Phoebe - School Activities - Jan. through March

Phoebe's last couple months of school were great.  She worked hard and got to participate in some fun programs and activities.

They learned about Kansas and Kansas history before Kansas day.  She made a very cute Sloth Valentine's bag for the class Valentine exchange party in February.

She did excellent on all of her spelling tests this year.

She wrote spelling sentences each week as part of her homework.

She worked hard in class and at home.  If there was an opportunity to earn extra credit, a prize, or a "no homework" pass, she took advantage of that and got the extra work done.

Eric was able to go to the school and eat lunch and ice cream with Phoebe and some of her friends a couple of times while he was on his 3-month sabbatical.  Below, Shawna, Phoebe, and Eric.

Phoebe was in the high math group for 4th grade.  She put in some extra work at home to work on homework and to figure out how to work problems and learn new concepts from math units this year.  Her hard work and dedication always paid off and are reflected in her scores and grades.

She decided to participate in the Girls On The Run (GOTR) program at her school again this spring.  They had started practices in February and were running together two days a week after school.  The practices would all lead up to the celebration 5k that would be held on May 9th.  Below, Phoebe and Shawna running at practice together.

There are girls from 3rd-5th grade that participate in GOTR from her school.

Below, the spring group of GOTR participants from our elementary school.

Below, the three 4th grade GOTR participants, Phoebe, Lila, and Shawna.

Phoebe won this crazy monster hat from the spring school fundraiser drawing.

Below, Phoebe is demonstrating a science experiment that she did/learned at school.  It was helping them learn about sound and vibrations.

The 4th and 5th graders put on a musical performance called "It's A Hit".  It had a baseball theme.  Lots of kids had speaking parts and some solos.  Each child dressed in team clothes.  They did a fantastic job!

The last song was called "All Stars".  Each child had a battery powered light and waved them around during this song.

Below, her grades can be seen and show how hard she worked for the three quarters of 4th grade.

For several weeks leading up to spring break, all of the 4th graders spent many hours researching, creating, and practicing for the 4th Grade Wax Museum.  Phoebe's project was on Nancy Landon Kassebaum.

The Wax Museum was held on March 13th, the last day of school before spring break.  (Little did we know that this would actually be the "last day of school" for this year.)

She did well standing by her poster that she made and decorated herself.  She was dressed as Nancy, and had memorized her speech and repeated it over and over for over an hour as children and adults filed through the gym listening to speeches and looking at all the displays created by the 4th graders.

Although the year did not end like we had hoped it would, due to the Corona Virus, it was still a great 4th grade year.  We were all sad and upset about the cancellation of the whole 4th quarter of all Kansas schools.  A few things that Phoebe expressed missing were her friends and teachers and playing on the playground.  She was upset that she didn't get to complete her goal (her goal was to run under 8 minute miles in both the fall and spring 1 mile fun runs).  She also let me know that she was upset and worried about her A.R. points.  She really wanted to continue taking A.R. tests, building points, and was looking forward to getting to shop at the A.R. store before school got out for the summer.  (We are hoping that the points students had worked hard for and accumulated will be carried over to the fall semester and they will have a chance to spend them then in the A.R. store.)  It was also frustrating and upsetting to her and I that the GOTR program had just gotten started and was completely cancelled too.  To finish and say good-bye the kids and I made a large sign to hold up during the school's "Good-Bye Parade".  We also celebrated with half price blasts from Sonic.

Phoebe is done with 4th grade and is moving up to 5th grade.

Silas - School Activities - Jan. through March

Silas had a good last couple months of school.  He kept working hard for his teachers and being a leader in his classroom.

He excelled in his reading and math classes.  His teacher and the school's gifted teacher provided some extra learning opportunities for him to expand and learn new things throughout the year.

He studied some of the nation's presidents around President's Day.

He did super good on Math Assessments.

I helped him make a Mahomes Valentine's box for his class Valentine party and gift exchange.

One day at school there happened to be enough snow for the first graders to build a small snowman at recess time.

He liked days when he and his classmates got to be creative and do some art projects and things to decorate the walls in their classroom and the hallways.

They learned about Kansas for Kansas Day.

In Technology they kept practicing their typing skills, and learning new computer skills.

While Eric was on his 3 - month sabbactical from work he went to the school and ate lunch with Silas and some of his friends a couple times.  Below, Silas, Caelyx, Eric, and Tyson, eating lunch and ice cream together.

His report card reflects his hard work.

His teacher gave him this picture of himself, from her, that said, "I love that you are not afraid to challenge yourself."

Right before spring break all of the first graders created Leprechaun traps at school.  Below is Silas's creation.  He brought it home to show us how it would work.

Although the school year did not end like we would have liked it to this year, due to the Corona Virus, it was still a good year of 1st grade.  We all were sad and upset about the cancellation of the whole 4th quarter of all Kansas schools.  Silas was most annoyed that he couldn't see and play with friends and was worried that he wouldn't get to play baseball for the spring/summer season.  He also told me he really missed playing the game "Sorry" with a special teacher in his classroom at indoor recess time.  We were able to do some school at home, "Hendrickson Homeschool", for 8 weeks and are now finished.  Bring on some baseball, friends, swimming and lake time, fishing, and a little traveling!  To finish and say good-bye we made a large sign to hold up for our elementary school's "Good-Bye Parade" and I took the kids to get half price blasts from Sonic.

Silas is done with 1st grade and moving on to 2nd grade.