Boy's adventures at his new school

Our son enrolled into a new private Christian school this past January.  He complained that it was boring (and it is for he had most of the same material last year) with far too many rules.  Thankfully, there is plenty of recess time at the school because that's about the only time the kids can talk to one another.  It's been quite a transition for him from the laid back nature of homeschooling, but at least the work was super easy for him.   Despite all his whining, he does seem to be having some fun there.

This past February, his class gave recitations, acted out skits, and sang choreographed songs for the parents during the winter parents' assembly.  He did not smile much during the performance, but he aced all lines and motions as if they bored him.

He seemed to enjoy helping the hungry by packing meals through Stop Hunger Now after he and his sister raised over $250 by knocking on every door in our neighborhood and asking a few family members.  During the packathon, a bell would ring whenever they would finish loading a full pallet, and all the kids stopped working momentarily to cheer. I was so impressed by how courageous our kids were to knock on doors and how generous our new neighbors were with this project.  His class raised the most money on their hall at school, so they will get a class party catered by Chick-fil-A as their reward.

Here are some photos from Colonial Day which was held this past March.  The faculty and parent volunteers went out of their way to make the kids feel like they had stepped back in time.  The kids made paper outfits, churned  homemade butter, carved bowls out of clay, made and played early American children's games like hopscotch and the ball catcher.  They pretended to be handcuffed to stocks and learned how to write in calligraphy using a quill and ink.   All the first graders brought in hammers (imagine over 65 six & seven-year-old kids wielding hammers on the same day at school!) and used them to punch nail holes into framed tin for colonial style art.    He had a blast!

Last week, I volunteered as a driver and chaperone for the first grade field trip to the strawberry farm.  My son's favorite pals got assigned to our car, so he really had a great time.  Often under the shadow of his loud older sister, he doesn't talk too much at home, but he talked nonstop in the car with his friends.  He even sounded a bit bossy too.  That was a side of him I rarely see.


The kids learned about different types of berries and how to pick them followed by free time in the fields picking berries.  The girls looked for the prettiest, largest berry, while the boys had more fun looking for the grossest, slimiest, moldiest berry. The kids visited with the animals on the farm, washed their hands at the hose pipe, and then had a class picnic on the farm.