Well, we made it to summer. Anya survived first grade and her first year at St. C's.
The school year started out a little rough for her, which was expected. It was a pretty big adjustment. She had initially made one close friend/"frenemy" and then took some time to branch out and try to get to know the other kids. She got along with most kids and played with many on the playground, but was mostly interested in having a "bestie". We had lots of playdates too try to speed up the process. By midyear, she branched out somewhat, and by the end of the year, I'd say she really blossomed socially. She seems to be well-liked by her classmates and loves school.
Academically, it was a good year. Lot of learning and she was up to the challenges. Having a wonderful teacher and assistants didn't hurt, either. She went from being a somewhat poor speller (in comparison to her peers) to earning "challenge words" regularly. It's not something that comes naturally to her, but she was motivated to work hard at it and reaped the rewards. What a great lesson for her.
All in all, Chris and I feel like the move to St. C's was a great choice for Anya - and us. It's a wonderful community. The teachers and staff are great. Everyone knows her, from the preschoolers to the eighth graders. And there's no fear of the "big kids". They are friends to her and look out for her. In fact, the other month some third graders witnessed someone being somewhat unkind to Anya on the playground. They stepped in, took Anya aside and let her know she didn't need to deal with that treatment. And they talked to the other child to stop the behavior -- all in a very mature way. I'm really grateful that she's in that kind of environment.
And now we've got summer ahead of us. A few weeks of lowkey days with playdates and parks and whatever we feel like doing. Then we're off to the east coast for a bit, then camps and the rest of summer will likely zoom by.
