School Spirit

Since the day he started school, Luke has been in love with everything about it.  He loves his teacher, Mrs. Arney; he loves recess and playing with friends; he loves learning new information and skills; and most of all, he loves being a Lakeview Lion.  He tells us every day how many days they have been in school, and he always wants to make sure he is a part of any school activities or celebrations.  As a mom, it makes me so, so happy to watch him have such an amazing experience in kindergarten.  Hopefully this is just the start to a long love of school and learning. 

It's fun to see his "boy" hanging in the hall.

Luke was chosen to be the "Star Student" the second week and he spent the entire week planning his big moment on Friday when he would be the center of attention.   He was given a bag to fill with four of his favorite items and he spent a lot of time deciding what he wanted to show his class the very most.  Ruby and I were lucky and able to go to his class for the last half hour and watch him share his treasures with his friends.  It was so cute because he had clues for each item and wanted everyone to guess before he showed off what he had brought.  After a lot of discussions, he ended up bringing the football he had caught at the parade, his Pokemon cards, and his stuffed iguana.

After showing his treasures, I was able to read "Soap, Soap, Don't Forget the Soap" to the class which was so much fun.  The kids were so well behaved and excited to listen and answer questions and I was reminded how much I love being in a classroom.  The best part is that Luke and Ruby still can recite so many of the words, and can re-tell most of the story of poor Plug Honeycutt.

For Safety Week, the school had a theme each day.  We had to scramble to find "crazy socks" for the first day, but after that things went a little more smoothly.  Luke had so much fun with it all that he routinely asks me now, "what day is it tomorrow...."and explains that he means is it crazy sock day, etc.  I love that it made him feel like part of the community of the school.

Crazy Hair Day.

Crazy Hat Day

Totally unplanned matching with his good friend Ethan.

Lakeview Lions Day

Thank goodness we got their T-Shirts in time.

Luke is a really conscientious student and has worked to pass of his letters, numbers, sounds, and several sight words.  He has passed off enough that he is now able to bring home books to read.  He brings the book home in a large ZipLoc bag and takes it back to trade for a new one once he has mastered the story.  He is developing such a love for reading which of course makes my heart so happy.  The books have brought back so many school memories for me.  The kids love to hear stories of when we were little and they think it is so funny when I tell them that we would use an old bread bag to carry our books back and forth.  They keep asking about this and laugh when they see bread in our kitchen.  I tell them about my first grade teacher Mrs. Parry and how mean she was and how we were all scared of her.  Both Luke and Ruby can't quite understand the idea of a mean teacher - thankfully they have not had anything other than amazing teachers.

The other day Luke got a coloring page at the gym and was so excited to color it to give to Mrs. Arney.  He worked really hard and said he wanted it to be so beautiful because he knew she would love it.  When he finished, I suggested that he write his name on the back, but he decided it would be even better to draw a picture of him and Mrs. Arney at the school.  I love how the picture turned out.  He knows how to write his name well, but wanted help spelling "from".  I was surprised though when he had figured out the first and last numbers by sounding out the letters.  He was so proud at his new literacy skills and I could not have been more impressed and pleased.