Category Archives: Achievements & Milestones

Achievements & Milestones, Activities & Interests, Piano, Video

Piano Recital

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Alan performed “Ecossaise” beautifully today at the Music Settlement’s annual Suzuki Solo and Graduation Recital.  He’s becoming a pro at recitals now!

The performances were followed by the end-of-year picnic and awards presentation.  Alan was once again among those recognized for meeting the 100-day practice challenge.

After the event, Alan cashed in his Music Settlement scholarship with Magna-Tiles and Magtastix!

6/4/19 Update:  Alan performed a duet of “Berceuse” at John Carroll tonight with his Tuesday night Suzuki [method] partner, Pascal.  On Tuesdays this year at the Music Settlement, Alan played with both Pascal and George until George moved out of state midway through the year.

Achievements & Milestones, Activities & Interests, Piano, Video, Violin

Piano Recital

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Alan once again excelled at his end-of-year piano recital at the Music Settlement this afternoon.  With his parents and both sets of grandparents in the audience, he brought the house down with his rendition of “Little Playmates.”

Following the performance, we stayed for a picnic as well.  Alan was presented with his “100 Days” trophy, which he earned by practicing for 100 consecutive days!

6/5/18 Update:  Alan performed a duet of “Honeybee” at Cleveland State tonight with his Tuesday night Suzuki [method] partner, George.  On Tuesdays this year at the Music Settlement, Alan partnered with other kids to learn music collaboratively.  In addition to practicing the piano, Alan was able to watch kids play other instruments, which has led to Alan’s new interest in learning how to play the violin.

Achievements & Milestones, Activities & Interests, Artwork, Video

Chinese Class

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The Spring session of Chinese (Mandarin) class at the Cleveland Public Library came to a close today.  After missing most of the Fall session because of basketball, Alan returned this Spring without missing a beat.  Alan paid attention very well and was one of the best students of the class.  It was no easy task with class sandwiched between piano lessons and fun evenings with Grandma, Tyler and Carleigh.

Over the last 4 weeks, Alan learned….

Colors:

Body Parts:

Sports! (Alan is demonstrating basketball, or “lan qui”):

And Seasons!

Alan learned a lot during language study time (first hour of class), but perhaps his biggest accomplishment of the Spring was how well he did with the martial arts portion (second hour of class).

Sometimes the class played games during the second hour.

Other times they were serious about learning martial arts.

  

After not wanting to participate initially, Alan later started to master the learned sequences.  In the final session today, the class divided in half for a team competition.  Alan was the leader of his half and led his team to victory!  After class, Alan demonstrated his winning moves one more time. 🙂

1st Grade, Achievements & Milestones, Activities & Interests, Artwork, Legos

Student of the Week

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The week of January 29th through Feb 2nd was Alan’s week to be the featured student of the week in Mrs. Russo’s class!

On Monday, Alan turned in his “Emojis About Me!” poster, in which he revealed his favorite subject (tie: gym and library), animal (Lulu), hobby (learning music), holiday (Christmas), food (Chinese bean sprouts), and sport (tie: baseball and basketball). Alan also worked in stickers/mentions of some of his other favorites, including parents, cousins, swimming, Cars 3, the Hot Wheels Super Ultimate Garage, and Tribe Fest!

On Tuesday, Alan brought in one of his “Lava Crawler” Lego vehicles (pictured on the far left below) for show-and-tell.

On Wednesday, Alan brought in one of the books we bought at last fall’s book fair – Ten Baby Bears – to share with his class.

On Thursday night, Alan compiled 100 loose Lego pieces as part of a homework assignment to collect and bring in 100 items in honor of the 100th day of school (Friday)!

On Friday, Alan’s big week culminated with his parents visiting class to help him present his poster.  We shared pictures and told stories about Alan.  I made sure to bring pictures of Tyler, Lulu & Rosie, the Super Ultimate Garage, Alan meeting Jose Ramirez, and Alan in his LeBron jersey. Then the class presented Alan with a “star student” book that they made. It was full of nice comments about Alan, which he loved to hear.

