Writers

Jackson’s class has been working on personal narrative stories and they had a publication party to celebrate the completion.  These kids are such great writers!

His story was about the time he went gem mining in NC and got lots of amethysts.  He had so many great descriptive sentences.  I love the first sentence, “I ran into my car and waited for my mom and dad.”  Yep he was in the car about 20 minutes before us… he was so excited.

Many of the parents and school staff attended the publication party and the kids were so great about going to the adults and reading their stories to them.

Miller’s class has not had a publication party yet, but I did get this paper home recently.  It is a gem. 

There are  some pictures at the top and he had to write a story to go with the pictures.

He wrote,  translation is in blue

1. On Saturday we went fishing. {On Saturday we went fishing.  Duh! You got that}

2.we sawa hippo.  it was a bigun. {We saw a hippo. It was a bigun. pretty self explanatory.}

3. it tumtt the bot over.  {It tumped over the boat.  Do you say tumped over instead of tipped over?  We do.  It’s actually a word in the dictionary. Who knew?}

4.but den it rod us to sor. {But then it rode us to shore.}

I found this little piece of school work profoundly adorable!  Just so you know Miller’s teacher is Canadian and although she is lovely I don’t think she is familiar with some of these words…

In case you don’t know and use the word “tump”  Here you go!

Definition of TUMP

intransitive verb

chiefly Southern

:  to tip or turn over especially accidentally —usually used with over <sooner or later everybody tumps over. Nothing to worry about if you don't get caught under the canoe — Don Kennard>

transitive verb

chiefly Southern :  to cause to tip over : overturn, upset —usually used with over

Origin of TUMP

perhaps akin to British dialect tumpoke to fall head over heels

First Known Use: 1967

 

I love these awesome writers!  We are so thankful that they are getting a great education… despite the fact that they apparently speak like country bumpkins!

Sporty

This year the boys have new sports clothes that are part of their school uniforms.  While their everyday uniforms are fine, I adore their new sports uniforms {which they call a kit here}.  The white is so sharp!  The school crest is also sewn on the tops and shorts.

I’ve blurred it out but the name of their school is printed on their bums.  They love it!

All of the kids are given a “house” which is used for contests.  My boys are in Green House. 

While I adore the look of their uniforms, I detest the washing of them! Here is a little problem for you…

boys + white clothes = a bottle of OxyClean  a week

Miller took that nice white uniform on a field trip last week and got some mud on the shorts.  It must be magic mud because Oxy Clean and Clorox couldn't get it out of the white shorts…  Each piece of the uniform costs $22. 

I wish that they boys were going to stay with these smart uniforms forever, but the US, just doesn’t do uniforms the way they do in other places.  The boys are very eager to move to a place where they don’t have to wear uniforms…sigh!

The boys want to wear athletic wear all the time.  Ugh!  It’s just so…nylon!  I’ll just enjoy these uniforms days while they last.

 

Back to School 2014

The summer flew by but the week before we were heading back to school went especially fast.  Which is why I haven’t been able to blog.  Life and laundry keep me busy.

Miller is in First Grade (which is called Year 2 here since it is the English system)

{If there was ever a question if Miller was getting really big, this answers it.  He’s BIG!}

Jackson is going into 3rd grade (year 4).  He is ready for it all!

And Jackson is a giant! 

Believe it or not they asked to do the jumping picture again.  I think we have a tradition on our hands!

Aunt Chele was here for the first day again this year!

Near the end of the last school year we decided that we were going to change the boys schools.  There were a million reasons to leave them at the current school and a million and one reasons to move them.  In the end a choice had to be made, so we moved them.

So far so good.  We miss our friends at the other school and the fact that I now drive them instead of  riding our bikes.  In the end I think we made the right decision.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

The boys school always does a Summer production for the entire school and I always adore it.  This year it was Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.  I haven’t seen the play in  quite a few years and I loved this production.

Here are Elvis and the beggar.  Miller’s hair was a masterpiece, but alas humidity did it’s thing and it was not very Elvis-like by the time he took the stage.

Per tradition, the littlest cast members perform first.  They are so darn cute!  There are always a couple crying and all of them are anxiously searching for their people in the crowd.

Then several other classes performed.

Then it was time for Kindergarten to perform “7 Fat Cows”.  They were so cute!

