The McPherson Chronicles

Friday,  March 13, 2020, is the day our lives paused indefinitely. We had just celebrated the girls' birthday and Andrew's first t-ball game and even had a school birthday celebration during the week. There was already talk and worry about Covid-19 spreading in the US, but it was still only in the back of our minds. We carried on with life as usual for that week until Friday came around. I started a new job just the week prior and we were juggling school and work schedules along with t-ball practice and ballet in a carefully choreographed juggling act involving grandparents, shared iPhone calendars, and lots of coordination. Thursday, talk of Covid seemed to  ramp up and there was talk of shutting down schools and businesses. Friday we all went to school and work as usual and at 2pm our School Board voted to close the schools for two weeks. Since schools get out at 2:30pm, most teachers and parents did not hear the news until after school was over and there was no time for tea...

 I don't know exactly how I missed the past 18ish months here but I did. I found one post I had started with photos and never got around to writing and publishing. So I'll publish that but it's from April 2019. A lot has happened and changed since then and I know it would be tedious to go back and try and recap each thing so I'll probably have to do some broad updates and leave it at that. I'm hoping once I get caught up it will be easier to maintain. Time will tell. School 2019/2020 It was an interesting school year to say the least. The girls navigated 5th grade with 2 wonderful teachers and some big goals. They were both on student council, part of the lunchtime Chess Club, won multiple awards for Super Student, Student of the Month, AR and Dreambox (math). They both ended the year with over 500 AR points which surpassed the combined total of each of their individual classes!  Andrew settled right in to DLI Kinder and loved going to school with the girls. They al...

Andrew’s last Montessori Christmas program! It was super cute. The teachers put in so much time and effort to get the kids ready. To see these tiny kids up on a stage with professional lighting and not be intimidated is amazing! We loved watching him sing all the songs with all the hand motions and dancing. It was so cute! There was even a special surprise at the end where the whole school sang and signed “What a Wonderful World” in American Sign Languge since there are a couple of families with hearing impaired parents. It was the sweetest thing and the kids seemed to do great!

We love seeing the girls’ holiday performances every year. They are so excited about their songs and usually include some dancing and other surprises. This year was no disappointment as they sang their hearts out in both English and Spanish. The girls were excited to get to be some of the designated dancers for the last song. They did great and it was a super fun morning watching them perform.

Our shortest summer ever came to an end quickly. Starting school two weeks earlier this year really made the summer feel short. But, we're back in the swing of things and 4th and TK are underway! The girls are once again in separate classes and it's no big deal. They have each teacher 50% of the day so their work and homework is identical. Ms. Rodriguez was their Spanish teacher in first grade so they were very familiar with her. Mrs. White was also a first-grade teacher but not in DLI. So far, things are going ok. The homework isn't too challenging or time-consuming and they're already way ahead of their AR goals. The teachers definitely seem to be more strict and serious this year so it's been a bit of an adjustment. I think the girls have resigned themselves to that fact that this year just might not be as fun as the past few years have been. Hopefully, things turn around and the teachers and students settle in and lighten up a little. We'll see...

Kevin graduated with his MBA in Healthcare Administration in August! I am so incredibly proud of him. It was a lot of hard work, tired days due to late nights, missed events and activities to write, read or study but never once did he complain. This was always his goal and I am so proud of him for finishing. 2 years seemed like a long time when he started, and really at times it was, but it also flew by. He made a great group of friends that I know he will have a friendship with for years to come. Thank you to everyone who helped along the way and came out to support him at graduation. I know it meant a lot to him to have everyone there cheering him on.         

The girls received their Dual Language Immersion Bi-literacy pin at the DLI end of year ceremony. They also had a wonderful performance. It's so fun to see these performances and all the hard work the teachers and students put into it. The girls kept checking to make sure we could go to the ceremony from the moment the date was announced. Of course, we wouldn't miss it but Lucy had a surprise that she didn't want us to miss. She was selected to do a speech in front of all the students, family and friends at the ceremony discussing the DLI program and how it has impacted her. She even wrote the speech herself! She practiced at home and at school every day and at the ceremony she bravely got up in front of over 200 people and gave this speech in perfect Spanish. We were so proud and her delivery is impeccable. Such an amazing kid!   Ms. Lara The girls and Saida, one of their good friends Mrs. Martin

That's a wrap for Third Grade! The girls finished strong and had another amazing school year. We loved Mrs. Martin and Ms. Lara who were the cutest fun teachers for the girls. The girls were so independent this year. The homework they did all on their own, their writing has really come a long way this year and projects were all on them. I can't believe how independent, responsible and mature they are. Even their confidence in speaking in front of people in both English and Spanish improved! Their reading is basically a 5th/6th grade level in English and Spanish. Their biggest accomplishment this year was getting the most AR points in all of the 3rd grades. Both girls ended the year with over 200 AR points! They are bookworms and even their teachers were so excited for them. They even commented on how Kevin and I should own a bookstore for the number of books the girls go through in a year. We're so happy we tried separating the girls this year. They thrived and adap...