First Day of Preschool!

 
She was very excited. I woke her up that morning and she smiled a big smile. She wanted to wear her new pink dress and had me fix her a cheerleader ponytail. I had made her a new bow and she was so excited about that too. The night before the room was empty and the walls were bare. We did everything after she went to bed so she was very surprised. The first week our theme was I’m Special and we practiced the verse, ‘I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made…’Psalm 139:14.

I am having a lot of fun with her, but it’s also harder than I thought. It’s sometimes a challenge to keep her on task and not give in when she says, “I just want to be lazy today.” She’s very teachable though, which is great for me. I pretty much only have to tell her something once and she’s got it. She came into preschool with a pretty good knowledge of the basics. She’s very excited to learn to read. We work on sight words and sounds and I am trying to throw in some blends for her here and there. I don’t think it will be too long. We do fun songs and games and read lots of books, and she loves calendar time. Mondays and Wednesdays are our regular school days from 8-11. Tuesday is our field trip/playdate/park/Maimee’s house day. Thursday is chick-fil-a and tap and ballet class and Friday is Bible school from 8-10. We do an art project in the afternoon. So far this is working and gives us some variety and also gets us out of the house.

So obviously this preschool classroom is in our home. Chris and I have decided that I will teach the kids at home for preschool-1st grade. That’s the plan as of now. We will have to take it year by year, but that’s what we feel is best for our family. I won’t go into all the reasons we chose to homeschool for a little while. I’m trying not to feel the need to defend our decision, although there has been some naysayers so I do need just a short minute to vent a little. Let me assure you my children will not be behind academically, because of my teaching. I do have a degree in Early Childhood Education and taught Kindergarten and first grade not that long ago. I’m not worried about my abilities and I do get my feelings hurt when other people act as if they are concerned that my kids will get behind.

I love the privilege of being home with my babies. Homeschooling will give me the chance to keep them here just a little longer. Mckenzee will do two years of preschool and then start Kindergarten because of her birthday. Riley will begin preschool as she starts Kindergarten and will be in Kindergarten when she goes off to 2nd grade at school. This will allow me to not have more than one grade school child that I am responsible for teaching at the same time.