Proud Mom!

I have been wanting to do this blog post for my own personal remembrance since the day school got out for summer vacation for Payman. This boy of mine finished 1st grade this year, and had the best teacher, Mrs. Leavitt.  I really enjoyed working with her, and she was so great to communicate and let me know what I could do to help Payson. I also enjoyed volunteering in his classroom.

A little background... Payson started Kindergarten in Parowan, where he only went half day.  We moved the end of November, where I  attempted to home-school him during transition between houses and cities.  Homeschooling is not easy when you are "in transition." Then when we put him back in school for Kindergarten in Las Vegas in February, he was put in a class with a very nice teacher.  We liked her, but he was not pushed whatsoever.  Anyway, when he started 1st grade, he was not exactly reading where the majority of his class was.  (He was the only student from his previous class in his new class).  I had no idea he was a little behind.  We (Payson, Mrs. Leavitt, and I) worked really hard this year to get him up to par.  He ended up exceeding 1st grade level, and is now reading at a middle of 2nd grade level.

All of his hard work paid off because he was awarded "Most Improved in Reading" in his class.  His teacher let me know he was getting this award at the assembly, so Josh and I were able to go see him get it.  At the assembly we were surprised to see that Payson also got one of the biggest awards. Only one boy and one girl get this award in each class.  Mrs. Leavitt wanted to surprise me!

Payson was awarded the "Stallion Citizenship Award."  This award represents having great responsibility and excellence in character.  I started to cry at the awards assembly realizing that he was a great example to his classmates.  Not once did Payson have a behavior problem at school, and he was always a friend to everyone.  He did not receive the award for straight As or As and Bs like some of his best friends, but I am just as proud of him.

Payson had a great 1st grade year!  We are changing schools for this coming school year because a new charter school is being built closer to our house than the public school.  We will really miss Mrs. Leavitt, and if Avenly was guaranteed to get her I would be tempted to stay. 

Payman wasn't the only one to finish the school year.  Avenly did preschool this year, and I was one of her teachers.  We did a co-op preschool with some of her friends and their moms.  We took turns teaching, and it was a lot of fun.  Avenly graduated preschool a week before Pay got out of school.  

We celebrated with everyone meeting at the park for a picnic.  I forgot to snap a picture of all our little preschoolers on their last day, but here are a few pictures from the year.

I can't believe I now have  a 2nd grader and kindergartner. I have planned daily packets for summer, so hopefully we can keep the learning going throughout the summer, even with baby brother coming!