Grading period three at BASIS Phoenix Primary concluded for the kids in mid-January. We are officially halfway through the school year. Scary! The kids had a pretty good first half of the school year. Both kids still love to go to school, which is great. Our days are full of homework, spelling tests, vocabulary tests, Science projects, Connection projects, art drawings, and concert rehearsals. And, this year has included some fun challenges that have made Josh and I have to work harder in the parenting department. There are definitely days that I wished these little people came with operational manuals.
Madilyn is the optimal student. She loves to learn and help in the classroom. She wants to make her teachers happy and will readily do her homework (except on those days that her brother doesn't have any and then she finds life very unfair). But, she continues to struggle with learning some key math facts and concepts, but she doesn't give up and is gaining better fluency and understanding every week. Madilyn's LET, Mrs. Luther, is an amazing teacher and has proven to be Madilyn's number one advocate. We *love* Mrs. Luther! She and Madi have even set-up extra math study sessions and have created customized testing parameters to allow Madilyn to feel successful.
Aiden, on the other hand, is excelling in all of his classes. However, we have had some behavioral issues this year. For many weeks in a row, Aiden was coming home from school with "yellow" stickers in his communication journal. The issues seem to have been a result of a combination of things: boredom, an easy to frustrate teacher (who is no longer at the school) and a classmate who roped Aiden into mischief. But, we seemed to have figured out the root causes and Aiden seems to be behaving much better now.
Here are some of the cool things that our kids have been doing during the past grading period:
Madilyn is the optimal student. She loves to learn and help in the classroom. She wants to make her teachers happy and will readily do her homework (except on those days that her brother doesn't have any and then she finds life very unfair). But, she continues to struggle with learning some key math facts and concepts, but she doesn't give up and is gaining better fluency and understanding every week. Madilyn's LET, Mrs. Luther, is an amazing teacher and has proven to be Madilyn's number one advocate. We *love* Mrs. Luther! She and Madi have even set-up extra math study sessions and have created customized testing parameters to allow Madilyn to feel successful.
Aiden, on the other hand, is excelling in all of his classes. However, we have had some behavioral issues this year. For many weeks in a row, Aiden was coming home from school with "yellow" stickers in his communication journal. The issues seem to have been a result of a combination of things: boredom, an easy to frustrate teacher (who is no longer at the school) and a classmate who roped Aiden into mischief. But, we seemed to have figured out the root causes and Aiden seems to be behaving much better now.
Here are some of the cool things that our kids have been doing during the past grading period:
- In December, both kids performed in the Winter Showcase. It was a very short performance showcasing what they have been learning in music and art.
Madi before the Winter Showcase
On the risers...
Singing.
Madi's art project on display
Aiden before the Winter Showcase
On the risers
Singing (maybe?)
Where's Aiden?
Aiden's art project on display
- Aiden learned about the Chinese New Year in Mandarin class this past January. The class created a giant paper dragon and learned how to make dumplings.
- Madi studying extra hard with some of the girls from her class.
- Madi's class field trip to the Phoenix Art Museum.
- In Connection class, Madilyn had to create a toy including the blueprints, the instructions on how to use it and the actual toy.
Madilyn with her watering toy
The toy in action
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