Moving on...

Today....I am sad.

Why? Because my baby just went to his last day of second grade. He is now officially moving on to 3rd grader land. Am I that old? When did this all happen? He's not supposed to be this old either! Sigh.
Here he is with his teacher, Mrs. Grubbs. Can I just tell you what a wonderful teacher she has been for him? Though he has never struggled academically, he has struggled socially in past years. He doesn't understand boundaries at times, and has trouble focusing. He finishes his assignments quickly and then doesn't know what to do with himself. So, he pesters EVERYONE. At the beginning of the year I was told by numerous parents that I should request a classroom transfer. Why? Because their child didn't like Mrs. Grubbs...or so and so's parents told them she was mean. I was a little worried because I know how sensitive my kid is. But, I'm a firm believer in taking what you get. In real life we don't get to choose who we deal with. We have to work with people of all kinds. It's best to acclimate them now right? Besides, if she really was that horrible, I could request a transfer if it was really affecting Landon.
I'm so glad I didn't listen to the other parents! My son...that loves art....brought home all of his art projects for the year THAT SHE SAVED. There were stacks of them. And different styles and REAL art forms too...like drawing styles like Picasso and what not. She thinks that art helps kids develop in ways that book learning can't. So she has art projects ALL THE TIME. And though I wouldn't say she is mean....she has rules and expects them to be obeyed. My son has been so much more obedient at home this last year.
Anyone who says that teachers don't make a "real" difference need smacked in the head! :0) She has been wonderful and we will miss her.

This is Landon with his kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Burton. {She's related to the Burnhams VERY distantly} He LOVES Mrs. Burton. She was his very first teacher, and they created quite a bond. He still sees her at school and always gets so excited that he has to give her a hug. We took her a teacher present today because this was her last year teaching. She has retired. And though I know she was ready to be done...Landon will really miss seeing her in the halls at school. He had to give her one final hug....

And finally....my very smart little boy finally got his Math trophy. He was so excited when he brought it home. He was literally beaming! :0) It has his name on it and everything. I think he's told just about everyone about it. He's so proud of himself...and I'm really proud of him too. He worked really hard for it and didn't give up. I hope he keeps pushing himself to be better and do better. He asks so many questions now. He's so curious about how things work, and what things mean....his little brain is working hard. I just hope I have the answers for him! :0)

What a Stud!

This kid continually amazes me. He truly is a stud. For the last month and a half we have been practicing his 7, 8, and 9s for his 50 in a minute tests at school. For those of you that don't know what 50 in a minute tests are, I will explain. The kids are given 50 math problems and have to complete them all in 60 seconds. So, this means that Landon has been working on his multiplication and division problems starting with 7s, 8s, and 9s. Like 8x9, 72/9, etc. Let me remind you that he is in 2nd grade. That's crazy to me! He's 8 years old. I don't remember having to do math problems that hard when I was in 2nd grade. Anyway...this last week...he passed them all! He is so excited and I'm excited for him! We had a little party Tuesday night after he came home and told me. We had his favorite for dinner, noodles with white sauce :0), and I bought those yummy {and naughty} Lofthouse cookies with the pink frosting. He ate two of them after having seconds on his ravioli. :0)
I am so proud of him. He had to work really hard for the last month and a half to get to this point. My son usually gives up after a while on certain things. And his really mean mom made him work on finding out what the answers were when we first started. He wanted me to just give him the answers. Yep, that's me. The MEAN MOM!
Because he has completed all of these tests he will get a trophy at school. He just barely didn't make it last year. He is thrilled about being able to display his new shiny award for all to see. And I am thrilled for him. Congrats Landon!