Show & Tell Open House

Tonight was the Show & Tell Open House at Koen and Tavin's school.  Unfortunately, Doug had to be elsewhere, so that left me to take ALL the boys at bedtime to check out what Koen and Tav have been up to the first few weeks of school.  Penn was excited to see a little more about why Koen and Tavin have to leave him 5 times a week for this "school" thing, Janse was a trooper and rode it out in the BabyBjorn and I was happy to get to see Koen and Tavin in their element.  It really all went very well, especially when you factor in that Penn didn't end up napping today and Jansen woke up early from his afternoon nap.  I noticed that Koen was very friendly with kids he recognized whereas in the past he often would point out people he knew, but wouldn't want to call out and say hi.  Tavin was confident and so happy, he was very friendly as well.  It's a comfort to know that your kids are comfortable in their school environment and it's clear that that is the case for K & T.  

We visited the Kindergarten classroom first where Tav's teacher had a scavenger hunt setup to help the child lead the parent through all the high points of the room and their work that was displayed.  Talk about a teacher being on top of it!  Tavin loved showing it all off.  Here are a few highlights...  Tavin painted this life-sized self-portrait.

The first unit of the year is an all-school unit.  This year it is a bridges theme.  Perfect for my boys!  They get to build and learn about building, as well as get a lot of history about the bridges and steel industry of Pittsburgh.  Here's Tavin's bridge.

This is the "hopes and dreams" wall.  We had to send in our hopes and dreams for Tavin and he got to draw a picture of his hopes and dreams (which he told me was "learning math," which is the truth.  He talked about it all summer).

They've already started an alphabet journal.  They've been working on the letter A.  Here's Tavin showing me his journal and his seat in the classroom.

The Kindergartners have been learning the 7 days of Creation.  Tavin showed me his drawing of all 7 days and easily spouted off what they all were.  I was really impressed.  So blessed that the boys can be at a school that values God's Word and integrates it into their education.  PS - Check out Tav's drawing of Day 7, God rested.  God looks a little bit like a character from a horror movie, don't you think?  Precious! (Oh, and I blame the blurriness on Jansen.  He was trying to get my camera every time I tried to get a shot, it was not an easy photography night to say the least!).

Next we headed to the new space outdoors.  It's amazing the progress that has been made over the last year.  They have a covered area for an outdoor classroom and then green space for play and learning.  It's beautiful and very special for an urban school.

Then we visited Koen's classroom.  I try to be super sensitive to not embarrassing him, so I didn't whip out the camera in there.  I don't know if he would've minded, but it wasn't as much as an event as Tav's room anyways and well, I had a baby on me and Penn in tow and then keeping an eye on T & K, so there was enough going on!!

All in all, a great visit.  Looks like a great start to the year Koen and Tavin.  Thanks for sharing it with us.  We look forward to all you are going to learn this year and we pray that you will grow in the character of God and His wisdom most of all.  Love you!