Last Day of School 2017

Today is the last day of school for 2017! Technically it should have been Friday, but we didn't get enough snow this year (fine by me!) and they cut two days off the end of the year. Poor Henry. He was looking forward to a school birthday and he almost had it!

First Day of School 2016

It's been a year for the memory books, that's for certain! We lived in three different houses during this school year. Thankfully, I was able to petition the school board to let the kids stay in their familiar schools. Moving twice has had it's hurdles and had not been all sunshiney. To be totally honest, most of it has sucked. But now we're (mostly) settled and we should be able to stay that way for a while.

Frances had a good year for the most part. She still struggles to keep herself organized, but she's been excited about her learning and she's had good friends to interact with. She did two different dance classes and kept up with violin as well. During school she took French, teen living (home ec), Drama, and programming. She's really enjoyed all of those electives. She was invited to join the Young Women's Leadership Program and got lots of fun experiences and knowledge through that. She's gotten a new Big Sister and has had fun getting to know her and spend time with her.

Henry has soared this year! He has matured significantly and really tempered his personality. He has loved his teacher, his classmates and his school. He's participated in violin, Orff, choir, and soccer. He comes home every day with a new story about what's he's learned or what hysterical thing a friend did in class. He's sweetly sad to see this year come to an end, but he's glad he'll still be at Spotswood next year, as the 5th grade is moving back to elementary.

Ben has had the biggest struggles this year. Academically, he's great. He reads, writes, and maths well above grade level, but all the home stress has been too much for him on many days and...let's just say he's made friends with ALL the office staff. I have been really thankful with how well the school has made accommodations for him and we've all been working together to make his days go as smoothly as possible. His teacher is an absolute saint, and I'm not sure where we'd be without her! I'm still keeping my eye on things and have a few plans already implemented to keep up with progress over the summer and get him started on the right track next year. He's not old enough for many of the programs the other two have participated in, but he has enjoyed soccer this year.

All in all, I'm glad for the school year to come to an end. Things don't change a whole lot for me and my daily schedule, since I still work full time all summer, but their mental loads should decrease greatly and they've got a chance to take part in some fun summer camps in the next 11 weeks.

Last Day of School 2017