Unfortunately a rude parent stood up in front of me and I couldn’t see any more of Miller’s Performance.  Boo for rude people.  Yeah for cute Kindergarteners dressed as Elvis!

 

Shortly after that Jackson’s class performed “Grovel, Grovel”  They did a fantastic job.

Jackson is quite a shy child, but in these performances, he does so well.   I love seeing him perform.

The rest of the cast finished off the play.

Then it was time for the finale.  The entire school {including teachers} performed “Any Dream Will Do”

And with that they finished the school play.  Good job boys!

Teacher Appreciation 2014

Teachers hold a very special place in my heart.  I know the time effort and hard work it takes to teach.  Last week we celebrated those amazing teachers at the boys’ school. 

It was my pleasure to coordinate the week for Jackson's class.  The week before teacher appreciation started I went in and explained the plan to the children and gave each student a paper for them to describe what makes their teacher so super.  I love all the things that they wrote her.  I mounted them on card stock and turned them into a cute little book.

“You help me learn.  You make me feel special and happy inside.  I like you because you care about me.”  Good stuff!

That same morning I had them tell me one thing that was amazing about their teacher.  I love their precious responses.  {One said “responsible”}  Monday morning the parents brought in a really nice breakfast for the school staff and we covered their classes while they ate.  While the teachers were having breakfast I put this door decoration up using the superlatives the children had previously given me.

She got such a kick out of it.  {Especially when he co workers mover the POW sign to right behind her bum.}

Tuesday was my favorite day because each child brought a flower from home to make a lovely arrangement.  I snapped this {blurry} picture before all the children were there, but it was so gorgeous.

Wednesday each child brought a salty or sweet treat and she was inundated with all her favorite goodies and a parent brought her a Starbucks as well.

Thursday the teachers were treated to smoothies and another parent brought the teacher lunch from her favorite café.

Friday morning the class presented her with a generous gift card to John Bull.  She loved it and was able to go last weekend and get a nice gift for herself.

It was wonderful to see the parents and children engaged in honoring the teachers and staff at the school.  They all were so appreciative and said it was the best week ever.

Now let’s see if this can get them through the last few painful weeks of school!

Science Fair

This year the boys both participated in the school’s Science Fair.  They loved it and I did too!
We supply the materials, but the children do all the work at school, which is genius because {I’m being real here}, no parent likes science fair.  How awesome is that!  makes me thankful I am not teaching too!  I saw this on the internet the other day…

All along Miller had told me that he hadn’t done an experiment and had not completed his board. I was mildly concerned, but he did in fact have an experiment and a display board.  He was very proud to show me.

His experiment was listening to sounds that different levels of water made when tapped.

Then he was off to check out the other experiments.

Jackson’s experiment was a little more involved.  He did an experiment with evaporation.

He lit a candle that was in a dish of colored water, then put a glass over it and watched the water rise in the glass as it is drawn into the glass.

It worked!
Both boys did such a good job.  It makes me so thankful for their amazing teachers!

You Win Some, You Lose Some

Recently Jackson and Miller have been a bit hit or miss in the behavior department.  It seems that lately if they are being good at school they are awful at home and then it flip flops and they are good at home, but not so good at school.

I am glad that last week they were both so remarkable at school!

Being a parent is tough!  I always feel like I am struggling in one area or another, but I know that it is a parent’s job to worry if they are getting it right.

For that one week it looks like we did it right.  Hopefully we can string together enough good weeks to make these boys all that they can be!

I’ll have to tell you soon about the punishment I’ve been handing out when they are unkind to each other.  They hate it!  That means I am doing it correctly, right? 

Young Artists

This year for the school art show both boys each created a painting.  I love to see young artists work and these are two of the cutest around.

Miller’s was called “The Danger Zone of the Ocean”.  It has an electric eel and a sail shark. {I also see people and a tree…}

Jackson called his “Pointillism Under the Sea Surface”.  His has a polka dot whale, a fish, a crab and a diver.

Pointillism is one of my favorite forms of painting because it is essentially many small dots of color that the eye blends to create one object.  It was really big during the Impressionist movement.  I think he did a fabulous job.

Unfortunately I was at the reunion during the art show, but I heard it was really nice.  I can’t wait to get these hung at our house.