Last Day of School- PreK and 1st Grade

The school year went by fast this year!  The kids had their last day on June 21st.  The official last day was the 26th, but we headed to a camp in FL with Freddy T., so the kids missed the last few days.  

Here are our traditional pictures in front of the brick post in front of our building.

I feel like I took babies to school in September and brought home big kids.

     

       

    

    

 Yay!  Last day of school!

On Elliott and Lillie's last day they had a little Pre K graduation program in their classroom.

 Lillie and friends.

 Elliott and friends.

The theme of graduation was Fireworks.  They sang Katy Perry's Firework song and as they received their certificate they were given a handful of confetti to throw up in the air like fireworks.

 Last order of business in Pre K was an ice cream party.

 Lillie couldn't wait for the toppings, she was licking the bowl.

 Lillie and Elliott had the best Pre K teacher.  Mrs. Cornoni was full of energy and made learning so much fun.  The kids learned so much.  They were only in school from 8:20 am- 10:40 am and I'm amazed at all she fit in to a few hours each day.  The kids LOVED her! 

 Mrs. Rani was the full time assistant in their class.  She was so caring and compassionate with the kids.  The two teachers together were a great team.

Jack would not let me come to his classroom in the morning to take one final picture, so I brought my camera after school and snuck a few pictures.  Jack had a great year in 1st grade.  His teacher was Mrs. Pascale.  She grew up in Manhattan and came from a family with 4 kids, so they have a little in common.  The cut off date for school in NYC is December 31.  Jack's birthday is December 24, so he is the youngest kid in his grade.  There are no other school systems that have a cut off date that late.  Most are August, September at the latest.  Jack worked so hard this year.  By the end of the year he was meeting grade standards, but it was hard work to get there.  We don't want every year to be a fight to keep up, and maybe it wouldn't be, but because of this and his late birthday, we've decided to let him do 1st grade again.  We think it will only strengthen his foundation in school and be better overall for him.  We're excited that Jack will get to have Mrs. Pascale again next year.  She was great to work with and he really liked her.  Jack is looking forward to a new year in 1st grade.  He has an amazing attitude about it.

 At PS 40, each child is required to shake their teachers hand as they leave.  

Jack- Yellow Belt TKD

In June Jack took his yellow belt test in Tae Kwon Do.  

This is the group that was testing.  You can see Master Yoo and Master Jeffery standing and Grand Master Kim judging the kids.

 Jack had to break a board.  It was a thin one, but he did it on his first try.

 Congratulations Jack!  We are so proud of you!

Parker: 11 Months

11 months already!  Parker has the sweetest personality.  I'm still trying to get him to sleep through the night.  I'm hoping it's just a matter of time.  He is starting to eat some solids and trying milk from a sippy cup.  He crawls everywhere, fast, and pulls up on everything and is starting to take a few steps around the furniture.  Parker learned a new trick this month, waving bye bye!  He laughs at his brothers and sister a lot.  They really love Parker and pay him lots of attention.  Again, picture taking with the sign is next to impossible.  We love this little guy.

A Few Happenings in Pre K and 1st Grade

About a month ago I had the opportunity to go on a field trip with Lillie and Elliott's class.  We loaded a school bus, Lillie and Elliott's first time on a bus, and headed to the Central Park Zoo!

It was a fun trip.  Their class is studying animals and their defense mechanisms in school, so that was the topic of conversation at each zoo exhibit.

Elliott and a friend from class.

I was the only parent in my group so their teacher joined us.  They really liked having Mrs. Cornoni along.

Elliot was a little wary of the birds flying around in the Tropical Rainforest

Eating lunch before heading back to school.

Jack's class is studying parks and their importance for people living in the city.  Earlier this week I joined his class and we walked to Madison Square Park.  The park is a little less than a mile away from the school.  Everyone had a partner and they were instructed to hold hands as they walked.  It's a big responsibility to get 25 kids to a field trip destination walking.  Of course these kids walk everywhere, so they are pretty street smart, wasn't bad at all.

Each kid had a clipboard to do their work on.  They had a map of the park with about 10 key spots they had to find.  They also had a check list to mark off items they found in the park (benches, water fountain, recycling bin, statues, etc.) and a page to sketch something they saw.

Last night was the 8th Annual Art Exhibit at school.  Every grade works on a different art project and all projects are displayed around the cafeteria for the art show.  

Pre K did self portraits

(you might not be able to tell, but Lillie gave herself pink streaks)

Elliott and his self portrait

1st grade drew King and Queens

Jack with his King

Parker: 9 Months

Parker is 9 months old!

Parker is growing so fast.  This month he started crawling and can get anywhere he wants to go.  We really have to keep an eye out for him these days.

He is happy as ever, such a joy to have in our family!

Parker: 8 Months

This has been a big month for Parker.  He mastered sitting up and began crawling.  I often find him in his bed crying because he is up on his knees rocking and can't figure out how to get back down and go to sleep.

We've also done some sleep training.  Up until this point I was feeding Parker at least 2 or 3 times during the night.  Basically every time he woke up if it had been at least 3 hours.  For 5 nights the big kids slept in our bed and Freddy T. and I were on the couch so Parker could have the room to himself.  While we did break the mid night snacks, Parker is still waking up.  Some nights are better than others as far as how many times he wakes up.  He is typically rocking on his hands and knees and as soon as I flip him over he goes on back to sleep.

He only wanted to eat the sign this month, so it was a little challenging getting the date in a picture.