Thatcher finished up his after school tennis class.
I'd say it is best for him to stick with baseball, soccer and basketball.
Samantha's "Passion Project"
The second grade classrooms had an awesome assistant teacher who floated throughout the classrooms, Ms. H. Throughout the year she would instruct the students on different types of projects such as this one.
No Wi-Fi 100 years ago, the horror for kids these days!
Samantha and her classmate, Dixie, presented their project to the class.
Just as they were asking questions, a little girl in the back of the class vomited. I'm not sure if it was a stomach bug or her shock over no Wi-Fi but either way, the presentation abruptly ended and we all headed out of the classroom.
Both kids also finished up PlayFit although they signed up again for it Spring quarter. That is Thatcher pouring an entire bucket of water on someone. This class is worth every penny to have your kids get an hour of craziness before picking them up.
Samantha finished up her knitting class.
Sam could have used some more yarn for her tiny hat ;)
Made a better fit for little brother.
Every few weeks, Thatcher's backpack comes home filled with all of this.
Pajama Day at school.
My Mesa friends will notice he is wearing their school's shirt. In fact, Thatcher is getting called out all the time by teachers and students for wearing Washington shirts and hats. Why can't we all just get along? ;)
Thatcher managed to score 100% on every single spelling test this year. Getting to pick something out of the prize box in class is incentive enough. If only giving Thatcher a pencil or an eraser to clean up after himself would work for me at home.
One of my favorite journal entries from Thatcher.
Thatcher's leprechaun trap!
Or should I say, Todd's leprechaun trap? Side note: I am guessing it is about midnight the night before this project is due.
Look at little Sammy with her leprechaun trap! We need to get better at just saving her projects and reusing them. Less stress and a better night's sleep. ;)
Another keeper from Thatcher, "W is for Whoop-am Gangan style" (and waffle!)
This little stinker got in trouble for misbehaving at school so he spent the afternoon writing an apology letter to Mr. Silva.
The translation is basically that he will be on his best behavior for the rest of the school year or else he would lose baseball, field trips, after school activities, play dates, summer camps and birthday parties. And for those activities he loses that cost us money, he would have to reimburse us. Along with giving Mr. Silva this note, we benched him for one baseball game. We finally found something that would "hurt" him enough to lose. I can tell you that Thatcher has had A+ behavior from March forward. In fact, Thatcher checks in throughout the day with Mr. Silva to make sure that his parents are going to get a good report at the end of the day. Yes, I ask every. single. day. ;)
The computer lab at school is teaching the kids to type and Samantha works on the program at home. She's getting really good! I remember learning to type in sixth/seventh grade and I am guessing Samantha will be as good as I was much sooner.
Rainy day games in the library before school starts.
Side note: That morning, the Librarian pulled me aside to tell me that Thatcher had tried to pay for his lost library book (it had been lost for a month and we said he had to use his own money to pay the school back). She said that he dumped open a plastic egg on the counter that had about 45 cents in it and told her that he was ready to pay back his fine with the money he got from the Easter bunny. Right then and there I gave her the $9 for the book. I am so glad she told me because Thatcher never told me that he at least tried.
Thatcher's style has come a long way since he was the little guy always in pajamas, rain boots or Crocs. While it is a chore to get him out of bed each morning for school, both kids actually, as soon as it is time to get dressed he perks up and has all sorts of opinions head to toe on what he would like to wear.
Samantha and Thatcher both did a cooking class for Spring quarter. Every time I picked them up they were eating some sort of yummy treat.
Thatcher went on a field trip to the Santa Barbara fair.
With sweet kinder friends, Ava and Siena.
See, look at his style?!
Another late night project. This was Samantha's first science project.
I surprised the kids and brought our neighbor, Andrew, to pick up.
Peabody had their Academic Showcase a few weeks ago where we visited the kid's current classrooms and then checked out next year's classrooms. Mr. Silva put together an awesome slideshow showcasing all the highlights from the year.
Thatcher was excited to show us the butterfly garden and all his work on display.
A+ for this first grade teacher's classroom. Check out that tree!
I can totally help her fill in the spaces and create another tree for her ;)
Having ceramics at school means we now have shelves and shelves of artwork like this.
I helped weekly in Thatcher's class and I helped in Samantha's class for the first half of the year until her math teacher kicked me out, well not really, but kind of. He was all about collaboration with your peers when you were unsure of an answer and I was all about explaining how you can get the answer, just seemed more efficient especially when some kids were collaborating over the wrong answer. When he would see me helping a student, he would sort of give me a head shake. So, I thought it was best to find another time to help in her class and I also didn't want to step on any toes as I'd like to keep her in advanced math. It ended up where I didn't have a regular weekly time but I can tell you that once you set foot in that school, you are pulled in every direction to volunteer in one way or the other.
For Spring quarter, Samantha had weekly book reports.
I'm still waiting for Samantha's spelling to improve but I like that she wants to change "smoking" or did she really mean "smocking"? I wonder if going to "Urop" is cheaper than "Europe"?
Her classroom work always comes home like this.
Working in Thatcher's class means I get to grade papers and write "love" notes ;)
No complaints on Sam's progress report and the same with her parent/teacher conference. Mrs. Margerum noted that one of her favorite things about Sam is that they like to discuss the books that Sam checks out from the library. Mrs. Margerum has filled her classroom library with new selections that Samantha has recommended.
I can tell you that Thatcher does end up getting "Most Improved" at the end of the year award's assembly. We are working on his work habits and social skills but he's ahead on all his assessments so that's a relief!
Mr. Silva told me in his conference that Thatcher needs to SLOW DOWN. Judging by the mess of crumpled up worksheets that come home in his backpack, he isn't really in to some of the assignments but in a way I don't blame him. The reading material they send home each week is lame. Which I believe Thatcher relayed to Mr. Silva that I thought it was lame. Whoops.
Mr. Silva also assured me that his behavior is mostly just plain silly. He will get up and do impromptu dancing or will make up rap songs. It's disruptive but Mr. Silva said he has a hard time, most of the time, not laughing.
And believe it or not, tomorrow is the LAST day of school. I can tell you that I am 100% ready to not drag these two out of bed. We are READY for summer!!!
