Greens: Kindergarten

We moved into a "swing zone" and didn't get assigned a school until late summer. It was between Easterly Parkway and Ferguson. We were assigned to Easterly and they had a Kindergarten camp a couple of weeks before school started. Preston got to go to school for 1/2 days for a week. The last day(which was on his birthday) they took their fist school bus ride on a field trip to Meyer Dairy to get ice cream. I was told that all the Kindergartners sang Happy Birthday to him. I was a little nervous about him riding the bus. I thought about driving by Meyer Dairy but I didn't know how to get there anyway. I did go to the school and saw the bus pull up and I waited with Natalie and Justin to see him get on but it was taking to long so we just left.

I was ready to drive Preston to school everyday but Jeremiah insisted that he tried the bus. He made a friend at Kindergarten camp who would be riding the bus. His Mom encouraged me to let Preston ride the bus so our kids could sit together. While walking home from taking him to the bus I started bawling. I quickly told Jeremiah that I had to go to the school to make sure he was okay. I didn't follow the bus but I went to the school and waited for them to arrive.

This is the bus pulling up to the school. Preston and his friend Jakob. Preston was happy to see me. He told me that he didn't like the bus, that it took a long time to get to the school and that he thought the bus driver was lost. Jeremiah insisted that he take the bus for a week to give it a good try. I also met him at school the next day and he's taken the bus the whole year. Jakob and Preston's friendship dissolved then he started to sit with Daniel, another Kindergartner from our bus stop. He loved that because it was easier to sit with someone that got off at the same stop.(I think he was nervous that he'd miss his stop)

Preston's first day of Kindergarten

Preston's last day of Kindergarten

For Preston's teacher I made a sign of his name using a few of the kids in Preston's class(Preston, Owen, Madison, and Meredith)

Mrs. Payne(assistant), Preston, Mr. Hockenberry(teacher)

Preston has grown a ton this year. He went from just being able to write his name to writing stories and reading chapter books. He also learned a lot of math and loves it. He's just starting to learn multiplication. His class all got iPads which he really enjoyed. He's really interested in science-how things work, gardening,..he has fun in gym class and music but says that art isn't his favorite. At both Parent/Teacher conferences he had great reviews, really smart and really kind to others, and advanced in reading. He made a wonderful friend, Owen Briscoe. They are very similar and we really like his family. His teachers have told me that they have a special bond. Unfortunately they wont be at the same school next year. The school board decided to eliminate swing zones, which means that our home school is now Ferguson. We were given a choice to keep Preston at Easterly but once he was out they would no longer provide transportation for Natalie and Justin. A major concern was that Natalie and Justin wouldn't have a guaranteed spot at Easterly and we did not want to split up the kids. The majority of our neighborhood is switching to Ferguson and we felt like that was the best choice for our family. I secretly hope that Owen's family will move into our area in the next few years. At least we know that they will end up at the same middle school and we plan on having lots of play dates, and having them go to the same camps, sports, etc.
Preston and Owen at field day.