Last Week of School (Part 2)

In case you missed it...Last Week of School Part 1
Tuesday and Wednesday of last week we celebrated 2 milestones in the Montessori philosophy.

{Background info}Most Montessori schools are broken into 3 levels of blended grades - Primary (3K-5K), Lower Elementary (1st grade-3rd grade) and Upper Elementary (4th & 5th grade). They stay with the same teacher and classmates for up to 3 years. Upon completion of each level the students participate in a Bridging Ceremony. The ceremony marks the transition from one level to the next. It serves as a graduation of sorts.

It was an exciting 2 days as we were celebrating Sam and Fulton's bridging ceremonies. Sam bridged from Lower El to Upper El and Fulton bridged from Primary to Lower El. I loved that they actually crossed over a cute wooden bridge from their current teachers and over to a teacher from the next level. Our awesome principal read a sweet book to the students and parents. My favorite of the two was Koala Lou! OH MY WORD! The ladies on our row were blubbering like fools.

I can't believe how quickly time has passed. It seems like just yesterday that I wrote this post on Sam's 1st day of 5K and now he's going into FOURTH GRADE! Something is terribly wrong here.

And this little guy will be in FIRST GRADE!!

What?!?!?

Any who... the bridging ceremonies were precious and were the gateway into another phase of my boys' lives. We have been truly blessed thus far with loving, Godly teachers who have helped foster my boys in their academic journeys.
Fulton's Bridging: Primary-Lower El
Ms. Turbeville has been a dream to work with. Fulton just adores her and her assistant Mrs. Brunson. I love knowing that his teachers have prayed for him and that they have helped build a young man with a great confidence academically. He is going to do great things in 1st grade.

{More Background info} The teacher on the other side of the bridge in the video when Fulton crosses over is my dear life-long friend Phoebe. We met in 5K and went all the way through school together. I loved the parallel. She saw me through all my years of schooling as a friend and now she's there to see my boys go through. They say it takes a village...I'm glad she's in mine!  

Sam's Bridging: Lower El-Upper El
Sam's journey through Lower El has been an amazing transformation. He left his preschool and went to big boy school at a traditional public school. When we got the phone call that he had been selected through the lottery to attend the public Montessori school (located behind our house - no less) we jumped at the chance. His transition was a little rocky at first, but he has fallen head over heels in love with his new teacher Ms. Boozer (with whom I think he's a little smitten) and her assistant Ms. Rickenbaker (who has seen him through all 3 grades) and he has really wowed us. They have been so good to Sam and VERY hard to top!

 We topped our crazy year-end off with lots of hugs, as the boys will be moving on to new levels, classes, classmates and teachers.

Finally... I love doing a comparison in on the 1st day of 5K and the last day to see how much the boys have grown. I did Sam's here back in '09. Here's Fu-bird's-

So school is out for SUMMER and the Bakers are ready!!!

Stay tuned for the 2012 Baker Summer Games ;-)