her last day of junior kindergarten

I can hardly believe 9 months has passed already, since Lilah started Junior Kindergarten.

I remember my husband and I gushing in our first interview with the teacher about how much Lilah had learned and how much she was growing, even though she had only been in JK for 3 months at that stage. Her teacher, Diane, told us that Lilah's first school year would be a huge 'learning' year, probably the most dramatic year, where we would watch our child grow at an incredible pace.

It's true. Not only intellectually, but socially, emotionally and physically we have watched Lilah grow, alongside her peers. Here are a few things on her report card that jumped out at me, they are so definitely our girl...

: Social Development: Lilah is a very eager student who demonstrates a positive attitude towards learning. She is eager to please. She is exceptionally self-motivated and self-reliant. She occasionally requires reminders about the appropriate times to socialize with her friends! (Ha!) She has very strong opinions. (Oh man!) She independently selects and completes a wide variety of learning tasks with care and attention to detail.
: French: She demonstrates excellent focus and enthusiasm.
: Science: She consistently demonstrates curiosity and a willingness to explore.
: Art: She greatly enjoys creating her own masterpieces.

There was a lot more on the report card, more about the different things she can complete, identify, etc.

Lilah had a pretty tough teacher this year too. We thought she was tough, but Lilah simply adored her and thrived under her style of teaching - even though Lilah is in the public school system, her teacher is somewhat an alternative teacher and puts more emphasis on independence and nurtures the children's strengths. She is a no nonsense teacher and she definitely calls things as they are. So that being what it is, I was pretty thrilled with the report card. I knew there certainly wouldn't be any fluff in it!

Lilah most certainly had a very happy first year of school.