Samantha's Kindergarten Graduation

Samantha graduated from kindergarten on May 15th, and it was such a bittersweet celebration for me.  While I loved seeing the excitement in her eyes and hearing it in her voice, a little part of me was sad feeling that she was growing up so fast.  She grew by leaps and bounds this year, physically, mentally and socially.  And next year, she will be in a new school (a bigger school!) attending class five WHOLE days a week.  She wants to go to first grade so badly and I have found comfort knowing that she loves that atmosphere. 

A quick family photo (using the timer on the camera) before heading to Sam's graduation:

Seeing Samantha in her cap and gown made her seem so much older to me.  In the blink of an eye, she will be graduating from high school ...  Sigh.

The proud parents with the graduate:

Samantha attended a small school for kindergarten and only had four students in her graduating class.  This was definitely a nice start for her, as it gave her more individualized attention and I felt that she really benefitted from it.

Natalie, the other girl in Samantha's class, insisted on having her picture taken with Samantha and Sophia -- Natalie really took a liking to Sophia this year!

I had tears in my eyes as this little girl processed into the church auditorium; as soon as she saw me, she became concerned.  I assured her that they were "happy" tears because I was so proud of her.

Sophia began reading the program and said to me, "Where my name, S-O-P-H-I-A?" 

In a couple of years, baby ... In a couple of years ...

The kids performed a couple of songs for us and did a slideshow with some pictures that we had supplied.  There were also pictures in there that had been taken throughout the school year.  It was adorable.

Then, it was time for Samantha to receive her diploma and a folder with some special awards and papers in it.  Samantha received the award for reading and for phonics.  She excels in that area.  (I just love the look on her face in this picture; she was so proud).

Moving their tassles to the other side to symbolize that they had graduated!

Some of the papers in her folder made me smile.  In November, her teacher had asked her to write down what she wanted to be when she grew up.  Of course, she chose that she wanted to be a teacher (like her mom).  Then, in May, her teacher asked her again ... to see if the answer had changed.  It had not.  She still wants to be a teacher!  But, I especially like the difference in her handwriting over the course of 6 months.

There was also a stark difference in her coloring from the beginning of the school year to the end.  Samantha didn't know it, but the teacher had just randomly given her these two sheets to color and then put both of them in her folder to show us the difference!  Amazing.

 

 

Her teacher also recorded her height and Samantha grew two inches from September to May.  She is such a tall girl for her age.

 

After the ceremony, we headed to the gym for some light refreshments,and to allow the kids to burn off some energy.  Jack chose to remain on the sidelines with a football, but he rarely took his eyes off all of the action.

 

Taking a small break for cake and lemonade:

 

 

I am so happy with the choice that we made to enroll Samantha in kindergarten this year.  With her birthday falling right at the cut-off date for enrollment, we made the ultimate decision to put her in a private school for this year before moving her to the public school next year.  She is more than ready for first grade and I know that she will do a great job!