Kindergarten is over

Well, Nate is officially a 1st grader!  Today was his last day of Kindergarten.  I can't believe that this school year has gone so fast.  It seems like just yesterday that it was his first day of school.  Matt and I were able to take the bus to school with him for orientation.  Nate was so crazy, running up and down the driveway while waiting for the bus to come.  I thought to myself "there is no way he is ever going to stay in one place and wait for the bus to come."  Matt and I were totally freaking out because he wasn't in preschool anymore.

Nate has come so far in 180 school days.  He has gone form running around the neighborhood while waiting for the bus, to either sitting or standing at the end of the driveway waiting in anticipation for the bus to arrive.  He absolutely loves school, and would walk around the house in the morning wearing his backpack as soon as he finished breakfast. 

Nate took the first 2 weeks to explore the entire school building, keeping his teachers on their toes while racing from his classroom to other rooms in the building.  They didn't know where he would end up once he took off.  Now he navigates the school with ease.  His teachers know that if it's time to go to art, gym, or speech, Nate will take off and wait at the door for everyone else to join him.

He is spelling, he recognizes words, does homework, has learned his math facts, and is using an amazing program on the iPad to communicate with his teachers.  He's settled down in the classroom.  At the beginning of the year he spent about 1/2 hour in the mainstream classroom with his peers.  By the end of the year he was in the room for the entire kindergarten day.   I'm so proud of all of his accomplishments and so excited that he kicked butt in mastering his IEP goals.

This past school year has been good for me.  I've learned to let go (a little) of my biggest monster.  I had such a hard time with him going to kindergarten.  Nate was going from a school of about 65 students, a school where he spent 3 years, a school where everyone knew him; to a school where everything was the complete opposite.  Surrarrer is not a school of 65 students, it is a K-6 building with hundreds of students.  He was entering his first year at a "huge" school and I was stressed.  No one at Surrarrer knew him, his quirks, his need to explore, or his issues.  I tried to prepare myself and his teachers as best as I could, but knew that there was only so much that I could do.  I had to let go, and I did.  Nate thrived. 

My baby is a first grader now, and I am one proud mommy.