Last Day of Kindergarten

I didn't realize how sad I would be to see the last day of kindergarten unfold.  After I got out of work the Guy and I took the Kid's gifts for her class out to the school (around 11:00), and were just about in time for most of the acknowledgements and fun.

Last week the kids brought home a project to make a page about themselves for a scrapbook for Desi, which was extra special b/c they were her very first class ever.  Too bad we don't know anyone who scrapbooks around her, huh?

Each Kid made a front page about their special memories from the school year.

And then they made the other side all about themselves. 

 I let the Kid do the front part all by herself, and she chose all the materials for the back, and I helped her put it together.  Of course she chose to have everything pink (FTR, I do not believe in evo psych that says that girls will always choose pink and boys will always choose blue.  Rather, it is pretty much that they are conditioned to those choices from the moment the doctor says "it's a ____!".  I believe pink happens to be one of her favorite colors b/c she genuinely likes it, not b/c some craptastic biological factor says she must.  Wev.).  It was a lot of fun.  The best part was seeing Desi enjoy it so much!

Reading her new book to the whole class.

Desi also let all of the kids choose a book from her library in the class to keep for themselves as a reward for learning to read this year.  The Kid chose the The Tiny Seed.

After all the festivities the Kid gave Desi the lei she picked out for her, and got herself a great big hug (and I got a great picture!).

A great end to a great year!

We let her run around and play w/ a few friends for a little while after, since she will  not be going to the summer school this year like most of the other kids.  She leaves for the Mainland right after the wedding so we have arranged a few play dates b/t now and then.

Time for a final drink of water.

And one last hug and photo!  The kids made that apron for Desi, w/ each of their handprints a flower for her garden.

I was a little more than choked up to see this first year end.  It has been a great journey so far, and we are really excited to go back to Ho'ala next school year.  It was amazing to find such a great school to call home.  Jada has come so far and overcome so many obstacles.  She triumphed over a self esteem issue when someone close to her told her she should have known how to read already to being able to read to her whole class, and she received an award as a "Math Wiz", thanks to the endless time she spends doing math problems w/ Chi for fun.  She has grown a love of Science that I can't get over.

While she is away this summer we are keeping the kindergarten class turtles, since Desi isn't allowed to have them in her apartment.  Since we already have Kabuki, we decided it won't be too much effort to feed two more (Rocko and the Nameless Other Turtle).

That is all for now.  If you haven't been checking here in a while be sure to hit up the archives for more photos and videos.

Malama Pono!