Wednesday, October 27, 2010

School related goodness

School for the kids has been great in so many ways this year. Their teachers are amazing and the kids are highly motivated for class and homework. I’m not saying that they LOVE homework(!), they’re kids! But they’ve had a great attitude towards it this year. Get it done. Done right the first time. Then they’re free to play. Getting good marks is a goal. They have also been enjoying their specials and the teachers for those classes (art, PE, music, Arabic).

Their liking school, having fun, is important to us… they do like school and it shows. Their report cards were amazing, and today we went to their parent teacher conferences and had a great chat with both teachers. Brian’s teacher asked that her students be included in the conference as well, so Brian was part of our session with her. I liked that she asked him what he liked about his report card, and what he thought of some of her comments. He was also included in discussion of what to work on for future goals and improvement. I’m feeling mighty proud of our kiddos right now!

Other school fun to report on was a field trip Honor went on this week. Her class had the opportunity to visit the farm of a fellow student and get a little hands-on exposure to plants and animals, the subjects that they have been studying in class for their science lessons. I lucked out and got to tag along as chaperone. Actually, the chaperones did more than just tag along, we were delegated as group leaders and guided our assigned kids through their lessons.

The kids had many science-related activities to get through. Identifying plants and flowers. We had worksheets with photos and clues. It was a scavenger hunt, and once the plant or animal was found, there was often a question or two to answer about it. DSC08443

Another activity had them picking, washing, and cutting up fresh veggies for a salad to eat at lunch.

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In addition to plants, they had to identify, count, and answer questions about animals. Ducks do NOT stay put in order to be counted, btw, and when chickens run in amongst the scurrying ducks, counting gets a little silly.

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They also had a chance to sit and draw what they saw around the farm.

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They had a chance to plant some seeds.

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A highlight was feeding the goats and cows. Our group had this activity last and it was so hard to wait, but we finally had our turn. I love this photo of Honor and her friend, hay in hand, heading off to the animal pens, chatting all the way.

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7 comments:

Daniela Swider said...

You are a terrific Mom and it shows in your kids!

Jill said...

Love that the kids are happy in school. REALLY love that Brian's teacher included him in the conference. So so dig that.

And the field trips. Honor looks like she had a great time!

Connie said...

Daniela - aww Thanks! I just think I'm a lucky mom :)

Jill - I was very impressed at Brian's inclusion. The teacher handled it wonderfully! Honor's field trip was well-planned, it included fun, and actual learning... not always easy to get those hand-in-hand so well!

Shannon said...

It sounds like a wonderful school! It is amazing how much difference a good school can make.

Connie said...

Shannon - you are so right. I hated school when I was young and was ready to homeschool in order to prevent our kids from being bored out of their minds too, but... touch wood... we've been blessed with great schools so far!

Becky said...

Awesome!

betty-NZ said...

It's great to know that your kids actually enjoy school and are included in some of the processes. That makes a difference, I think. It sounds like you had almost as much fun as Honor!!