School Days: PK4 Fourth Nine Weeks {Riley}

Today is my Riley-bean’s last day of PK4. There is a short closing program this morning and then he is officially out for the summer.

He really made beautiful progress this year; Kenny and I are so proud of him. I will of course do a recap of his last day sometime next week, but first let’s talk about what they did in their final nine weeks of school. Ready? Here goes.

They learned about the letters “Uu” through “Zz.” They did activities with umbrellas, vegetables, volcanoes, worms, watermelon, water, xylophones, x-rays, yo-yos, zebras, zoos, and zig-zags.

They also went on a “X marks the spot” treasure hunt around school, made a Yankee Doodle Dandy hat (and sang the song), and made a Zero the Hero.

They had an umbrella parade around school, painted pictures with veggies (and tasted them too), discussed veterinarians and had an animal show and tell, watched Ms. Amelie demonstrate how a volcano works, and had a yummy and yucky tasting of cheetos, pickles, pretzels, peas, marshmallows, and raisins.

  

 

They also reviewed and practiced their handwriting with all of the letters and numbers they learned throughout the year. Riley also came home with quite a few drawings he did before school started for the day. I love his “monsters” he drew, and the fact that he’s using lots of colors instead of just green.

In reading, they read two stories, Peter and the Wolf and The ABC Book, and did lots of activities and worksheets for both.

In library, they read lots of books with Ms. Jayme. In Spanish, they learned about chocolate and its history and even had a chocolate tasting.

In math, they learned about the numbers 18-20 and finished their unit on measurement. They also learned about telling time, graphing, basic addition and subtraction, and drawing pictures to help solve a problem. And they started (and completed!) a paper chain countdown to summer.

In religion, they talked about Lent, miracles of Jesus, following Jesus, resurrection, life after death, trust in God, Noah’s ark, and how God comes first.

They also discussed “what is special about you.” Ms. Amelie walked Riley to the car one afternoon that week and told me a funny story. When she asked Riley what was special about him, his answer was Darth Vader. When she said, no, she wanted to know how God made him special, he paused a second and then replied: “Darth Vader, Ms. Amelie! He’s in my head telling me what to do!” Lord.

They talked a lot about St. Patrick’s Day on March 17. They celebrated Earth Day on April 22 by making posters with their big buddies to hang around school. They supported the New Orleans Pelicans basketball team in their quest to make the playoffs and even got a visit from the team’s mascot. And they celebrated Cinco de Mayo by making sombreros.

Teacher Appreciation Week was the first full week of May. Riley made Ms. Amelie a card thanking her for a great year, we brought her coffee on Tuesday morning, and I helped set up a special luncheon for all of the hardworking teachers of SCR on Thursday.

 

Their recess times took place in the PK3 yard, so Riley and Alcee would sometimes run into each other. Ms. Lisa was so good about sending me pictures of their interactions, which were always so cute. Riley is so excited about seeing more of Alcee (and Claire) over the summer!

We also got Riley’s class picture back, but he looks less than thrilled in it. Oh well; at least he got to stand next to Ms. Amelie.

Their last week of school was full of fun stuff. They talked about their summer plans, had show and tell (Riley brought his shark truck), and had their end-of-the-year luau party (and celebrated Ms. Amelie’s birthday during it).

They also had a bye-bye breakfast with their big buddies after mass on Wednesday, and I went to help out. Everything looked so cute, and both the big and the little kids all enjoyed their donuts and juice. Riley’s buddy Eleonore is going to Mount Carmel next year, so I went to the MCA bookstore to pick up an acrylic tumbler for her as a little thank you gift. Man, was it nostalgic for me walking through those halls again!

 

 

Riley’s behavior was pretty good during his last nine weeks, with one exception. We got a note home from Ms. Amelie saying he punched another student on the playground because they were playing bad guys, even though she had told him repeatedly to stop playing that. Riley said it was an accident and that he apologized to the other boy, but I had to make him understand that he should have listened to Ms. Amelie in the first place and the accident wouldn’t have happened. (I feel this will be a running theme for a long while, listening. He doesn’t always do so these days, and it drives me crazy.)

However, Riley was “caught doing something great” a decent amount this year. He has a sticker page to prove it.

Riley brought a few papers home with him yesterday, and I’m sure he’ll bring a few last things home today. So I’ll do one final PK4 recap post and then that’ll be all she wrote for this school year.

So crazy how fast time goes.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!