Today I put Z on the bus for last time, at least for Kindergarten. I remember putting him on the bus for the first time 9 months ago. I watched him square his shoulders, march to the back, and sit next to the window with the seriousness of a soldier reporting for duty. You could tell he felt like a grown up. All I saw was my little 5 year old who was changing right before my very eyes.

And change he did. Today he brought home some final assignments, one of which he had been working on since the beginning of the year.

The first page chronicled how he wrote his name and drew a self portrait the first week of school.

One of the final pages was the same thing except from the last week of kindergarten.

It’s amazing how much his hair and ears grew this year. Just kidding, it’s a lovely drawing.

At the beginning of the year he could write very short words and made attempts with sentences that he was already familiar with. He was reading books that were specifically designed for the earliest of readers. You know the kind, where the content is limited to three word sentences with three letter words like “Sam can sit”.

A year later and he is writing sentences like the ones from this worksheet.

Obviously he has some spelling to work on, but this is Kindergarten. He’s doing SUPERB if I do say so myself.

He loves to read and write stories. The other day he wrote an elaborate story which he labeled “non fiction” (in his own spelling) and it was all about his trip to New York City from over a year ago. As I was flipping through the pages I looked at my mom and I said “does this make you think of anyone one” hinting that it reminded me of myself at a young age and she agreed. He isn’t reading chapter books or anything, but when he is reading a story he doesn’t want to put it down and sometimes this calls for reading on the go.

I pray that this thirst for literature stays with him. Maybe it will, or maybe he will mellow out with age and that’s fine. I am glad though to see him start off on the right foot. Here is part of what I shared with Z’s teacher today in a thank you card I gave her.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better teacher for Z’s first year of school. He learned so much from you, but most importantly he learned to love school. What better way to kick off the next 12 years!”

I have had so many emotions going on this past week from this latest milestone after the struggle that we have been through to get to this place. I am grateful that we made it, and that God, as always, has been so faithful. It has been a great year for Z.

 I know that his school and his teacher were perfect for him during this season and I feel incredibly blessed. I am proud of my son.