Adventures in Parenthood: Preschool and Kindergarten 2019

This was a big year for us as Clara started Kindergarten and Emmett started preschool. They were both super excited about school and there were no tears on the first day. Emmett went through a stage (it only lasted a couple weeks) where he cried every time I dropped him off and had to be pried off me. He followed it up with running through the gate to the classroom and me having to ask him to come back and give me a hug. His teachers said he was super quiet at first and then came out of his shell and would not stop talking. They said that they had to ask him to be quiet on numerous occasions and they were excited about this. Emmett had awesome teachers and it was so special that he and Bailey got to be in the same class. I got to help out with numerous celebrations and it was fun to watch the two of them in class! He went into preschool barely knowing how to spell his name and recognize most letters and came out (marginally) writing his name, knowing all his letters, and he can count forever! It was definitely a year of growth! He also made several friends, and unlike Clara, isn't too shy to talk to them when we see them in the community. Although Emmett says he only plays with Bailey at school, he teachers and Bailey told me differently.

First Day of Preschool

Last day of Preschool

First Day

Last Day and just as silly

He ended the year with a Mother's and Father's Day event where the class sang and presented their parents with gifts. Dada wasn't able to make it, but I was able to rearrange a trip so I could be there. It was super cute and luckily Cam and Bri sat up front and sent me some cute pictures! He also had an open house that I had to miss, but Dada attended. I made Tia send me lots of pictures and his teachers showed me around the room that morning before I had to head out of town.

Clarita is my little lover of learning and grew by leaps and bounds this year! She was consistently in the highest group in her class, but her reading really took off by the end of the year. She tested out at a level seven which I attribute to both her teacher and Aba who reads with her all the time. Clarita absolutely loves school and had the best teacher. It was Miss Resendez's first year and she did amazing! She had so much energy and really made learning fun. Clara didn't cry going to school, but she definitely cried at the end of the year because she wanted Miss Resendez to be her teacher forever. I volunteered every week and I had such a great time getting to know her teacher and all the other kids. It was really the best first year of school we could have asked for!

First Day of Kindergarten

Last day of Kindergarten

Clara had a lot of events at the end of the year. She had an open house where she showed us around her classroom, showed us her projects, and showed Bailey around since she will be in TK next year. The kids had a great time! Clarita also had a Parent's Day performance where they sang a million songs (I was really impressed that they learned so many) and gave us all a present.

I also finally got to go on a field trip! We rode the train to Hanford to get ice cream. It was really hot and the train was over an hour late. AT one point while we were waiting in the sun, Clara said that it was the worst field trip ever and I had to agree. Luckily it improved from there and we had a blast riding the carousal a million times, taking a ride through town in an old fire truck, and eating ice cream. It was most of the kids' first time riding a train and they were very excited. I had a blast!

The last couple weeks of school were fun filled. There was a week of field trips to different areas around town. I got to go to the high school with the kids where we went to the FFH class and learned how to make butter. We also went to the library where the theater kids did some improv for us led by Olive's mom! I missed the library, but was able to go to the fire station and police station. We got a tour of both and it was interesting to learn about them and see inside. The kids had fun but were exhausted by the time we got back to school.