class of...

Tonight was Ashtyn's kindergarten graduation! Now...if you don't already know then I am officially telling you that we recently made the decision to have Ashtyn repeat kindergarten next year. Ashtyn's teacher brought to our attention, right after Christmas break, that Ashtyn was a bit delayed academically and so we have been watching his progress very closely this last semester along with his teacher and just in the last few weeks of school (and after much thought, many tears and tons of prayer) we made the decision to go ahead and have him take "an extra special year of kindergarten" (as we told him!) When we initially sat Ashtyn down and had the talk with him about what would be happening with school he didn't take it very well. He was disappointed and didn't understand but eventually I think we came to some form of a meeting of the minds! When I knew we would have to talk to Ashtyn about this I got advice from his teacher and, of course, from my mom but I wasn't any less nervous. I had made up my mind that we would be completely honest with Ashtyn and just tell him the facts and keep it short and simple. I didn't want to fib to him and tell him that he was "extra special" and so "got to repeat kindergarten" or anything like that but when Ashtyn's eyes began to tear up I pulled out all the stops! With telling him everything from that "his brain would be bigger then all the other kids" to "he still only had to go to school half day" and the trump card "he can come home from school and instead of doing homework he can play video games and go to the zoo"...sigh! I know maybe it wasn't the most perfect way of explaining to Ashtyn what was going on but after a few days of minor break downs Ashtyn has finally come to terms with this decision and, as a matter of fact, not only has he NOT brought it up for over a week but he's so excited for summer that he doesn't even seem to care at the moment! I don't blame him!

Anyway, Ashtyn had already prepared to participate in his school's kindergarten graduation. His teacher told me that if it confused him to attend or if we didn't want him to participate that it wasn't required, but I talked to over with Ash and he really wanted to go! He had worked hard on learning his graduation song and wanted to get his certificate...so, we went! I will admit that it was a bit weird to sit there and see "Class of 2022" on the back wall knowing that Ashtyn would actually be the Class of 2023. Not to mention that we were seeing our son "graduate" from something that exactly one year from now we will be watching him graduate from again, but Ash really did work hard all year and he has greatly enjoyed kindergarten! He has achieved alot and made so much progress and that deserves honoring! Can you tell that Ash is proud???

We could tell when Ashtyn walked into the gymnasium that he was nervous. He does this thing where he licks his lips and looks all around the room when he gets anxious and he was doing it intensely! (I'm sure if you know Ash you can picture it right now!) But as soon as he found us in the audience his entire mood changed! He looked so proud and confident! He kept waving! It was overwhelming to watch him receive his certificate with his class! This year has gone by WAY too fast!

At the very end of the ceremony the kindergarteners had prepared a special "moving onto first grade" song for us! It was awesome! WAY too cute!

We are very proud of the progress Ashtyn has made during kindergarten this year! He has worked very hard and LOVES to learn! He even comes home and practices his letters on the chalkboard and has recently started sounding out words all on his own and trying to write them letter by letter! I see so much progress and so much future in him! Although, it was the hardest decision we've made as parents so far to make the decision to hold Ashtyn back for another year of kindergarten we know that it was the right choice. With his eagerness to learn and his love for school I know he'll flourish next year. Thanks to everyone for your support and words of encouragement throughout this process! We are so proud of you Ashtyn! And if mommy has anything to say about it, your brain REALLY IS bigger then all the other kids'!!!!