Violet's Last Week of School

Violet had a big week for her last week as a kindergartner! 

Tuesday we went to a baby shower for her teacher after school. Mrs. Proud's baby was 4 weeks old, she had just returned to teach the last week of school. He is adorable, and it was so fun to see him! 

Wednesday night was kindergarten graduation! We took a few photos outside before we left. 

 

I loved how the program was consciously arranged to be an appropriate length for a kindergartner's attention span. Plus, each of the five classes had their own graduation, so we got to see more of Violet and it really was done in under 30 minutes. 

The kids sang a song about kindergarten. Then they recited a poem the class wrote called 'Kindergarten Is" where each child told what they liked about kindergarten-- Violet's was going to library. 

Then they each got to walk across the stage, pose for pictures, and receive their certificate. 

Last was a slideshow with a picture of each child from the first day of school, and then a short video of each child saying their favorite thing about kindergarten. It was neat to see how each child had changed in those 9 months! Violet said she liked adding and subtracting and doing math. 

Evelyn kept entertained taking selfies on my phone. She really want to be up on the stage with Violet. 

Violet loved Mrs. Proud! And the TA, Mrs. K subbed in for Mrs. Proud, and will be teaching 1st grade next year, and she is wonderful too. Mrs. Proud has taught kindergarten for 10 years, 6 of them at Providence Hall. She has been there since the school started, but now will stay home with her three boys. We will miss having her for Luke's teacher! She is energetic, patient, fun, and has really paid attention to Violet's needs and challenged her. Violet has worked hard and learned a lot! It's been a wonderful year! 

Mrs. Proud commented during graduation that her students this year made good friends with each other, and how neat it was for them to be united as a class. Mrs. Proud was the head kindergarten teacher, and the one with the most experience, and there were at least four children in the class with special needs, from Downs Syndrome to a girl with a trach tube, to ADD, and learning and speaking disabilities. There were always several adults in the classroom as specific helpers for these children. I loved how everyone seemed to be included whenever I went in to help, and I think it was an awesome atmosphere for Violet to learn and reflected even more how awesome Mrs. Proud was to handle the needs of a wide variety of students. Violet made some really good friends, including one of her carpool buddies who lives on our street, and Kelsi, who was also in her tumbling class. 

 

Violet with her diploma. Since the graduation was at 7:00 and the kids were tired afterward, we opted for icecream cones at home to celebrate instead of going out. 

 

Thursday was the big Nursery Rhyme Festival! The kindergartners finished a unit on nursery rhymes and this was the capstone project for it. Each child picked a nursery rhyme and dressed up to go along with the rhyme they chose. They worked together to paint backgrounds and had an open house. Parents, the other students, and friends walked around and when tapped on the shoulder, the child would say their rhyme. It was so well put together and fun to see! (Especially since I was in the hospital with Evelyn being born when Cora had her festival!) Violet chose Start Light, Star Bright and did a wonderful job! 

 

Friday was kindergarten field day! They had relays, parachute play, playground free time, and water balloons. I joined them afterward for a picnic. It was perfect weather and Violet had a wonderful time! Now all she has left is an end of the year assessment on Tuesday, and she'll be a first grader! 

Congratulations Violet!