First dance

Last Friday night, the Bug's school had a dance.  Yes, I know she's in the first grade.  Yes, I am fully aware that we have plenty of years still ahead, during which there will be ample opportunity to introduce our children to highly awkward social situations.

Nonetheless, it was a dance.  And since the Bug wanted to go, we went.

One of the first things you might notice is that the theme is "sports."  This meant kids should wear sports clothing, jerseys and the like.  We didn't know that, so the girls (oh yeah, Bunny went, too) wore dresses and tights.  Which was fine; we weren't the only newbies.

The event itself was kind of a riot.  It was at the "tennis bubble" indoor sports facility in town.  Half of the space was a dance floor "with a real disco light, Mommy!"  The other half had hula hoops and jump ropes and stuff.  The kids even played tug-of-war.  The Bunny mostly just hopped on one foot.  Two hours later, we left.  And next year?  We'll be back.  The girls are already excited for it.

K-Grad; and, thanks for the thanks

Today was the Bug's kindergarten graduation.  It was a super fun little ceremony, proceeded by a very fun and cool little to-do in her room.  As I've said, the Bug's teachers are top notch.  And this was all class and fun and showcasing of the six-year-old superstars moving on to first grade.  Surprisingly, I only teared up once.  Maybe twice.

A not-so-small aside during it all was a shout-out to all the parents who've volunteered during the course of the year.  The kids made these super cool poster-sized paint-hand-print bouquets to thank their parents for "helping them to bloom" throughout the year.  I love mine.  (Even though it says "Mrs. O'Keefe".  I can get past that.)  It's totally sweet (but, sadly, not easily photographed).

So imagine my surprise when we made our way down the little hill to return the Bunny (she wouldn't miss this excitement!) to her class..... and she and her friends had made one for me, too!  The four little boys from the class were so sweet and proud when they presented me with my special room-parent thank-you hand-print bouquet.  Which I also love.

So to the teachers, and to the kids (especially all my little buddies in Pre-School 1)..... Thank you so much! 

And to my sweet little Bug, enjoy your summer!!..... I've heard the first grade homework load is killer.

Science + Innovation = Diorama

The Bug has thankfully had no homework for the past two weeks.  You have no idea how much she hates the cutting and pasting exercise in her weekly spelling packet.... which, frankly, why???  I mean, how bad can cutting and pasting be?

Anyway, the homework was replaced with the kindergarten project for the school's Science Innovation Day, taking place next week.  The assignment: an old-fashioned shoebox diorama of an animal habitat.  Bug went with the rainforest, which I hear was a popular choice.  Although judging by the materials used, this is a rainforest going through a terrible drought.

Still, with all the smiling insects (and the smiling fish added post-photo-op), seems to be a very pleasant place to be, indeed.

Earth science at age 5

I've really got to hand it to the Bug's teachers this year.  She's learning to read (I mean, really read), along with all kinds of other things.  Math word problems, spelling tests, book reports... in kindergarten?  I have loved their social studies-type units: France, Asia, American symbols.  And their current unit, Weather, is clearly making an impression.  She came home from school yesterday and made this:

After correctly describing evaporation, condensation and precipitation, she then (also correctly) called it, "The Lifecycle of a Raindrop."