Depending on which kid you are talking about we’ve actually been done with school for 1 or 2 weeks already. Edric had preschool graduation on March 12th and Caedmon and Leighton finished up their homeschool (kindergarten and 3rd grade) last Friday, with their homeschool enrichment program ending this past Wednesday. And Paxton and Coppélia are asking daily when they get to start preschool.
Edric finished preschool and it was a really good year. He was in a much bigger preschool than he had been in before but it seemed to go well. The preschool also did daycare so it was a bit chaotic as kids were there on different days and came and left at different times so I felt more like we were a number and not necessarily part of a community of other parents and families and I missed that. He did have a really great teacher that he really liked and he grew a lot socially this past year which was really the key. It was also held at the church we have been attending since last July and since Edric doesn’t do all that well with transitions it was really good that he was in the same place 3 mornings a week that he also went to on Sundays. His end of the year preschool papers said that he is not ready for kindergarten because he doesn’t know all his letters. And I’m ok with that…he was language delayed in Korean and then coming home at 2 1/2 he has had a lot of catching up to do and he’s still a little behind but has made leaps and bounds. So I don’t really care that he doesn’t know all his letters. Yes Leighton and Caedmon were reading books at his age….but they did have all the changes that he has gone through. We decided to start his kindergarten language arts this summer (since we homeschool something we can easily do) and he has been rocking learning his letters and sounds and it’s just going to give him that extra foundation and support.
Caedmon grew a ton this year in kindergarten and did great. He’s struggled a little lately with his reading fluency so we already have a set of books pulled out to work through this summer, just one a day to keep those reading skills (and confidence) up. He almost finished 1st grade math so we’ll keep working on those skills this summer as well. He learns and approaches things differently then Leighton and it has been fun to figure out what works and how to best teach him. He really enjoyed his homeschool enrichment program and especially his 3 buddies that were in his class. Many times I would pick him up and find a good portion of his lunch still in his bag and ask him how come he didn’t finish it all….turns out he might have been talking a little too much to his friends to remember to finish eating. Those long days totally did him in though. He comes across as quite the social butterfly and he held it together all through the day, but would let his guard down and fall asleep most days on the way home. Everyone learned that on Wednesday nights Caedmon was extra sensitive and extra tired and most weeks he would tell us at 6:30, “I’m going to go and take my bath now and go to bed”.
Leighton finished 3rd grade and is thriving. He loves to read and we can’t keep enough books in the house for him to read because he goes through them so fast. Math was not his favorite this year but grew a ton with it and did well in the end. He took the Iowa test this year and scored 6th-8th grade level in almost everything except one area of math. He also loved his homeschool enrichment classes, especially his cooking class. Not to mention that he actually ate things that he made in class that I can’t get him to eat that I cook on a normal basis…go figure. He has a good little group of friends and really enjoyed playing with all the kids at lunch recess each week.
Paxton and Coppélia will start preschool in the fall. We found a little in home preschool that only has a max of 8 kids and we are really excited about it for them. I think they are both ready and I’m excited to see how they will grow next year.
On our last day of homeschool last week we did a cookout for lunch with hot dogs and s’mores. Everyone had a blast with it and it was a good way to celebrate another year done.
And so summer is in full swing at our house….today was sprinkler and water day in the backyard. I love hearing all the laughter and giggles and look forward to this summer and all that will come with it.
Hiking Mommy 