(A recreation of a first-day-of-school pic from 2014.)
Aaaaaahhh! It's my favorite time of year!! {Although, truth be told -- I seem to have a LOT of favorite times of the year. Haha.} We declared Thursday and Friday to be our official last days of school for 2019-2020 and there were no complaints. Hahahaha. Technically, the older three WERE done on Thursday, since neither the high school or the junior high held final exams this year due to the quarantine. Alex and Jane still have next Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, but it's supposed to be all fun and games since their AMI finished on Friday.
Perhaps it's because they're stuck at home with me and there's nothing else pulling them away, but this year's last-day-of-school photo shoot and interview session were the most cooperative they've ever been! I photographed the older three on Thursday and the younger three on Friday and had them all fill out my end-of-year survey in various stages throughout the day yesterday. I decided to mix things up this year and generate new questions rather than stick with the ones we use pretty much every year. Their answers were enlightening and entertaining all at the same time. Hahahaha. I've tried my best to capture responses precisely how they were given to me, so you're welcome. Hahahahaha. Without further adieu...
Ethan -- Last Day of 11th Grade
- How would you rate your school year on a scale of 1-10?
- What was your favorite and/or coolest thing you did or learned this year?
Me: You want to elaborate?
Ethan: "Calculus"
- What will you miss most about this year?
Me: That's the next question
Ethan: "Ummmmmm..."
- What will you NOT miss at all?
- What will you tell your children about the Coronavirus Quarantine of 2020?
Ethan: "I think that quote sums it up"
Me: But what exactly about it was the best and the worst?
Ethan: "Less work, but more work; if you know what I'm saying"
Me: (I don't know what he's saying)
- Describe this school year in one word --
Ethan: "STRESSFUL"
(I can't believe he's a senior now.)
Grace -- Last Day of 9th Grade
(Grace was the last to actually fill out the survey seeing as to how she slept in until noon yesterday. I took the liberty of filling out her answers for her, and I was laughing at how close I was to nailing most of them. I'll put MY responses for her in italics.)
- How would you rate your school year on a scale of 1-10?
Grace: 10
- What was your favorite and/or coolest thing you did or learned this year?
Grace: "I mean..."
Grace: "Ummm, it's not like you learn interesting stuff in school."
Grace: "Well, I guess we had some fun biology labs"
Me: (Laughing) Seriously? That's your answer?
Me: (She says I got her answer totally wrong -- she actually hated in between seminary and school, because that was when she had to cram in finishing all the homework she never did at home.)
- What will you miss most about this year?
Grace: "Nothing really"
Grace: "I'll still have Ms. C and Ms. S next year and Mr. W I could maybe get next year for pre-calc"
Grace: "Oh! Photography class is what I'll miss the most!"
Me: (I'm giving myself partial credit for this one -- She mentioned Mr. W and Ms. V is her photography teacher.)
- What will you NOT miss at all?
Grace: "Definitely Geometry"
Grace: "And my teacher"
Grace: "That class was absolute garbage"
Me: (I guess I picked the wrong math. Hahaha.)
- What will you tell your children about the Coronavirus Quarantine of 2020?
Me: (It sucked.)
Grace: "Ummm. Well. I don't know."
Grace: "Like, I'll be dramatic about it."
Me : (😂)
- Describe this school year in one word --
Me: (Dank)
Grace: "EVENTFUL"
Grace: "Mom -- I don't use the word dank"
(Possibly my favorite picture ever of these three.)
Sophie -- Last Day of 7th Grade
(The precursor to the interview -- )
Me: Come on Sophie, this will be fun! You'll be able to look back on your answers years from now!
Sophie: "Will it, mom? Will it be so fun to look back on my stupid answers for this year?
- How would you rate your school year on a scale of 1-10?
Sophie: "I don't know. Like a 7?"
- What was your favorite and/or coolest thing you did or learned this year?
Me: What about dance?
Sophie: "There's nothing favorite or cool about dance."
Me: What about yearbook?
Sophie: "I can't think of a favorite...I don't know, mom. I don't know."
- What will you miss most about this year?
Sophie: "My teachers."
Sophie: "And the 8th graders in yearbook."
- What will you NOT miss at all?
Sophie: teacher's name
Me: (Said teacher's name was redacted at Sophie's request because she doesn't want to hurt anyone's feelings on the off-chance that they read this blog.)
- What will you tell your children about the Coronavirus Quarantine of 2020?
Sophie: (Pondering)
Sophie: "Um. That it sucked and ruined everyone's life and you can't hang out with friends and it wasn't as bad as people make it seem."
Me: What? That doesn't even make sense. What wasn't as bad as people make it seem? The Coronavirus?
Sophie: (With aggravation) "NO!"
Sophie: "The quarantine wasn't as bad as people make it seem."
Sophie: "The Coronavirus sucked."
- Describe this school year in one word --
(She'll be here all year, ladies and gentleman!)
