My Grade 2 Graduate!

Hannah graduated from Grade 2 this past Thursday! 

She was in a 2/3 split and did so well!  Her teacher was absolutely amazing and brought the very best out in Hannah!  Mme N took an interest in each child in her classroom, learned what made them tick and focused in on their personal needs and how each student learned.  Hannah’s confidence in the classroom grew by leaps and bounds as she went from a little girl who sat back and observed others to one who fully participated.  It was an amazing transformation as I had watched Hannah be an observer for all of her earlier years in school. 

I am blessed to have a job that allows me the option to work a little extra each day and then have every 3rd Monday off. 

On these Mondays I volunteered in Hannah’s classroom in the mornings.  It was neat to observe her grow as well as get to know her classmates and teacher too.  I often didn’t understand what was being said as everything in the classroom is done in French but it was amazing to see Hannah confidently fully participate in French and also make many new friends!

We went to the school fun fair earlier in June and Hannah enjoyed hanging out with many different friends from her class.

We are both very thankful for Mme N and are hoping Hannah has her for a teacher again next year!

On the last day of school each child was presented with a ‘Classroom Award’ and Hannah’s was perfect for her!!  She has always loved digging through the recycling bin in her classroom and making creations out of what she found.  (Mme would tell me that she’d bury things down in the bin so that Hannah and he little friend B wouldn’t find them as they’d both pull them out to make their creations.  LOL!)

Her award was accompanied by this adorable pic!

For now, it’s summer!!  Goodbye’s are hard but the break is welcome! 

I like to pick Hannah up little treats to celebrate her accomplishments on the last day of school.  This year is was Canada 150th Birthday Day Tic Tacs and water balloons.  I love how excited these little things make her!

Have a great summer Hannah!!

Grade 3….here she comes!

Jump Rope for Heart

I am thankful to work close to home which allows me to attend some functions at Hannah’s school.  Recently it was their ‘Jump Rope for Heart’ activity.  It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and the kids jumped rope at different stations for 2 hours…all for a good cause.

Gymnastics Graduation

Hannah completed another session of recreational gymnastics at our local gym and as always enjoyed her time.  I had changed her lesson to an evening class so that she could be back with Coach Alla and it was a good decision.  Alla is a great coach who pushes Hannah to do better which is something she needs.  She did so well and all of her skills progressed this term.  We’ll take the summer off and then she’ll go back in September.

Way to go Hannah!  Mommy is very proud of you!

Hannah was excited to be in this session with her good friend Riley!  (I was thankful to have her Mom Melanie to visit with each Monday evening too.)  I’m thankful for the friendship Hannah and Riley continue to share even though they are in different classes at school this year.  They’ll be back together in gymnastics next September and we’re hoping at school too!

Going to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo!

This week Hannah went on a field trip with her class for the very first time since she was 5yo and in JK.  I was excited when her teacher invited me to join them as a parent volunteer.

The day was overcast yet a perfect temperature and the zoo was empty!  In our past experiences we’ve always need to dodge other people to see the animals so it was such a treat to walk up to exhibits without fighting crowds.

The day was really well organized and run too.  We started with about a 30 min session in a classroom where the children learned about habitation, migration and more.  This picture brings tears to my eyes as Hannah is adding a picture to the board after raising her hand and answering a question. In the 4 years that I have helped in her classes I think I can count on one hand the number of times that I have seen Hannah raise her hand to answer a question or participate in class this way.   She’s always been concerned with not giving the correct answer so she just wouldn’t offer an answer.  Her teacher this year has been working with her to help her gain confidence in answering questions and it was breath taking to sit back and see Hannah not only raise her hand more than once!  Thank you Ashley!!!

After the classroom session we headed out in small groups to visit the animals.  Each small group was assigned a zoo worker who discussed things they had been taught in the classroom. 

Our first visit was to see the baby pandas who are now about 18 months old. 

My how they’ve grown since we saw them a year ago!

From there we saw a number of other animals. 

I am so thankful for this day with Hannah as well as the opportunity to get to know her classmates a little better.