School music nights

Both kids had music night at school last week to show off what they've learned so far this year.  Brady played the trumpet in the band.  He's also been learning the violin this year, but the sixth grade doesn't have a strings orchestra.  Considering that most of these kids hadn't ever even touched these instruments in August, I think the progress they've made is impressive!

Rudy's class has been working on rhythm and beat.  Their performance was cute...but even Rudy said after the event that the "fifth graders were SOOO much better."  He'll transition to a different music teacher for fifth grade, and I think that teacher really does a great job about getting the kids excited about  music and performing.  (There is a little clip of this year's fifth graders performing at the end of Rudy's video.  The sun was streaming in our eyes for most of their pieces, so the quality is pretty poor.)

Violin

Brady is still playing the trumpet, but he's also added a few classes a week with the violin.  I think he'll stick with the trumpet as his primary instrument, but it's so cool that he gets a chance to become at least a little familiar with a string instrument.  Within a week or two, he could already play a scale on the violin.

Auction stools

I got to help Rudy's class with their class project for the school auction.  They were painting a set of four stools to be auctioned off as part of the 'art from the heart.'  Fourth graders and paint - wow - what a mess!  One poor girl spilled her entire cup of paint down the front of her jumper.  Bet her mom was thrilled.

2015 - let Rudy sum up

Brady's first dance

Brady attended his first school dance.  We could tell he was nervous, and he insisted that he didn't want to go.  We gave him no choice, though.  We rode in with Ellen, and Kate and Brady were pretty quiet in the car.   

After resigning himself to attending, Brady next swore that he WASN'T going to dance.  We encouraged him to relax and have fun.  He had told us about being "snowballed," where someone could pay $1 to make you dance with a particular person.  For $5 you could pay to get out of dancing.  He was thrilled that 6th graders were exempt from snowballing. 

In the end, he had a great time and even thanked us for making him go.  He chose to add his name to the list of 6th graders who were willing to be snowballed.  He got snowballed three times, but the first two girls chickened out.  He even asked a few girls to dance!  We are so thrilled with his new school, the friends he's made there, and his confidence level. 

Humpback whale

The fifth graders at Brady's school started these projects last year, but didn't have time to finish.  When Brady joined the class this year, he was way behind on the project but the art teacher was so impressed with the way he jumped right into it and finished on time with his classmates.  

Fourth grade field trip hike

Rudy's class got to take advantage of a beautiful fall day to head out to a local trail for a morning nature walk.  I tagged along, and loved the chance to get to know his classmates.  They all loved this giant tree stump, and would have been perfectly happy playing on it all morning!

They all agreed that this honey locust tree looked like something out of the world of Harry Potter!

5th grade graduation

Some times during this past school year, I felt like we'd never make it to the end.  Sometimes I felt like that was OK, and  others we could drag ourselves there fast enough!  Brady, in particular, had a fabulous class this year.  Really nice kids, most of whom have been together for most of their elementary school years, and a really great teacher.  

It was a little emotional watching the fifth grade graduation, and knowing we were moving on from this school forever.  Despite some faults, the faculty was really supportive of our family and I felt really cared about my boys. 

Brady with some of his star student / honor roll classmates.

Love that grin!

Rudy decided that he wanted to watch Brady's graduation, which I thought was pretty sweet of him, since he was missing some fun times in his own classroom.  

Brady and Gabriel.  (Who decided cupcakes with blue frosting were the best choice?!)

Gabriel, Brady, and one of the twins (I still have a hard time telling which...)

His amazing teacher.  She had a challenging class, in that these kids are bright and inquisitive.  I'm sure they kept her on her toes, but she handled them well. And, the best part according to Brady?  She played soccer with them at recess!

I insisted on this picture, despite complaints from each kid.  Allison is the only kid who was in every single one of Brady's elementary school classes, all the up from kindergarten.  

With his guests:

STEM day

I got to volunteer at the final STEM day of the school year.  Brady's class had to create a playground out of scrap materials.  The playground had to meet certain specifications, including at least one of each type of angle.  He had a dream team of buddies to work with and they agreed that their design was the best in the class.

Rudy's class had to create a Greek ship out of recycled materials.  It had to float and it had to include oars similar to the true Greek ships.  Rudy's group created one that stayed afloat the longest.  

Third grade awards

The third grade awards ceremony was outside in the courtyard, with no speaker system, so I couldn't tell you what any of the teachers said about the year.  Rudy's year will not go in the books as one of his best, but I think he did learn some life lessons about working hard and going above and beyond minimum expectations.  (At least that's what I'm telling myself...) 

Art Festival

Arts Festival is a pretty amazing event put on by the local school system.  The art teachers choose a theme and carry it through in major decorations at the event; there are also individual pieces of artwork hung throughout the building and a wide variety of crafts.

We've never tried the pottery wheel before because the lines tend to be too long.  We were at the school early this year, because Brady's chorus was performing early, so we got a jump on the crowds. 

With the village created entirely by students at their elementary school:

Brady with his artwork:  the abstract piece at the top.  I've loved this project since I first saw the fifth graders doing at the school when Brady started in first grade.  I was so excited that Brady was going to get to do it this year!

Polydactyl

I flipped through Brady's word study notebook when I was in his classroom to volunteer.  Got a chuckle out of this entry; he speaks the truth...

Odyssey of the Mind

Brady decided to give Odyssey of the Mind another try this year, and he really enjoyed it.  It helped that his coaches were extremely well organized and worked really hard to keep the kids on task and on schedule.  It also helped that this group of kids has known each other for years; they are each very creative team players, and they worked amazingly well together.  They finished in second place overall for the competition, but were the top scorers for their "long term" problem (see the video below!).

Coach Kristen, Gracie, Kendall, Allison, Mikayla, Brady, Coach Debbie, and Caiden

Jamestown Field Trip

The fifth grade field trip was to Jamestown; this has been one of my favorite excursions so far.  The staff at Jamestown does an amazing job of engaging the kids, so it's truly an educational experience.  It didn't hurt that it was a gorgeous fall day!

  

All of the chaperones got a kick out of watching the musket line drill that the kids had to do - as if they were loading their guns and charging enemy lines.  Brady was serious about this task!

In the session about life in camp, Brady volunteered and wound up being branded as a gambler.  He took his punishment like a man...