My dear Ian,
Today, (6/6/14) was your last day of kindergarten! Originally your last day was supposed to be yesterday, but we had an odd winter season last year, and Houston essentially shutdown over the threat of ice, so they extended your school year by a day.
When I think back to my kindergarten year, there is little that I remember. I remember Ronald Reagan was our President because there was a big portrait poster of him next to the American flag which we said the pledge to each morning. I remember enjoying kindergarten, and from what I remember I loved my teacher, Mrs. Post. We learned cute little songs for each letter, and I remember missing out because I was out sick on the day that my class made Green Eggs & Ham. My class went ahead and saved me a portion in a Ziploc bag, but understandably it wasn't edible when I returned to school. :) I remember the teacher sending home rolls of laminated posters and items for Mom to cut out, and I thought she was amazing for doing such a great job with the scissors. More than anything, I think my kindergarten year was a lot of fun, and I developed a love for school and learning.
I wished the same for you, although I'm not sure you really LOVED kindergarten. Throughout your school experience, I understand there will be teachers that you will love, those that will be just so-so, and some that you won't like at all. I accepted many months ago that this year would be one of those so-so teacher years, and I pray that next year, you get one of those teachers that you love and never forget. The teacher makes all the difference.
I'm writing this letter to you hoping that someday you'll read it and remember some things about kindergarten. Your first day of kindergarten was August 26th, 2014. You were very excited, and you helped pick out your supplies. Because I'm a school counselor, I had to be at my school/workplace on your first day of school, so Dad took you for your first day. I was honestly quite sad about this, but I understand that's the way it has to be. Anyway, one of our neighbors (Mrs. Amanda) kindly took a picture of you, Dad, and Matthew, and you looked very happy! This of course made my heart smile. After the first week of school, we were talking about all of the newness of school, and when I asked you what you liked most about kindergarten, you told me how much you LOVED lunch. We put money into a lunch account for you, which made it possible for you to pick out what you wanted to eat with no mom or dad there to filter your purchases. :) For the first time, you were able to buy ice cream, Cheetos, and chocolate milk...or whatever you wanted. I'm proud of you though because while you did take some liberties, you seemed to eat your food and do a pretty good job of making decent food choices. Other likes of kindergarten included: recess, specials, and learning centers. You said your favorite "special" was computer time and pullouts on Fridays. Each week you were given a homework packet to complete. I'm not sure how you will feel about homework in the years to come, but as of your kindergarten year, you seemed to really enjoy the homework. I'm not sure if it's that you loved the homework, or if it was dedicated time where you had either Dad or my full attention. Either way, you always did a good job! You also loved getting WOW bucks which allowed you to buy things from the Wilder Wagon. Several times you ended up buying round crayon circles.
Your kindergarten year seemed to also be highly impacted by the color chart (blue, green, yellow, orange, and red). Each day your teacher would write down your color for the day, and she would send home the chart. Many days you stayed on blue, but there were also plenty of greens and the sprinkling of yellow, orange, and the very rare red (you got a red one day for throwing an orange in the cafeteria!). Overall, I was really proud of your color distribution. I can't tell you how much I wanted for you to be blue every day because you seemed to be more disappointed about color changes than even I was. I'm hoping that next year we'll have even more days with no color change.
I think the biggest downside of kindergarten for you was that you seemed kind of bored. I can't imagine how hard it is to teach kindergarten with students at so many different levels, but I also don't think that your teacher did the world's best job at differentiating. On one of the final days of school, you had a color change to green with the words "CONSTANT TALKING" written across the square for the day. When I asked you why you were constantly talking, you said you were really bored. I asked you what you were learning that day, and you clapped out "but-ter-fly...3 syllables." I couldn't help but laugh because you were so darn cute. It also very clearly spelled out for me why you were bored. I'm hoping 1st grade will be more challenging for you.
You learned and grew a lot this year. I was only able to drop you off a few times this year because I had to be at my work/school about an hour before your drop off time, but you looked so little and adorable walking into your school with your big Cars backpack. We would give each other "hand hugs" before you got out of the car because I couldn't get out to hug you. You began the year being able to read some words, but by the end of this year, you were able to read complete sentences and short books. Your math skills were very good (you could do simple addition and subtraction, count money, and you understood simple fractions), and you learned a good deal of science.
I'm very proud of you Ian. You made it through your first year as a Wilder Wolverine, and you recite the Wilder pledge with such pride! I'm so proud to be your mom, and I hope you enjoy your summer break.
