The great thing about school getting out in May is launching into summer full-throttle right when it starts. The not-so-great thing is that way too much gets packed into that one little month. Holy cannoli was May ever busy! The KinderKeys recital this year featured 14 of my little students, and they all played beautifully. Even more than I enjoy watching those little fingers on the keys (and I really enjoy watching them), I love seeing the joy that making music brings into childhood. The curriculum I am using for my classes is just so fun, and I love that from early ages, children are able to be independent about practicing and learning music. I feel like they're learning to make music the way they learn to read books. I teach them the letters and the sounds, and then they get to open the books and read them. And it's even better as they start writing their own!
We finished out the year in Joy School with the individual confidence and uniqueness unit, which meant making my favorite "About Me" books. I can't say things ever settled completely back into place after last month's upheaval, but we moms just banded together and made it through. Sera even told me that she wants me to be her Kindergarten teacher next year, which totally made it all worth it in my book! We had a lovely little graduation party at the spray-pad park nearby, and I loved getting one last round of hugs around my neck from my darling Joy School children. I love that two of the little girls, Emma and Eva, call me "teacher Mitchell," and because I also teach them singing at church, I have heard recountings of their play in which they have pretended to be me more than once. If that isn't the mark of a successful life, I really don't know what is. My favorite story is the one where their mom was singing a song with them, and Eva told her she was doing it wrong--that teacher Mitchell did it differently. Haha, at least I have authority with somebody's children, if not my own!
Emerson polished off a great year of first grade with Mrs. Martin. I have loved his teacher
and his class this year. Mrs. Martin has just loved him up, and he's loved her right back. Their class has apparently been brilliantly behaved as well as intensely curious and so
interested in everything they've learned. Mrs. Martin has told me that it has been one of her favorite classes, and I totally believe her. I've been so impressed with the cameraderie between the children this year, and I feel like it has made that classroom such a fertile garden for knowledge growth! One morning this month, Emerson invited me to come in to school early with him for "Muffins with Mom," which was a lovely little Mother's Day preview for all of us lucky mothers of first graders. I do love first graders! Even more fun was when I was able to accompany the class on their field trip to the zoo this month. It was fascinating to hear all the little things the children had learned throughout the year, from their unit on penguins in the winter (they read Mr. Popper's Penguins together, and Emerson fell head-over-heels in love with it) to their unit on Australia just recently. I learned a few things myself, like what makes a wallaby different from a kangaroo (size, habitat, and eating habits, mainly). I also really enjoyed spending time with Emerson's classmates, who all seem to get along with each other beautifully. I have a hard time imagining that there can be anything better awaiting Emerson at a different school, but he's really determined to give it a try, so we'll see how it goes down.
Addy has really enjoyed her teacher and class this year as well. Seeing her take a real interest in books this year has been wonderful, as has watching her embrace her skills at cooking (which is just tasty science as far as I'm concerned) and organizing. Every so often she'll come into the kitchen and say "mom, would you like me to organize this cabinet for you?" As if any mother would ever reject that offer! I was able to accompany her class as well on a field trip to Embassy Theater downtown, where they led us through the old hotel lobby, underground through the green rooms, up through the concert stage (where they trotted out the fabulous old theater organ), and finally up through the crumbling, out-of-order glam hotel rooms that are now piled with everything from old neon signs to Christmas decorations to sets and props. I couldn't help thinking that a remodel could make the upper floors into a fantastic series of music studios, or even a residential music school! Why don't they put me in charge of these things? Addy also had her final dance recital, which was darling, and she did a great job. She's enjoyed dance this year, but given that the classes are pricey and we're not seeing a ton of technique happening and Addy has never been the girl who only wants to do one thing, she's decided to do another year of assorted sports next year--some swimming and maybe some gymnastics. She would also really love to start playing the violin, and I feel like I should spend some energy figuring out how to make that happen for her. It's amazing how busy life gets once kids are in school!
Theo's year wrapped on a positive note as well, with his teacher expressing confidence that he'll do great in middle school (he, unlike me, is pretty excited about it, except for the times when he takes the
Diary of a Wimpy Kid book series a little too seriously). Between the play and the spelling bee and just having some really good friends, this year has been a great one for him, and has given him a strong base to build off of in the future. I'm really proud of the work he has done in organizing himself, respecting boundaries, and turning in quality work. I still sort of wish I could talk him into a year of home-school, but I feel like that's the kind of thing that wouldn't go well at all if he wasn't on-board with it. He registered for his classes for next year, and will be starting band, which will be an interesting experience in this house of piano players. Recently Theo and I were talking about his obsessions, and how they've come and gone pretty much since he was an infant. We tried listing a bunch of them out, and came up with (in chronological order): remote controls, vacuum cleaners, presidents of the United States, trains (Thomas the Tank Engine), exhaust pipes on vehicles, Buzz Lightyear, Junie B. Jones, glasses, outer space, tops, Crazy Frog (music),
This is Daniel Cook (Canadian television show), spies, computer keyboards/electronics, Harry Potter, shoes (specifically Converse high-tops), cell phones, and songs on the radio. Some of my personal favorites from that list are the way he memorized all the presidents when he was 2 years old, the counting of exhaust pipes on every single vehicle we passed (I have no idea what spurred that one), the way he would spin everything he touched like a top, and most especially the way he used to strip down to a nylon tank top and shorts the second he got home from school and went downstairs to dance to his Crazy Frog CD. Raising this "spirited child" of mine has been quite a trip! What's crazy is that this part of the journey is drifting toward its close. Theo is squarely in the pre-teen zone now, and as delighted as that makes me--he really has become so much more logical and reasonable lately--it's bittersweet to make the transition away from parent of a "child."
This flurry of activity all led up to the big day everyone had been waiting for: the last day of school! It came (as usual) just a hair before I was completely ready. Still, for once I managed to get the kids' rooms
completely cleaned out before the summer started, which will hopefully keep me from going crazy during the first month. I did manage to scrap together a summer
theme, which is basically how I organize my life, and I've had fun coming up with ideas for family goals and travels for us all. If all goes according to plan, we will not only have a fun summer but an inexpensive and educational one as well! More on that next month . . . .
