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!
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!
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.
We attended the Open House at James' school to find out which classroom he had been placed. Unfortunately, most of his best buddies were in other classes but he didn't complain at all. We knew he'd make new friends and all would be well!
His new desk-
Spanish instructions for the night-
The Facil (easy) button was a hit!
We haven't had too much communication with this new teacher, even now in mid October, but James says nice things.
In late July we had James signed up for a nature camp at Springbrook Nature Center. The huge bonus was that it was also a Spanish Immersion camp! So a bit of Spanish to practice some skills. The neighborhood moms had emailed back and forth to get our kids involved. We also arranged a carpool. I'm the Mom with the most (summer) time at home so I did most of the driving. I needed to borrow a minivan to fit all the booster seats.
I was a minivan driving carpool Mom! Whoa.
Clayton always makes a face. James is probably thinking, Sigh. Another picture! Carter was new to me so the most cooperative for a picture.
Because of the other Moms' work schedules, it did work better to have the boys dropped off early at our house. Like 7am early! So we were a mini daycare for a week... Before and after the camp time (9-4).
The boys kept busy with connecting worlds in Minecraft.
I even provided some meals once they realized the beauty of pancake balls. This was on the first night when I made them breakfast for dinner. I called their Moms and asked to keep them a bit late, since the first day is always so fun. They came over for breakfast each morning too to partake in pancake balls. Good thing I always freeze a bunch!
Our guests ate 10 pancake balls each! I think it became a challenge.
Oh, so about the camp. James didn't complain all week but it wasn't his favorite thing ever. It was a lot of outdoorsy, get dirty activities. Lots of bug bites too. He told me on Friday that it would be okay if we didn't sign him up next year.
In mid May we were treated to the Cultural Festival at Woodcrest. Last year James' class focused on Mexico and James recited a few lines about Mexico's art. This year we didn't know what to expect because we just received the time and date, no other details. We were lucky that we are on-time people because we realized that James was due in the gym at 6pm for his class' music performance.
A quick picture with his self-portrait.
Waiting for the adults and sound system to get ready...hanging out with friends Sam and Christopher.
The performance. James is in the bottom row, near the middle.
And some videos of the performances, if you're curious.
Back at the classroom, with Señora Sierra. She is wearing an Ecuador soccer jersey, since James’ class studied that country for the festival.
The classroom was transformed into Nigeria, Thailand, and Ecuador.
Frogs...
Monkeys...
A pit stop at James' desk. He was very eager to show us all of his class work and journals.
I LOVE his journal. I need to study this thing and learn all about my son. Here he started to map out his corazón, or his heart. Mom and Dad, of course, and then there are his Abuelas, the Vikings??, and then his Fish. He said he didn't have a chance to finish so of course I'm assuming he'd include his Grandpas, his Tías, and his Uncles...
Rainforest.
Lion puppets.
And a glance at his daily agenda.
Hanging art/work
And back in the school hallway, near the kindergarten area. Last year James' class concentrated just on Mexico.
So it was a fun night to explore the school and cultures! And see James in action- with friends and then singing.
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