The last day of school

was yesterday. A difficult day for both girls...

6 is never good with change. This year, her beloved Grade 2 teacher retired so the loss was a great one. She woke up yesterday morning and announced that she did not want school to end! I know she will miss the teacher who managed to work miracles and undo alot of damage done by her Grade 1 teacher. She grew to be confident, happy and positive about school again. She has returned to her old information-absorbing self - reading book after book (5 novels last week, supplemented by hours of mulling over encyclopedias). She has requested that I buy some math workbooks so she can spend some time working on multiplication and division over the summer! Her placement for next year is with the teacher she really wanted to have, together with her 4 girlfriends from Gr 1 and 2. I anticipate next year will be another good one!

We skipped school on Monday morning. 6 had a very definite plan of what to give her teacher. Remember, this is a bit of an unusual child. She was determined to find a store that sells the new Barbara Cook CD. 6 saw Barbara Cook on the Tony Awards and was blown away by the 78 year old singer's performance! "Miss P would really like her singing", she said. And the idea became rooted in her mind - unshakeable - Well, Miss P really did like Barbara Cook and was amazed that a Grade 2 student would think of such a thing as a parting gift. Good choice 6!

4 had her last day in Kindergarten yesterday. It was also her last day with her daycare provider. She too had a hard time letting go, although she is thrilled about going into Grade 1, and we have arranged for her to go to the same caregiver's home for lunch 2 days a week in the Fall. She chose plants for her teacher, caregiver and the EA in her Kindergarten class. Three thank you cards were carefully thought out with interesting phonetically written messages included.

We were at the school until 6 pm. Neither child wanted to leave the property. 6 was playing with a few friends, then alone in a corner of the yard designing bug traps and habitats. Her teacher had given each child kisses at the end of the day, and 6 proudly wore the lipstick prints in the playground as well as to her soccer practice last night. (In fact, all 3 girls from 6's class showed up at soccer practice still sporting red lip marks on their faces!)

Last night we through out the diet rules and feasted on potato chips and ice cream. Today has been a lazy day. Camps start nest week...and on we go!