The Walkers: End of the School Year

I can't believe it's the end of the school year! Time sure flies! Both my kids had amazing teachers this year, we are so lucky. They have both progressed and learned so much.

Isaac's last day of pre-k at Hobblecreek was on May 21st. They invited the parents to come to a little end of the year celebration, which was so cute. We got to hear the kids sing some songs they have learned this year and see some of their latest art projects. This was Isaac's first year at Hobblecreek and I am absolutely amazed at how much he has improved this year. His teacher Miss Sharon and her techs are amazing, not to mention his speech therapist and OT (I wasn't able to get a picture of Isaac with him but he is awesome). Last year Isaac would cry, I kid you not, EVERY DAY when we took him to pre-k. It absolutely broke my heart. They would literally have to pry him from my arms and I would just have to leave. He started out this year doing that a little bit but I think once he went a few times and saw how much fun he was having he started going so much easier. After a month or two we would drop him off and he wouldn't even look back. I really think it's because of his amazing teachers that made him feel special and welcome. I am also so amazed at how much he has progressed with his speech and writing skills. I can't tell you how exciting it was the first time he came home with work that had his name written on it all by himself. He couldn't even hold a pencil correctly at the beginning of the year and now he is writing his name in the correct order (still getting some letters backwards but that is to be expected) and recognizing letters and numbers. It is so awesome!

Isaac showing me some of his artwork

Getting ready to sing us some songs. He is sitting next to his buddy Bradley. He has talked about his classmates all year so it was fun to match the faces to the names.

Singing "If you're happy and you know it" with these little clappers. At first he was being super shy and didn't want to sing any of the songs. I don't think he liked everyone watching him. But after a few minutes he warmed up.

Mrs. Sharon his awesome teacher! We love her. All the kids got a little award and she gave him the "Starburst Award" for working hard in all areas every day.

I love this picture, he was so proud of himself and his award! Afterwards he kept saying "I a star! I a star!" It was so cute :)

After the little program we got to have a picnic lunch and the kids played outside. It was so fun to be able to spend a little time seeing what Isaac does at school each day. I'm so glad he gets to go back to this school next year!

We just had to get pictures of Isaac with all the helpers! Top left is Miss Sharon, his teacher and the rest are his techs/speech therapist. Such awesome people!

The treats we gave his teachers and helpers :)

The last day of Isaac's other pre-k, Teacher Lynda's or "animal school", was on May 27th. The last day of this school was a pizza/water party and he was SO EXCITED for this!! He had been asking for at least a week, probably longer, every single day, multiple times a day.....if it was his water party yet. It was so cute how excited he was about it!

We just love Teacher Lynda! We are excited that Isaac will go back to her class again next year! He had a blast at his water party, even if the weather wasn't the greatest.

Our gifts to Teacher Lynda :)

For Malea's end of year celebrations, the school did their annual dance festival the day before school got out. The whole first grade did the Mexican Hat dance, which was so cute. They performed it twice that day, once at 9:30am and once at 12:30pm. I went to the 9:30am one thinking we would dodge the rain and we were wrong. Thankfully the first graders went first so I was able to get some good video and pictures of her. By the time the 4th graders were going it was POURING rain! It was such a bummer. Those poor kids were all soaked.

Had to do the side-by-side picture! Left: First day of 1st grade, Right: Last day of 1st grade. I decided it's going to be my tradition to cry on the first and last day of each school year! I dropped her off on her last day and just started bawling! I just can't believe how grown up my kids are getting and how fast it all goes.

Pictures with her amazing teachers, left is Mrs. George, her Chinese teacher, and right is Mrs. Shaffer, her English teacher. Malea was a little sad for the year to end because she was "going to miss her teachers". Luckily they will both be back next year so Malea can go visit them. We also brought Malea flowers for her last day, the picture in the bottom left was one of the only pics I got of her holding them. She was so excited to get flowers :)