How sweet is this?!??!! This is the letter Cooper wrote to Miss Laurent to say farewell to her and thank her for the amazing year! Every response was completely uncoached. My favorites are the "I Love You," and the "I'm sorry for talking when you talk."
This right here is the picture of a really sweet relationship. Cooper adores Miss Laurent. She was the teacher we never really knew to hope for--she went completely above and beyond our hopes and expectations in every little way. Cooper LOVES school and she is completely to thank for that! He loves to learn and he has learned to be a student in a classroom. His energy was used for good, and she saw the potential in him and helped him really soar. She was patient and kind and understanding and so energetic. She made learning fun and memorable for the kids! She taught him how to read and how to have an 'I can attitude' and how to manage his impulses and how to 'do' math in ways we didn't know he was ready for. Words didn't seem to do justice to the thanks we feel we owed her at the end of the year.
This big guy on his LAST day!! He got to rock his tie shoes, even though he still needs some practice tying them on his own.
One thing Miss Laurent did that I loved was keep a private Facebook page just for room parents. She posted dozens of pictures and videos each week, and it gave us a glimpse into the classroom. Cooper wasn't usually very talkative about his days, and this gave us a chance to know just what to ask in the evening. He also loved talking us through the pictures when she posted some. She would post fun group photos, but would also post cute classroom moments and curriculum explanations and learning activities. It was so awesome to have all year!
Here are a few photos from throughout the year. This is a taste of literally hundreds (maybe 1,000?) photos she posted this year!
Homecoming dress up days: Wacky Hair Day
Sports Day
Teddy Bear Day is a special day in Kindergarten. He got to read to his bear, do some math about his bear, and take it everywhere he went all day. As an added treat, it was also PJ day!
This was Wacky Day in kindergarten. The kids got to do their own facepaint at school. The got to run down the halls and do other crazy things they aren't normally allowed to do at school. I bet Miss Laurent needed a tall glass of wine that night...
Field trip to the Mankato Children's Museum.
Of course she caught Cooper watching the snake!
Miss Laurent is a HUGE MN Gopher wrestling fan. She had three local wrestlers from the team come into her classroom for most of one day to interact with the kids: Michael Kroells, Brett Pfarr, and Chris Pfarr. This was a big part of her 'I can attitude' teaching base! She related lots of things to wrestling throughout the wrestling season, including math equations and life lessons about winning, losing, and working hard.
On the day of the first snow, she didn't close the window blinds and try to go on with classroom learning as usual... she embraced the snow and had them dress up and go catch flakes on their tongues. Cooper couldn't stop talking about how they ran around like crazy on the blacktop by the playground to celebrate.
This is a link to Cooper's 5-finger story. I can't figure out how to get the video on my own, so hopefully this link works!!
https://www.facebook.com/jenny.olson.524/videos/1071705066309265/
Here's a couple examples of how she constantly made learning for for 5- and 6-year-olds! Scarf spelling and motorcycle spelling :)
https://www.facebook.com/jenny.olson.524/videos/980403678772738/
https://www.facebook.com/jenny.olson.524/videos/1013083702171402/
For field day, all the kids get matching shirts and get bussed to the High School football field/track. I even got to sneak over for an hour to see what they were up to!
Buddies! Graham, Madon, Jaxson, Cooper, Jeremiah, and Colton.
Last day picnic at the park behind the HS.
Cooper had a great year. He is a little smartie and we are excited to see what 1st grade brings!
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