Three Kids and a Dog: Last Day of 9th, 6th and 2nd Grades

Hailey at the Dash

Wow, that year went by in the blink of an eye. Last week, the kids all finished up their respective school years and I finished up making lunches every day until August rolls around (September for Austen this coming school year due to construction).

Hailey had a great year with a teacher (who was out with a broken leg for two months), but who really improved Hailey's handwriting and made her afraid to get her name in the warning box. Mrs. Nolin was the 2nd grade teacher for all three of our kids and we will certainly miss her. But, Hailey is looking forward to 3rd grade and possibly getting the only male teacher in the whole school or the really nice, young one. There's another who shall remain nameless that we aren't as excited about getting but she'll definitely have her for at least math. At any rate, she ended 2nd grade with a field day and a special school dash followed by a fun lunch with all the 2nd grade girls at the park.

Peyton had a great transition to 6th grade from elementary school and did really, really well in school. I was proud of her for managing all of her different classes and assignments on her own with zero oversight from me. She was tenacious about doing her homework right after she had her snack every day and would study for tests on her own too. She really owned it. She's still figuring out the friendships though and gravitating to some familiar friends from her old school (as three schools joined one). She's got lots of time to figure that out with two more years of middle school. She's looking forward to summer and seeing her friends from swim (who go to different schools) more too.

Austen completed his freshman year of high school and also made a smooth transition into a very competitive high school (ranked in the top 10 in Illinois and 244 in the nation). These kids have so much pressure to be good at everything and to be in the honors classes. That's what they talk about - how many honors classes they are taking. So strange and competitive and kind of crazy for kids this age. His grades have been excellent carrying just two honors classes (physics and geometry) but next year he moves to three classes with pre-engineering and no study hall. He's definitely driving those decisions regarding honors or non-honors with his counselor and teachers. I really don't need to say much to him or be on him for studying or assignments. He does it all without my follow up. Sports were great for him this year too playing soccer and baseball for his high school. They definitely helped with the transition and getting to know even more kids in such a large high school.

It was a good year and one that started out with masks due to COVID but we remained in school the whole year and went mask free just before spring break.

Everyone is looking forward to summer and not having to study or do too much work!