Kindergarten Graduation

I really cannot believe Kindergarten has come and gone.  I always dreaded Pearce starting "real" school because I felt like I would be losing my baby and losing all of our free/unstructured time together.  I had the usual worries about how he would do without me ALL day EVERY day, would he make nice friends, would he struggle academically or do ok, would he have a nice teacher, etc...  Well, the only thing he struggled with was leaving me at the beginning of the year.  He cried for me and ran after me a few times which totally broke my heart, but after a couple of weeks, Pearce adjusted and LOVED school and his sweet teacher, Mrs. Worrell.  I loved his teacher, too!  She was exactly the type of teacher I knew Pearce needed....loving and nurturing, organized and creative, and the perfect amount of firmness with clear expectations.  Pearce went into Kinder with a pretty fresh slate as far as academics goes.  He only went to two days of Preschool a week because I didn't want to give him up to school until I absolutely had to, and honestly, we played and did other things together the days he was home....I read to him, but I really didn't teach him anything at home.  Once Kindergarten started, it was so amazing to see how he soaked up everything he learned.  He started at the lowest level of reading to now being able to read and sound out words all by himself.  Hi writing is even more amazing to me.  He went from drawing stick figures to writing down random letters to now being able to write full sentences, stories, and pictures to go along with his stories.  He was always excited to tell me what he did that day at school.  I was so proud of the student he was, too.  He followed the rules and procedures of his school and classroom and was a good friend and listener.  I got to sub in his class a few times, and honestly, his class was sooooooo sweet.  I'm just so happy he had such a great start to school.  When Mrs. Worrell went on maternity leave in March, I was really sad about that....Pearce was too.  One day Pearce came home and was just in a really bad mood.  I finally asked what was bothering him and he just burst into tears and said "What if the new teacher isn't as nice as Mrs. Worrell?"  Well, thankfully, the long term sub, Mrs. Trejo was wonderful!!!!!  She was in the classroom the last week with Mrs. Worrell, learning the procedures and how she does things and she got to know the students, so that when she took over everything was as smooth as it possibly could be.  The kids all loved her including Pearce!  Pearce continued to improve his reading and writing with Mrs. Trejo.  So, by the time Kindergarten Graduation came along, I was excited to start our summer, but sad to have the year end.  It was also a tad bit stressful because I was leaving right after to go on a girls' trip to Vegas...I had planned the trip before I knew about graduation!  Luckily, I was able to see the graduation AND got to go to the class party right after!  The party was really cute....each child got their own balloon, a framed picture of  them in their graduation cap and gown, and a diploma.  It was really cute!  During the party, a slideshow was played with tons of pictures throughout the year.  During the slideshow, I noticed Pearce wasn't sitting on the floor anymore....I looked around and found him standing next to Mrs. Worrell with his arms around her, sooooo sweet!!!!!!!  Pops and Mimi were able to attend since they were helping to take care of Pearce while I was gone, so I know they loved seeing him during this time.  The kids got to go home early, so Pops and Mimi took Pearce to fun play place and I was on my way to Vegas!  He still had ONE more half day of school the next morning, but Pearce said he had fun playing with his friends one last day :)

These are pictures from the week before of "Leadership Night" where the kids got to show their parents all of their best work from the year.  Pearce was so proud...and so were we!

First Day of Kinder and End of Kinder

Mrs. Trejo and Pearce

First Day of Kinder and Graduation Day

 

This is Pearce's friend, Colby.....Pearce always brought home pictures and notes from Colby :)

Pearce and Mrs. Worrell

Pearce, Mommy and Daddy are so proud of all of your hard work in Kindergarten!!  What we love most, though, is that you made so many good friends because you were a good friend.  Always be kind and always do your best....that is what we want most from you.  We love you!!