Goodbye 6th Grade!

Jack's last day of school was last Friday. His last day of school picture is quite a bit different than his first day picture. We never could have imagined the last nine weeks of school would have been at home learning virtually.

























Jack really loved 6th grade, especially the first part at the year while they were actually at school. He had the same core teachers all year (math, social studies, ELA and science), along with orchestra and PE. His elective changed each semester. First semester he had industrial tech and second semester he had speech and debate. He liked all of his teachers and loved a few of them (math and orchestra teachers!). He made new friends, learned how to use his locker and dress out for PE and manage lots more schoolwork than he was used to in elementary school. He did amazing! We are so proud of how responsible he is and his kind attitude towards others. He earned student of the month in the fall for the personality trait of "curiosity" and that fits him perfectly. He also participated in the ski club and got to go to Snow Creek and ski several times this winter.

And then, he had early release on Thursday, March 12 and didn't ever go back to LMS as a 6th grader... except to clean out his locker last week wearing a mask. He did great during virtual learning just like he did at regular school. Here's what his last nine weeks of home school have looked like:

Monday - Thursday
8:15 - wake up
8:30 - breakfast
9:00 - start school. Monday, Thursday and Friday the boys and I took a walk to start to the school day. Then Jack would settle into the blue chair (most days) in the family room, turn on his laptop and get to work.
12 - lunch
1:00 - finish school if needed
Afternoon - xBox for an hour and a half. Being able to talk to and play video games with friends during quarantine was hugely important for Jack. Play guitar, ukulele and practice piano. Read. Play outside.

Wednesday and Sunday nights: youth group on zoom. Also huge during this time!

Friday
Starting in May, he didn't have any new school work on Fridays. The teachers used it as a catch up day. He sometimes had a bit of work to do, but not much.

School at home has been fine (really more than fine; it's been good, even great, to have the boys home) and his teachers did a great job of continuing to teach and stay connected to the kids. But, I really hope that after I take his first day of school picture for 7th grade we'll get in the car and drive to LMS. I am so proud of Jack for adapting to this new normal so well. I know he will thrive in 7th grade, no matter what the school day looks like.