School updates

First Day of School - 2016 - Hawaii

Let's back track for a minute. 

The summer flew by and the kids started school at the beginning of August. This year brought about a few changes. It seems like this is the year for change! Abigail started fourth grade, and Austin transitioned to middle school for the start of seventh grade. 

MIDDLE SCHOOL! 

I can't quite wrap my brain around that one. The transition to middle school has been a little bumpy, but he's learning to navigate changing classes during the day and the increased responsibilities that middle school brings. I'm hoping that he will adjust by the time we move to Kentucky. Most schools on the mainland transition to middle school in sixth grade, so his classmates will have an advantage over him and the whole middle school experience. I don't want him to get lost in the shuffle. His school has a very odd schedule, they only attend certain periods on certain days of the week. He recently started attending the after school program three days a week. During the first hour he does homework during the "tutorial" period, and then he transitions to robotics for the last two hours. The extracurricular activities are a motivator when it comes to getting his homework completed and because he is still in school, in a learning environment, his mind doesn't wander like it does at home. Overall, I think he's enjoying middle school and my heart is starting to accept that he is growing up.

Abigail has adjusted seamlessly to attending school without her big brother there. She's fiercely independent and excelling just as she has the entire time she's been in school. She has been doing some testing for the enrichment program at her school for the past week. She has an interview today and she'll know if she get's into the program on September 30th. Her acceptance into the testing process, and possibly the program, was based on her grades from last school year and recommendation from her teacher. She is very confident in herself and will be anxious to hear if she gets into the program or not. If she is accepted, she will break out from her regular class during the school day and attend the enrichment class. In addition to work due in the enrichment class, she'll also be responsible to complete all of the work her regular class completes while she is out of the classroom. She was also selected to be her class's student counsel representative with another one of her friends. She had to prepare and give a speech to her class on why she would be a good representative. She was then nominated with the top number of votes. She's looking forward to moving, adjusting to her new school and running for student government.

Michael and I are also working hard to continue our education. Michael is just finishing up his last class for his bachelor's degree. He'll graduate at the end of the year. He's hoping to work on a master's degree once we're in Kentucky. I have one final math class to finish this semester before we move, and as I posted in my last entry, I'll be starting nursing school in January. We're getting smarter over here in the Ringman household!

The first days of school

Here are the pictures of the kids first days of school while we were still in Missouri.

August 2011

And Austin's first day of school in Alaska! Quite the difference in clothing!

October 2011

First Grade

Austin started school on Monday. Because we went on vacation to Michigan, he started a week and a couple of days late. So far he's jumped right back into it and this week is going well.

Again, we've transferred Austin on post to go to school. Once I get a job, he'll be attending the SAS program again after school, and possibly before school also. He's really excited about going to SAS again and he keeps bugging me about getting a job!

1st day of Kindergarten

Today was Austin's first day of Kindergarten! He got up at his normal time this morning, 5:30 am, and started with breakfast. Cinnamon sugar toast, yum!



And yes, he's wearing his Christmas jammies from 2 years ago! They are also two sizes too small, but he refuses to give them up!

After getting dressed, we headed outside to take some pictures.



This would have been a cute picture if he actually had his eyes open!



Since Austin was taking his Daddy to school in his backpack, Abigail had to take her Daddy to Miss Sole's house. She also had to pose for a picture, just like Austin.



We dropped Abigail off then headed to school. Because you can accompany your child into school the first day, we had to park in the housing area across the street from the school.



So off we went!



One of Austin's friend from the CDC was in his class. I made them pose for a picture together!



Once they got into their room, they were told to place their bags on their chairs and have a seat to wait for directions.



What a good listener! Ha!



I held it together, even while walking away from the school.



Thumbs up Mom! No tears on the first day, for either of us! :)



From the sounds of it, he had a great day. He was very excited that he doesn't have to take a nap in Kindergarten or at SAS (after school program). However, it all caught up to him on the ride home. It didn't take him long to fall asleep in the car!

I can't wait to see all that he accomplishes this year in Kindergarten!

The first day

It seems as though the first day of school went off without a hitch. I prepped myself the whole way to school, but it didn't seem to help in the moment I left my son at school for the first time. I really shouldn't be surprised, but I was an emotional wreck as I made a bee line for the doors heading out of the school into the parking lot. And of course, Austin did great!

From what we were able to get out of him, he had a great day at school. He was very excited that he got to ride a school bus to the Child Development Center (CDC) after school. The ladies at the CDC said he was great on the bus and was very polite while at the center. He was just finishing up his snack when I arrived at the center to pick him up.

Hopefully I'll be in a better emotional state when arriving at school tomorrow. I'm hoping to get a couple more pictures other then him standing by his clean underwear and walking to school! Tomorrow is the last day we can walk him into the school without getting a visitor's pass. After tomorrow, I'll be dropping him off at a circle drive where an aide will assist him with getting to his classroom.

He already knows his teachers name and is excited to take his own lunch in his backpack. (Which is on it's way!) He'll be in the swing of things in no time!

Now if I could only get him to stop growing up so fast...