Today was the day we were dreading all week...the last day of first grade. I had tried to give Natalie a heads up by warning her...only three more days of school, only two more days...and today...well, it was just plain hard to say good-bye. All week long Natalie kept saying "I don't want to be done with the first grade." It was hard even for me to write the thank you note this morning. Natalie's teacher is just one of those people who God put on this earth to teach little kids. She is truly amazing, kind and very patient. She raises the bar and they excel because she gives them the tools to succeed.
Here is Natalie sharing a painting she made for her teacher with the paints she gave her the day before.
We got her a pretty daisy to thank her for a great year.Natalie has learned so much this year. She is now an expert on penguins and humming birds, she can read books, do double digit addition and subtraction, count money, write a simple report and read it in front of her class; she has learned new painting skills, new songs, and made new friends. It was a fun year for sure and I got to see just a small part of her experience when I volunteered on Mondays.
Of course I took lots of pictures and just like I did last year, I made a DVD slide show of the year's events. This year I was lucky enough to get to watch the slide show with the class and see their reactions...it was so much fun. They were giddy with excitement whenever a new face would appear. "that's me!" they would all cheer. It was also touching when I turned to her teacher and she had tears in her eyes. She told me she was going to have to watch it again at home with a box of Kleenex where she didn't have to keep her composure.
Here is her class, all dressed in their pajamas watching the DVD. The kids got to have a popcorn pajama party on the second to last day for receiving over 350 compliments during the year!
"Have a cool summer" ...so far it really has been cool. Let's hope it warms up a bit!This afternoon when Natalie stepped off the school bus, I went out to meet her...and wasn't surprised one bit to see tears just streaming from her eyes. I tried my best to comfort her without falling apart myself. One thing I knew for sure would cheer her up...Ice cream!
I am continuing with our annual tradition of taking the kids out for ice cream on their last day, so she knew it was coming and it helped distract her from her sadness.
1 comment:
Sarah did all right with her tears until bedtime. She realized there was no school the next day, and she won't see her teacher until September--but only for a visit.
You are so right that our girl's teacher has recognized her gift from God as an excellent teacher!
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