Ryan, the Navy Officer

Ryan dressed the part of the subject of his biography - that's a real naval officer's uniform that he picked up at the annual scout rummage sale.

Glee

Ryan signed up for the after school Glee program at our elementary school this year. He's been busy practicing these songs:

"Don't Stop Believing"

"Total Eclipse of the Heart"

"Defying Gravity" which came from the musical Wicked.

Mission San Francisco de Solano

In California, one of the subjects covered in fourth grade is the history of California missions. These missions were significant in the early history of what is now California. The establishment of these missions led to missionaries being sent to California by the Spanish government and forever changing the state's history.

The teaching of this part of California's history in schools has not been without controversy. Critics have pointed out that in instances the teaching has been sanitized of some of the less palatable elements of the relationship between these new Americans and the Native Americans. Missionaries converting the natives to Catholicism using techniques viewed by as being overly coercive. Natives attacking missions and then suffering for such actions.

General Mariano Vallejo was responsible for establishing Mission San Francisco de Solano in what is now Sonoma, California. Later in life, Vallejo played a key role in the conversion of California from a Mexican district to a State, including naming of the counties in California.

It turns out that Mission San Francisco de Solano would be the last of the 21 missions established in California. It was also the only mission that was established after Mexico's independence from Spain. It was the last mission established because of the secularization of the missions.

Ethan along with the other fourth graders visited Mission San Francisco de Solano. The field trip included sketching the mission, a visit to the barracks, a visit of the mission, lunch in the town square, and a short walk to Vallejo's home. The interesting aspect of the field trip was that Ethan's class only saw one of the other two classes just once until the end of the field trip when it was time to re-board the buses.

The songs in the slide show below are "El Album" by Aterciopelados (a folk band from Columbia) and "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" by Green Day. Enjoy!

The End of Another School Year

The end of the school year comes with a flurry of field trips and end of year activities. For us, the activities have included a visit to the Smith Family Farm, the Exploratorium in San Francisco, Los Vaqueros Dam and Reservoir, the 3rd graders' flute performance, the 1st graders' "How Does Your Garden Grow" musical, a preschool musical parade, the Boy Scouts bridging ceremony for Tiger Cubs to Wolf Cubs, and the Girl Scouts bridging ceremony for Brownies to Junior Cadets just to name a few. Now bring on summer!

The Last Day of School!

Here's what Naomi has to say about her last day of 2nd grade:

The last day of school was very busy.Miss Andrews put lots of old crafts and writings in bags for us.We got to watch a video.We went into the office and gave her a book with writings that my class wrote.Then we went into Miss Catalini's room.In Miss Catalini's room we got to watch cartoons and eat pan cakes.When we got back to the class room,Miss Andrews gave flowers to the parents that helped.We played two different games Zip-Zap and The Boss.At The end of school I couldn't carry all the stuff I needed to take home.My mom had to help.When I went out I knew she would come to my swim meet.I had fun that day!

Returning to School

It was the first day of school for Naomi and Ethan. Dorothy (and Ryan) took the two to their first day of school. Being a mom and kids event seems to be the norm for many. This was Ethan's first day at the big kids' school (as opposed to the little kids' school - preschool). He was quite familiar with the routine having spent the past two years helping mom to walk Naomi to first kindergarten and then to first grade. There still were moments of uncertainty for him though - not wanting to be left alone because Dorothy had to walk Naomi to her room. "Ethan, you'll be okay in the playground." The kindergartners have their own cordoned off playground separate from the rest of the elementary grade kids.

Dorothy remembers having her mom take her to school. She remembers the apprehension that comes with being thrust into a new situation not knowing anyone. She remembers her mom telling her to sit next to some boy who was known to her family.

My memories of first school days in a small town in Alaska are quite different. The first day of school was just that. There was no apprehension about not knowing anyone, maybe just a little about what desk you would have or who would be your teacher. There were no parents - just all of us kids.