Jane -- "Last Day" of 5th Grade
- How would you rate your school year on a scale of 1-10?
Jane: "Second semester was a 1. Because of AMI."
- What was your favorite and/or coolest thing you did or learned this year?
Jane: "Well, no, we didn't divide decimals that much."
- What will you miss most about this year?
- What will you NOT miss at all?
- What will you tell your children about the Coronavirus Quarantine of 2020?
- Describe this school year in one word --
Jane: "So many words come into my head!"
Jane: "Hmmmm"
Me: (Laughing)
Jane: (Also laughing) "Mom, stop!"
Jane: "QUARANTINE. Boom!"
Alex -- "Last Day" of 3rd Grade
- How would you rate your school year on a scale of 1-10?
- What was your favorite and/or coolest thing you did or learned this year?
Alex: "Just kidding, mom"
Alex: "My field trip"
Me: What field trip?
Alex: "To the Wayside School play"
- What will you miss most about this year?
- What will you NOT miss at all?
- What will you tell your children about the Coronavirus Quarantine of 2020?
Alex: "Not those exact words, but still."
- Describe this school year in one word --
Alex: "Horrible"
Me: Alex -- come on!
Alex: (Laughing) "Just kidding!"
Alex: "FINE"
(We've got another comedian here.)
(These three were absolute clowns while I was trying to take their pictures.)
Isaac -- "Last Day" of Preschool
- How would you rate your school year on a scale of 1-10?
Me: Isaac -- how would you rate your school year on a scale of 1-10; 1 is the worst and 10 is the best.
Isaac: "No, 100 is the best"
Me: Okay. How would you rate preschool this year?
Isaac: "100"
- What was your favorite and/or coolest thing you did or learned this year?
- What will you miss most about this year?
- What will you NOT miss at all?
Me: (Apparently the soft blocks were the hit)
- What will you tell your children about the Coronavirus Quarantine of 2020?
Isaac: "Ummm. Played on the Switch."
Isaac: "Just Dance, actually!"
Me: (Throw in a bunch of PBS kids and other shows, and that does pretty much sum up his quarantine experience.)
- Describe this school year in one word --
Isaac: (Thinking) "FUN"
(Speaking of comedians...)
(I have no idea why this is his current go-to pose/facial expression for pictures. Hahaha.)
What a year it's been! The last 9 weeks of AMI ("alternate methods of instruction" -- basically online school assignments via Google classroom) have certainly been an interesting social experiment in our house. During the last week and a half, however, we had a fun deviation from the norm in the form of a party van! Hahahahaha. As I think I've mentioned in a previous post, Ethan had 3 AP exams he was studying for this year. Last week he took his Calculus AB and Chemistry exams and this week he took his last one in the form of APLAC (language and composition -- essentially an ELA [English/language arts] exam). Thanks to the coronavirus, this year's tests were a little bonkers since everyone was taking them online, at home. As such, the format was shifted a bit -- no multiple choice section, a shortened time frame (45 minutes as opposed to 3 hours), and only a couple of free response questions. We decided it was in Ethan's best interest for all of us to get out of the house while he was taking his exams. {He whole-heartedly agreed.} Our solution? A party van!! Haha. Our van has had all of the seats taken out of it for the last 2 months thanks to needing to haul away a bunch of junk from our garage and then not needing to go anywhere with the whole family since quarantine started. So, while Ethan was buckling down and getting those tests aced, I took the rest of the kids out for a drive-thru lunch and then a screen fest session (using my phone's hotspot) while we parked somewhere nearby. It was a hit. :)
(Pillows and blankets were a must -- obvis.)
(There's Isaac making that face again. Hahahaha.)
(Between the Switch, laptops, phones, and other personal devices, it was most definitely a screen fest.)
(Last time in the party van.)
(Finally finished with the last exam!)
(Final verdict? He felt great about the Calculus and surprisingly good about the APLAC. The Chemistry was harder than the other two, and I know he's stressed about his score, but I'm sure he'll do just fine.)
Other end-of-school-year fun would have to include Isaac's last Zoom meeting with his preschool for music time and me getting to brush up on my Algebra 1 skills as I helped Sophie with her last set of assignments for school. {It actually WAS fun -- not gonna lie. Hahahaha.} For the very "last" day of school, Sophie wanted to celebrate with a cake. {She's really into baking and cooking these days.} She went all out with the decorations and Grace jumped in on the action as well. It made for a fun and festive Friday afternoon/evening. :)
(He was so excited to see his friends.)
(Who would have ever thought I'd use Algebra again later in life? Hahaha.)
(There IS a cake buried underneath all those decorations up there, believe it or not.)
(The irony is that Sophie can't even eat the cake because there are eggs in it. She CAN eat the frosting, however, and she's been known to mix up a batch of icing every now and then to eat straight out of the bowl. Haha.)
Well, that's all I've got, folks! It's been quite the school year. Here's to the start of an equally interesting summer!!
