A School Year In Review

Abby has finished Kindergarten. Unbelievable. Let me just take a minute to review some of her major accomplishments.

The following pics are just random shots of Abby throughout the school year, starting in chronological order at the beginning of the school year.
So young:


When she started school, she couldn't read or write. She knew her ABCs, and how to spell her name, and she was just grasping how to write her name. She was reading some signs - like open and closed. She also knew how to count to 12 or 14 accurately. Once she hit 16 or so, she really lost her focus. But she could do some basic addition and subtraction, like 4+4=8. But that was about it.

During the first and second months of school, Abby struggled socially. She could not find her place and was actually defying the teacher and had a misbehavior incident at the school library of all places. She refused to explore books. And she loves books! It was all too weird, and Lee and I began to think we may have made a mistake. Maybe she should wait one more year before starting K.

After that initial rough patch, she started to bloom. She excelled in everything she did, and her teacher started to rave about her. First her writing improved, especially her name. Then she started to read. Then her math improved. She started memorizing poems for class and "presenting" her memorization to the class. Her coloring grew steadily neater. She was a model student. The teacher frequently paired her with "problem" students so that she could help focus them. Everything was going so smoothly.

Weird school portrait. Her head looks too big for her hands and legs, don't you think? Plus this was suppose to be a spring photo only it was shot during a windy, cold storm. Needless to say, we didn't buy these photos...



Some of her projects included:

• being one of the first VIPs in the class (each child got to have a week all about themselves). We were really unsure how Abby would do since she was starting the year off shy. We knew she'd be fine if she were to go fourth or fifth, but first? But we need not have worried. She did super and enjoyed herself immensely.


• a self portrait, which looked rather Matisse inspired!



• the usual holiday crafts and stuff, including an awesome Mother's Day gift which was a poem card with Abby's hand print and a painted flower magnet with Abby's pic in the center


• a science observation book on trees through the seasons


• 100 Days of School was a special point in the year where all the kids had to be able to count to 100 on their own. They also brought in 100 items to count. Abby brought in 100 shells


• an art portfolio


• a Friendship Presentation where Abby was a speaker. This one took both Lee and I by surprise. We knew there would be a presentation; we knew we could go see it; we knew Abby was a "speaker," but we didn't know much beyond that. Abby didn't ask us for help or anything.
  
  Much to our shock we arrived to the assembly and found Abby on center stage with 4 other kids. All the other kids were lumped together to sing. Abby and the other speakers had to hold the microphone and speak one to two sentences into the mike. Abby spoke clearly and didn't need the teacher to prompt her. She remembered everything and nailed it so well that the entire audience went "Awwwwww." It was sooooooo cute. We were so proud of her!
  

And now my little girl is done with school for the year. Wow! I just can't believe it. She's a 1st grader now. Dang! Did I mention I feel old?

At Monster Golf:



Oh, and guess what? (By the way, that's Abby's catch phrase right now - "and guess what." When she says it, it's not a question. It's a statement. Oy!) Abby's reward for an excellent school year is a trip to Disneyland! Only, we didn't exactly present it to her that way. She has to earn her ticket to Disneyland by getting points, which she can earn for being helpful to mommy and daddy, doing chores around the house, and if she gets a good report card, which we know she will, each one of her achievement awards at school will get her another point. Some awards were for hitting milestones, like counting to 100 or reading, some were for good behavior, and some were for being "brilliant." Over the course of the school year, Abby has received about 30 different awards. By the time we're ready to go, she will have easily earned the points. We're so excite to go. We think this is the perfect point in her life to get to go to Disneyland.

At Open House:


And with this school year, Abby has earned it. We are so proud of her!