Before and After

In August, my kids started preschool and 1st grade.  Zach was 3 and Teagan was 6.

Zach blossomed into the school being "his" right away.  We had worried he might struggle a bit in being comfortable at the school without his Big Sister.  However, our worries were for nothing.  He loved that the school was now "Zachary's School" only.  Now at the end of the school year, he is recognizing a few words (he really gets excited about color words- red, green, etc).  He is really hooked on math.  It blows my mind some of the figuring out and creative thinking he does.

From baby face to little boy... 

And kicking off the summer with a special summer 'do.

We had expected that Teagan would easily slide into her new school, new routine.  But we weren't right in that thinking, either.  Notice a pattern here?  Our confident little girl was scared and sad and overwhelmed with all of the new things in her day.  We struggled to help with the adjustment but were happy to have her teacher, the YMCA before and after care staff, and the school guidance counselor helping us along.

Today is her last day of 1st grade.  She has grown so much this year.  I am amazed by her eagerness to learn.  Her teacher sent home a math workbook and several math worksheets for the summer.  I've had to put my foot down to stop her from sitting down and doing all of the work right now.  She loves reading, she loves math.  That's not to say she doesn't struggle from time to time- subtraction can be tricky at times.  But practice makes perfect.  I've promised that we will set up a schedule for learning goals for the summer- visits to the library for chapter books and regular math work to do each week.  She has a great little group of friends but is also friends with lots of kids outside of that circle.  I love talking with her and hearing about her day.

Another school year is done.  Time to enjoy the summer.  The kids are very excited to get started on summer day camps at the YMCA.  I think they are going to come home exhausted every night.  I think the summer is going to fly by and we will be planning for 2nd grade and preK.  And I think I'm going to focus on not trying to assume how my kids will react to new situations and try to focus on just taking it as it comes.