First Grade Wrap-up

Kip completed First Grade last week!

The rest of this week on the blog, I'm recapping the last bit of his school memories from 2024-2025.

It was a WILD year with many ups and downs. Some things we loved and some things were not so great. Kip excelled academically and really blew us away with his progress in reading and in math. The tough part of the year was in his classroom dynamics. There were several kids with behavioral issues and consequently Kip's teacher was constantly disciplining and trying her best to manage the environment. Unfortunately, Kip's teacher had very little to no support in the classroom. It was often very stressful for Kip (and others) to be around kids misbehaving and the teacher yelling. Annoying behavior. Missed opportunities for the whole class because of a few kids being unable to handle it. It was hard. Kip often came home frustrated or on-edge, emotional, etc. I'm sad Kip had to experience so much of that this year but I also think it was a tough yet valuable life lesson. So much of living in the real world is having to deal with difficult people and difficult behavior and learning how to stay focused on yourself and your work and not letting others drag you into their "mess." But still, not something I wanted my 6 year old to have to manage already.

Anyways, onward to second grade!

Kip's interests shifted a lot this year. We've moved on from dreams of becoming a train driver and now he is talking about being a Scientist (sintiste). His best friend has remained the same since Pre-k, despite the fact that they were not in the same classroom this year. I think that's super sweet.

One of the last days of school Kip had a substitute (he had a lot of subs this year) and she gave them busy work worksheets to do all day. One of them was a farewell first grade survey. It's pretty cute.

Note the answer to the question "I hope next year..." He said, "there are no bad kids." 

I've talked with him about how kids aren't "bad" they just might be having a hard time for reasons we cannot see or know. But, after some of the stuff he witnessed this year...I don't think he believes that anymore. Sigh.

The last day of school I had to work in the city, so Dan took the kids for a summer kick-off treat at Rita's. Kip is ready for a much deserved break and already thoroughly enjoying summer.