Sophie graduated from Kindergarten!

The first year of school is over. Sophie's kindergarten class met today for one last time so they could "graduate". The students put on a very nice program; they said prayers, sang, and thanked their teachers and parents for a great year.

The principal recited each child's name as he handed them a certificate. Parents beamed and cameras flashed.

Afterward over coffee and cake we chatted with the parents and teachers. Sophie was quite melancholy; she'll miss her teacher a lot. That's because she's an amazing teacher; she's patient, kind, nurturing, sensitive, and passionate about learning. Every kid loves her and she loves them too. Sophie really enjoyed her time in this class.

Overall I'm very impressed with the school. Most of the parents I've spoken with agree that it's great. Last week I was chatting with one of the moms during T-Ball practice and the subject of the first grade teachers came up as we talked about next year. Her older daughter had "Miss M" and the mom said she was a fantastic teacher. I mentioned that Sophie likes to hang out with the other first grade teacher, "Miss G", during aftercare. Again I was given a glowing testamonial, "she's a real sweetheart".

The school sent home a summer reading list and asked that Sophie fill out 4 very simple book reports to turn in after summer vacation. We also got a whole list of review activities that we can do over the summer, cross-referenced with web sites that have age appropriate exercises we can print out.

And so it's on to first grade! This was her 3^rd "graduation" in as many years; first was the daycare end-of-year ceremony, then the Pre-K graduation, and now kindergarten graduation. Next year she'll be expecting another ceremony, but there won't be one. The fanfare is over for a while, until she completes fifth grade. Then there's yet another graduation before she starts middle school.

Sophie's educational journey has just begun and we are truly blessed by the wonderfully solid foundation she received in kindergarten this year.

Posted at 15:28 by Chris Wysocki   [/sophie]   Comments | Perm Link |   |   Tweet