Alan was all smiles with his arm around either Mom or Dad the whole time.  When I took out my camera, some of his friends, especially Ella, wanted in the pictures too!

Afterwards I got to take Alan to lunch.  He picked McDonald’s of course – our favorite hang out spot!

1st Grade, Achievements & Milestones, Alan's First, Awesome, Wildcats

Student of the Month

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Congrats to Alan, the student of the month representative from Mrs. Russo’s class for November!  Alan, along with the other five first grade winners, was invited to lunch with the principal, as his reward.

I was thrilled to see Alan’s smiling face come through on my Twitter timeline while at work this afternoon. Best post I’ve ever seen on social media. 🙂

Achievements & Milestones, Activities & Interests, Alan's First, Piano, Video

Alan’s First Piano Recital

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Alan rocked his piano recital today, playing the best version of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” I’ve ever heard.  Grandma Debbie & Papa and Tata & Papa were there to see Alan’s debut performance, along with Veronica and I.

Afterwards we stayed for the Music Settlement’s annual picnic.  Alan would later take home a certificate and a music note trophy to commemorate the completion of his first full year at the Music Settlement.  Way to go, Alan!

Achievements & Milestones, Alan's First, First Day of School, Kindergarten

First Day of Kindergarten!

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Today Alan kicked off his kindergarten year at Millridge, and I was there to enjoy it with him!  On the first day, as part of the “ease-in schedule,” parents attended an informational session in the cafeteria while the kids played in the gym.  Then afterwards, Alan and I took a practice ride together on a school bus around Mayfield.

Alan met his teacher, Mrs. Feldman, and saw his friends Joshua (who offered a big hug), Xavier, Riley, and Gabriel today — and even made a new friend named Noah!  Xavier and Noah will be in the same class as Alan this year.

Alan also saw Mrs. Schmid (a preschool helper) and told her all about his summer, including the trip to Disney World!

Onto another great school year at Millridge!

Kindergarten Sign

Achievements & Milestones, Kindergarten

Safety Town

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Today Alan took another step closer to being ready for Kindergarten.  He’s now a safety town graduate!

Alan was fortunate to have Natalee in his class with him this week.  He told me they sat together on the bus ride during the bus safety lesson because they are best friends.

Alan also told me his favorite activities of the week were when the kids got to go inside a police car and fire truck.  It was like a dream come true for him!

Achievements & Milestones, Preschool, Video

Next Stop: Kindergarten!

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Alan ended his preschool career today on a high note with a fun ceremony in Mrs. Jones’ classroom!

The day started off on a normal schedule for the kids, with the ceremony beginning at 10:00. Parents arrived while the kids were at recess, so we watched a year-in-review slideshow while we waited for them. When the kids returned from the playground, they marched in to the graduation song and took their seats.

After the kids sang three songs – one of which the parents were asked to sing along with (the “Head, shoulders, knees, and toes” song) — it was time to present certificates. The younger students went first, followed by the five kids moving on to kindergarten. Fortunately all five, which includes Alan, Natalee, Joshua, Ryleigh, and Meredith, will be back at Millridge together for kindergarten in the fall!

Once the ceremony was over, the parents of the five kids moving on to kindergarten were given 8 x 10 photos of their child wearing a cap and gown. I thought Alan’s photo turned out great!

It was so nice to watch Alan interact with his friends today. He gets along so well with his classmates and it’s a joy to see.

Can’t wait for kindergarten in the fall!

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Achievements & Milestones, Alan's First, Preschool

Accepted!

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Today Alan got the first admissions acceptance letter of his life!  I’m happy to announce that this fall he will be attending the Preschool Peer Mentoring Program at Millridge Elementary School!  He interviewed at the school in January during the application process.  As part of the program, Alan will be paired with a hearing impaired student and serve as his/her learning partner.  So proud of him!