Our School Girl

Samantha's school had a Kindergarten program last week, and it was absolutely adorable! The theme was "Commotion in the Ocean," complete with songs and actions (which she sang to us every day for a month before the big show!), and fish hats for all the kids. 

Samantha was one of the Blue Whales, and had to wear all blue for the performance. She got to memorize a part about whales and recite it for everyone. She did great!

Here's a group shot (taken from waaaay back in the gym), showing all the classes and their different colored fish...

 I tried to zoom in on Samantha -- she's on the back row, singing her little heart out. One funny thing... they had some kids tell little jokes that they had obviously rehearsed for the class several times, (Where do fish keep their money?? In a RIVER bank! hahahah!) then all the kindergarteners laughed hysterically. After the performance, Samantha told me, "I kind of had to do a fake laugh, because my real laugh wasn't handy." :)

We happened to pass Samantha in the hall, heading back to her class. She gave us a quick wave, and a hug, sweet girl...

I've been meaning to blog about Samantha's school for such a long time. I really like it. She has two great teachers, and two teacher's aides, for only 20 children. So, she gets lots of one-on-one attention. I've loved to watch her excel at reading and writing; she now reads chapter books by herself (Junie B. Jones are her favorites), and she writes letters to cousins and friends and me, almost every single day. She has especially loved her art classes and her science projects. They got to watch baby chicks hatch in their room last week, and Samantha even got to be the first kid to name one -- Velvet. (aside, we were relieved that the chick got the name Velvet, as Samantha has been telling us that if we have a fourth baby, it will need to be named Velvet. Phew! the chick got that name first. ha!) 

Anyway, here's a picture of her school. It looks kind of Harry Potterish, to me...

It has lots of winding corridors and has a nice, "old school" smell that reminds me of the good ol' days. Here's the drive-through drop off loop, with the cool bell tower (and yes, the first bell is almost always ringing when we drop her off in the mornings). Her classroom is right next to the bell tower and front door -- it's the one with all those windows, right under the one-way sign...

And now, finally, almost nine months later, here are pictures of Samantha on her first day of school (Sept 6)... Remember, I was going to post these way back when I wrote about her first day, way back when?? well, better late than never, eh? Here she is, in front of our house, waiting for us to walk her to school...

Samantha and Spencer, excitedly standing by the front door (that they don't really get to go into, since it goes straight to the principal's office. It just made for a good photo op)...

Samantha, at her table, next to her friend from church, Rose (the blonde, coloring, with her head down). They are still best school friends, though they didn't really get to sit by each other for more than that first day..

And the creative Kindergarten bulletin board outside her classroom. Can you find Samantha's caterpillar? (On the left, in the middle)...

As of today, she has exactly one month of Kindergarten left, then it's on to bigger and better things. (Yes, you can feel bad for us if you like... school doesn't officially end here until JUNE 22!! ugh.) Well, if I can get it to upload, I may post a video of the cute songs from Samantha's program. Stay tuned...