Q completed Grade 4 this year. He is in French Immersion where they have had mostly French instruction since Junior Kindergarten with Grade 4 transitioning to more half and half with English. Because of this, his English reading has required some work. He has extra help at school and although he doesn’t love it, he has worked hard to make improvements. He does really well at math and science and enjoys doing projects, especially if they are with a partner. Schools are so adverse to giving homework, but I think it would benefit him to have some set goals to work on each day at home, and it would help Dave and I with some structure so we could help him out. We will work with his teacher next year to see how we can better support him at home, and I think he’ll continue to make strides with his reading and writing.
He participated in cross country in the fall, learned violin in music class, performing in two concerts, and played in the kickball (soccer base) “league” at lunch. It seems there will be more opportunity to join school team sports next year in Grade 5 and I know he will want to try out for some of those.
He started the year going to the YMCA after school, but after Christmas we decided he could just come home and it made things a lot easier since Dave and I didn’t need to make sure we were home at a certain time to pick him up. And as the weather started to warm up, Q was able to hang around with friends after school, riding bikes, going to someone’s house, or just playing in the schoolyard. As long as he knew when he needed to be home, for practice or dinner, he was good to do whatever he wanted. It’s great to create some independence. Q does not lack for friends and he loves going to school, even if his report card noted he should work on staying focused and not getting distracted by his classmates :)
Onward to Grade 5!
Ski trip day, his favourite day of the year!
E had his first year of high school, Grade 9, and he did great! A few of his public school friends went to the same high school and he has stayed close with a couple of them, along with making new friends in his class. It’s a big school and I’d think it could be overwhelming but he did well. He got into the routine of walking or biking to school, usually meeting up with his friends along the way, eating lunch either at the cafeteria or walking up the street to buy something (and usually making it back in time for 3rd period!), and then going to Snack and Study in the library after school. He would usually work on whatever homework he had there, and then would play games on his phone with his friends. (And get the all important snack!)
He took four classes in each of the two semesters. Besides the basics like Math, English, Gym, etc, he also took Skilled Trades and Design Studio. He really enjoyed those and will take sometime similar next year. His marks were pretty good but we are always encouraging improvement. His scholastic habits have not changed - he gets his work done but does not go above and beyond to get extra marks. Sigh.
He tried getting involved with the Robotics team but felt they had too many people and he wasn’t sure how he could fit in. He will try again next year and also consider the music club and a few others (ones that I learned about after seeing his yearbook). Basically if you have an interest, there is a club for it!
Take your kid to work day!
Getting volunteer hours at the food bank.
I always love reading school related posts! I'm so glad your boys had great years. I remember when we started letting the kids walk home instead of stay for the after school program. It was nerve wracking at first, but they loved the independence. E sounds like my kids...they get good grades, but don't necessarily go the extra mile...or plan accordingly for studying which makes me crazy! So cool that he can leave school for lunch. We don't get to do that here.
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