A Few Random Thoughts on Pace’s Final Day of Grade One
At the beginning of the year, the teacher said that any kid who read 300 books would get a prize at the end of the year. Pace ended up reading around 400 books (and probably more that we didn’t always remember to write in his reading log), got a pretty cool “Thunder Maker” toy as his prize and came in second behind a girl who read over 500 books. He was cool with this as he pointed out “First the worst, second the best.” Can’t argue with that logic. I’m cool with it too as it reminded me of one classmate who always beat me in any English-related contest – I went on to be a librarian but she went on to be a PhD English prof so again, “First the worst, second the best!” 😉
With that much reading, it’s been amazing to see his reading, writing and comprehension explode through the year. A highlight was when we left him reading in his bed the other night and he told Shea, “Hey mom! I can read without talking out loud now!”
Pace has a much more diverse school experience than I ever had and he’ll be all the better for it – lots of First Nations classmates and neighbours, new immigrants from everywhere from the former Yugoslavia to Pakistan to various African countries and more.
One difference with my new job is that I have some evening and weekend work. The good thing about that is I have occasional Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays off when I can pick Pace up from school. Nothing more exciting than hearing the bell ring and watching the kids charge out the door plus the look on Pace’s face when I’m there to pick him up.
I think Shea and I are really excited for summer holidays too – two whole months without needing to have nightly rushes to make lunches, do homework, sign agenda books, do any required paperwork, etc.
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