free ice cream cone coupons for DQ on their last day of school. 

It seemed like a good day to cash them in!

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL: 2017

SOUTHPARK AWARDS DAY 2017

This school year was amazing for James! It started off better than the whole of 1st Grade, and just went up from there. His teacher was patient and encouraging, his classmates were friendly and kind, and he really enjoyed the extra activities and opportunities that GATES provided him. Considering his grades at the end of the first quarter (1.9 for ELA/English and Language Arts and 2.0 for Math, putting him below the standards for promotion - even though nothing counts until the final quarter anyway, as they learn additional skills throughout the year that aren't tested on until later - and into a weekly testing/review schedule for the 2nd and 3rd Quarters to become more familiar with the online exams), we are just beyond thrilled and proud of him for finishing the year with a 2.8 in ELA and a 2.9 in Math. (No, they don't use the A-F scale, but a 1-3 scale. Basically, it breaks down to 3 = A, 2.5 = C, and 2.0 and below is considered failing.)

James earned six awards at the 2nd Grade Awards Ceremony, including four for Reading/ELA and two for Math. We were surprised by a couple of them, including Highest AR Points in 2nd Grade (69.2) and Highest STAR Math Score in his class (635). We knew exactly how many AR Points he had earned (the Renaissance System records it and emails it to us every time he takes a test - plus I keep a spreadsheet tally for my records), but we never had any idea where he stood in his class (let alone the entire 2nd Grade). His good friend Lauren earned 238 stickers (she received an award for it, which is the only reason I know that), but James says that she doesn't like chapter books, so I assume she read a lot of short (0.5 Point), high ATOS Book Level books (because the 2nd Grade teachers award 2-5 stickers for books with a BL above 3.5, regardless of the number of possible AR Points you can earn). James also earned recognition for meeting his AR Goal All 4 Quarters and reading 100+ AR Books. He actually exceeded the AR Goal for each quarter (10, 15, 20, 25) and read a total of 93 books (passing all but one AR test), but because a lot of his books during the second semester were above BL 3.5 (because he couldn't test below a BL 3.2 based on his December STAR exams), he earned 22 "extra" stickers. He tested about twice a week, but less when he was reading chapter books. He averaged 91% on his AR exams throughout the year and his BL average for the year was a 3.7 (he tested on books from BL 2.0-5.4 as the year progressed). He read almost 384,000 words! While all this is very exciting, we're most happy that he has learned to really enjoy reading chapter books (often putting himself to sleep at night after 20-30 minutes of reading in bed). We have worked so hard to foster a love of reading for both our kids and it just feels good to know that he earned his points and awards out of his own desire. Yes, we pushed him to meet his goal each quarter, but going above and beyond that was all on him. James also received awards for exemplary growth in his STAR exam scores for both categories (235 to 546 for Reading and 375 to 635 for Math). His favorite award was the one he received from the librarian for his AR Points because it came with a medal and a $25 giftcard (which he used to buy a boombox). Our favorite awards are the STAR growth awards because they demonstrate how very hard he worked this year to stay focused and push himself. He's quite the kid!

Speaking of awesome kids, our little Baby Doll had a pretty incredible year as well. She soared through all four of her report cards with nearly perfect 3.0s, was her Teacher Assistant's favorite kid and sidekick, and went from struggling through 1.0-1.5 BL books in the fall (passing AR tests with flying colors, but struggling to read smoothly and confidently) to reading chapter books with ease and eloquence (up to BL 3.1). She earned 34.0 AR Points (passing her AR tests with an average 91%), and read 73 books with 45,000 words. Her STAR Exam scores soared from 75 to 246 in Reading and from 326 to 488 in Math!

END OF YEAR SURVEY

MUFFINS WITH MOM 2017

Moms were invited to breakfast at school today, with muffins donated by Cafe Paradiso (and free coffee coupons included). It was BUSY in that cafeteria and I had a lot of fun chatting with other moms, hanging out with my little loves, and letting them introduce me to all their friends.

MOTHER'S DAY CARDS

 And from James:

TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK

James and Cora are really into puns, so we made a few "punny" little teacher gifts for them to bring their teachers and TAs this week in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week:

 On Friday the kids brought Thank You notes that they filled out (with Amazon giftcards attached to the back - it was definitely nice getting the end of year thank you gifts taken care of ahead of the end of the school year, so we'll definitely be doing that from now on!)

(This boy knows how to melt a lady's heart, let me tell you!)

FREE TREAT

These little cuties earned themselves a Friday treat by being on "good" behavior colors and acing their AR tests, so I took them up to SuperJunior after school to pick out ice cream. Turns out one of the linemen in front of me heard me praising them for their happy week and decided to treat them himself. He left his change with the clerk "for the kids", and they were thrilled to find him outside in his truck afterward so we could drive past with the windows down and shout thank you!

POWER READERS

Just because the power's out doesn't mean you get to skip your AR minutes...

SPRING FLING 2017

 We didn't take many photos this year because we were both busy running booths, but the kids had a good time (even though they were tired from their busy morning and James was starting to feel feverish again) and they were especially pleased with their face paint:

CURLY CORA

She came over and sat next to Jay at the table and said in the most southern voice "Dada, will you please pray for me to sleep good with my hay-ya up?"

 Finding books around the house to test on so she can make another "AR flower" on her online testing module. She hit her goal for this 9 weeks, but wants to do more, so we're pretty please with that.

And she was pretty pleased with her curls this morning!

CELEBRATING A GOOD WEEK

True, it was a short 3-day week due to our mini vacation, but still, they earned it. Good behavior reports for all 3 days they were at school and a 100% AR test each day as well.

FIELD DAY 2017

I was unable to attend Field Day this year (meetings all morning and PT after lunch), but I grabbed a picture of the kids in their Field Day shirts (each class had their own color) before school. MAY THE FUN BE WITH YOU:

I found a photo of James' class posted on the school's parents group on Facebook:

James said he liked the water relay (a sponge race) best, but he had fun in all his events (and won one of them):

 Cora told me that she'll get her ribbons tomorrow, and that she LOVED her field day, but she was hot and sweaty and tired (and it took some convincing to get her to dance class this afternoon). Here is a shot I found of her class ready for action!

SOUTHPARK SKATE NIGHT

Jay took the kids out to their school's Skate Night fundraiser this evening while I hung out with Lee (who brought gumbo!) and continued to rest as instructed (following my knee surgery yesterday morning).

Pictures (and glowsticks) courtesy of Cora's teacher:

Videos courtesy of Jay:

I was informed that Cora sang along (loudly) to most of the songs (I love that she's gliding now, by the way!) and that James' "skate dancing" was a big hit (with the teachers, and also his friend Lauren, whom he is skating with in his video).

2017 BOOK FAIR

I volunteered at the SouthPark Book Fair today and Cora tagged along (since it was an after school shift and James was in GATES play rehearsal). She picked a LOT of books for each of them, but I managed to talk her down to the "buy 11 get 1 free" deal (plus some free bookmarks and erasers that the librarian threw in). James was very pleased with our picks for him.

SEUSS WEEK!