Cultural Fair Spring 2015

May 2015. Still working on it.

So in May we attended james' cultural fair. It felt a little different this year. His classroom didn't seem to have a country that they studied. It was just a collection of their work from the year. No matter. It's always nice to see what James is up to at school!

 

The day's learning targets were still on the board.

 

 

I spy James!

 

And closer. He really has embraced that he's a beautiful brown, I guess! (I do stress that at home :)

 

His desk.

 

 

Oh my! He's messy!

 

 

Señora Middleton and James.

 

The parents were told to assemble in the gym for a short 2nd grade performance.

 

Singing!

 

 

And we followed the music to the cafeteria for snacks and to watch dancing!

 

James did not dance. You know I would have captured that if he had!

 

Fun night :)

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Homework by candlelight

 

Okay not really. But Wolfie helps! Early May.

 

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Family Night

My school hosted a family night for the staff and their spouses, kids, etc to celebrate the opening of our newly constructed cafenasium (dual purpose space for cafeteria and gymnasium). I didn't take many pictures of my teacher friends and their families- only catching a few moments when Jim and James enjoyed some hoops.

 

That's the Principal in the center. Good guy.

 

 

 

It was nice to see all the kids running around and to meet friends' spouses!

 

After the family night James couldn't wait to do some math homework, just because! What a great kid!

 

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FMSC April 2015

Our Spanish Immersion neighbors/community gathered again to volunteer at Feed My Starving Children.

We worked alongside a few of James' friends and their families. It is great fun for the kids and they take it so seriously!

James and Alex (Evan's little brother)

 

 

James is in charge of scooping rice!

 

 

Filling the bags..

 

 

Fun with Evan

 

 

At the end it was time to clean up. I've never seen James clean up so well! And willingly :)

 

 

100 volunteers can make a difference!

 

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Teacher communication

Twice now Señora Middleton has sent me emails entirely in Spanish. I don't know if she has me confused with another parent or if my use of my maiden name in my email signature makes her believe that I am a Spanish speaker.

I respond to her in English and use Google Translate!

 

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2nd grade assembly: Empatía

2ng grade parents were invited to attend a school assembly, brought to us by the 2ng graders. Their theme was Empatía (Empathy). They sang a song or two, we all watched a video, and the principal spoke about the school's efforts to show empathy.

 

 

 

James' friend Clayton was one of the students videotaped with a message on empathy.

 

 

 

 

It was a pretty short program. It was nice to see how things like this work in his school.

We didn't receive much communication about the Empathy project. There was one brief, almost hidden message in one of his teacher's newsletters to parents about how students should wear a plain white shirt and jeans for the assembly. Of course James didn't have either of those. The boy HATES constrictive clothing like jeans.. But I did make the special purchases. And then nobody followed it. Oh well.

 

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Wiped

James had to attend a few days of daycare during his spring break (our spring breaks didn't line up this year).

They wore him out!

 

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Math Enthusiasts

The school sent home tangram shapes for James to practice with for math. He loved these challenges. He didn't consider it math! Just fun. James and his Dad sat at the kitchen table for quite a while playing with the shapes.

 

 

 

James loved tangrams so much that he found an iPad app all about tangrams. He often plays it for fun, even months later.

 

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Restricted

James had a note from his teacher sent home in mid February. I guess he got "in trouble" for improper use of electronics- meaning he was using his iPod at a restricted time. Not a big deal but we restricted his iPod use for the rest of the week. He was okay with this.

He decided to read books on the bus instead of play on his iPod. I really liked this idea.

The teacher note also mentioned some resistance to art work at school. It was a good opportunity to draw a picture together at home. James chose to draw a picture for his teacher about the bus.

James reading a book on the bus--

 

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School satisfaction

In 2nd grade we haven't heard too much from the teacher or from James about general school progress. James answers our questions okay but he doesn't say much else.

So we received this letter in his home folder and interpreted it as "I like school just fine!"

 

Too bad his iPod died and he had to read an old fashioned book on the bus!

 

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2nd grade friends

 

 

 

 

 

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The Official 2nd Grade Photo

 

 

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First Day of 2nd Grade!

Seriously. I'm going way back to September. Sigh! Will catch up...

Sneaky came back, as is his tradition. James reminded me the night before, luckily!

 

 

 

His buddy Dane met him at the bus stop. He's one stop down but his Mom drops him off at our stop to keep each other company.

 

And coming home on the bus..

 

And our usual celebratory ice cream with dinner!

 

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