My History Lessons

My cousin did this on her blog and I instantly wanted to copy the idea. I didn't do it very instantly, but I'm finally getting around to it. School starts tomorrow and in honor of the last day of summer break I'm going through my elementary school history.

Me playing Jill of Jack and Jill

Kindergarten
School: Yacolt Primary
Teacher: Mrs. Harp
Memories: I loved kindergarten and Mrs Harp was the quintessential kinder teacher. We played with cardboard brick-looking blocks and had a 'house' center that I loved to pretend to cook in. We made tons of fun art projects and on the last day of school, after all the students left and my mom and I were in Mrs. Harp's room (which was special), I lost my first tooth.

First Grade
School: Yacolt Primary
Teacher: Mrs. Miller
Memories: This year I was out in a brown portable. I don't remember much from this year except getting my hair cut with my awesome owl scissors by another student.

Second Grade
School: Yacolt Primary
Teacher: Mrs. Belt
Memories: I remember making peanut butter dough to break into little balls and use in learning my times tables. I just remember that it was so delicious and after we were done using it for math, we got to take it home with us and eat it. I remember eating most of it while waiting for my brother to be done with tae kwon do.

First day of school

Third Grade 
School: Yacolt Primary
Teacher: Mrs. Belt/Mom
Memories: I think this was the year (and maybe last year too) that I was home schooled part time and went to school part time. I also remember making a diorama of the solar system. This year my class was a 2/3 split and I remember I enjoyed helping the second graders with their work. I also remember doing almost anything I could to avoid recess. At home we did all kinds of hands-on learning, specifically during a pioneer unit. Things like making our own butter and washing clothes on a wash-board.

Working hard.

Fourth Grade
School: Homeschool in Wyoming/Yacolt Primary
Teacher: Mom/Mrs. Cushing
Memories: This year we moved to Wyoming for part of the year, and we were homeschooled. In WY we lived in this tiny little town that had a tiny little library. It was always a treat to walk down to the library and get to rent a new movie, most of which were John Wayne movies. When we moved back to Washington I was in Mrs. Cushing's class. We studied the Iditarod race and followed it very closely, I think because she was from Alaska.

Nap time, even in fifth grade.

Fifth Grade 93-94
School: Home/Immanuel Lutheran
Teacher: My mom/Mr. Barenclau & Mrs. B.
Memories: I loved being home schooled. My mom also babysat my best friend's little brother (who's mother was a teacher) and it was the best motivation ever to get my work done early. During this year  I also went to Idaho and finished the last month or so of the school year there. I had two teachers there and don't remember one of their names, just that they both started with a B. I remember feeling like going to the private school didn't matter, since in my mind, I had already done 5th grade at home with my mom. So I wasn't too worried about learning. In turns out that my teachers somehow thought that I was living with my cousins because my parents didn't want me and my poor motivation was because of that! We never did figure out where they got that impression.

Sixth Grade 94-95
School: Longview Christian
Teacher: Mrs. Schmunk
Memories: This was my favorite year of school. I made friends that I still have today and learned several life lessons. I loved my teacher and her love for teaching inspired me. She was the first person that ever insisted on calling me Jillian. I always liked my full name but my family and friends had only ever called me Jill. Mrs. Schmunk liked Jillian too, and I loved that she used it. It was in sixth grade that I realized I liked being the teacher's pet, and I liked being a good student. This year set the stage for the rest of my academic career.