the final days of kindergarten

the last day of school for tate was friday june 1st. the day before, thurs may 31, the school had a "field day." the kindergarten theme was water. macy and i went to school to help out and were shocked to find the playground turned into a waterside-

i'm still not sure that the principal approved this idea, but the kids loved it!

and so did ms. howell-

 and here comes tate-

 such an odd duck, he enjoyed washing the chairs more-

 and windows too-

 even macy helped-

 getting warm in the sun, abigail, jonathan and tate-

 ms. howell surprised the kids with popsicles too-

 but the best surprise of the day was from janae's mom. she came to class one day and had all the kids draw stick figures of themselves. the she had shirts made for the entire class-

the next day was graduation day!

the students anxiously await heading to the stage-

 class couple, tate & kyra

most likely to become class clown-

 vince, most likely to make something explode-

 getting ready to perform-

 tate had a big part in one of the songs. here he is with jasmine, pretending to recycle-

 the kids sang 3 songs. it was evident how much practice they have done at school. evidence of wonderful, caring and giving teachers!

 here comes tate being called up to the stage for his diploma/report card-

 tate and his teacher, ms howell

i love that ms howell snuck in our family picture-

 vince, micah and tate eating after the ceremony-

what a year! we had no idea what to expect and really hoped for a great teacher. our wish was granted and ms howell was everything we hoped for- strict, fun, creative and caring. tate had his share of testing the limits and getting into trouble, which at the end of the year proved to make him a better student because he knew there were consequences!

what we didn't expect was how quickly tate would learn how to read. maybe it was his teacher, the methods she used, the prep work we did at home or simply just the make up of his brain.... but for the record- at the end of the kindergarten school year, he is already reading at the level of a first grader, more than half way through the first grade!

here is an example- if a child starts first grade reading at a level 1 and is expected to end first grade reading at the level of 16, then halfway through the year, that child would be at a level 8. well, tate tested at a reading level of 10! we were so surprised and proud! i love to read now as an adult, but in elementary school, i received special services for reading... i have always wondered if i had conquered reading successfully at an earlier age, if that would have made me a stronger student throughout all of my education?

tate certainly has proved that he has a great foundation for a successful educational path ahead!