Pre-school

Pre-school? Really? You might be thinking I am going crazy. I mean Angela isn't 2 1/2 yet. Well, since we've moved to Texas I've been hearing more and more about the schooling here. So here are a few of the things I've found out.
1) Kindergarten is all day everyday. Ok, so I guess this has been happening for a while, but WHAT? I'm not thrilled about this.
2) The school district I am in is very very good, but lots is required the first year. I guess preschool is now like kindergarten and kindergarten requirements are now closer to 1st grade standards. So instead of preschool being an option it is more like a requirement.
3) The private schools (that I was so excited to look into) are outrageous in price. Having gone to a private Christian school myself for elementary school, I was hoping to have that option for our girls. However, with the prices I have been seeing, even if we decided to make it work financially I feel like we should be saving that money for college. If we decide to send a child to Christian school pre-k to 12 we will have spent over 175,000 per kid before college. Does that sound crazy to anyone else? It kind of does to me.
4) I have met more home schoolers in this area than I have ever met before. Homeschooling is so big that at least half of the friends I have made so far home school their children.

SOOOOOOOO

We really haven't made many decisions yet. We still have lots of time, but I do know this.
1) I miss teaching.
2) I want to spend as much time as I can with my girls before a stranger has more time with them in a day than I do.
3) I want to have a big part in teaching my girls so that when we come to high school they can still see me as a partner in learning with them.
4) Learning and growing consist of more than just reading and writting. I want spiritual growth and God centered lessons to be a big part of thier learning.


SSSOOOOOOO

As I said we haven't made any real decisions yet, but we have made one. I will homeschool pre-school. Many of the mothers I know who do have kiddos in school started when they were little. The schools here or day cares start early lessons around 2 or 3 years of age. With so many of my new friends as home schoolers I have heard of lots of resources for lessons and have started to think back to my experience teaching in a kindergarten classroom as well. So all of this thinking paired with my excitement to get back into doing something other than moving or cleaning has equalled a week of getting lots done.

So first of all. to all of you who are still saying preschool already??? I agree it is too early. So I am not pushing anything. ( As a teacher I don't think that pushing a child to learn works...but we can discuss my theories about educational strategies someother time) So far I have created a few 'games' that she is welcomed to play with or not. I am just trying to provide educational experiences during play a bit more intensionally than before. So far we have done movement classes (which really has been something I've done with 2-3 year olds for a long time and have been doing with Angela for a while.), colors, numbers, and starting shapes. There is a website I've found (http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.com/) that has a link for what she calls Tot School. It is all about giving opportunities for your toddler to learn, develop motor skills, and be creative. I guess the key is to let it be child led learning and more about experiencing learning than being drilled about skills. These are learning stragies I've always been excited about. It is fun to actually have a chance to do them with my little girl.

So here are some of the little projects I've done this week. The first ones are what I call folder games. I came up with these based on some of the activites I would do with my kindergardners. The last two are par at of a tot pack that I downloaded from the sight http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.com/
( The last picture is just me being a proud mommy and bragging. I showed her how to trace the lines, but didn't think she really would. I just thought she'd color...go Angela!)

So lots has happened since I last posted. I guess lots usually happens in ten months, but I'd say these have been the craziest ten months I've ever had. So I'll just give a quick recap.
I think the last thing anyone really wants when they are seven months pregnant is for their husband to come home one day and say, " The company has decided to move us." WHAT? thats what was going on in my head at least. We had heard in April that we should expect 2-3 more years in Canada and just like that they changed their mind. Besides the fact that we were about to become a family of four, we had come to love our Calgary home. Moving wasn't going to be easy in any sense.
In the three years and three months that we lived in Calgary, Canada, we grew so much as a couple and quite literally as a family. It takes a lifetime for some to be given or to find what we had in three short years. The friendships that were built in that short time span will last a lifetime. For Andy and myself it was the first place that we called home as a married couple. For Angela and Charlotte it is a country they will always be able to claim citizenship to. The winters were freezing, but (and if you told me I would say this the first December I was there I wouldn't believe you) we were so looking forward to staying there as long as we possibly could. Ah I could go on and on about how we were blessed.
Well, July brought us our little Charlie Beth and we had a great rest of the summer celebrating her and hosting family who came to see her. Angela has loved her little sister since day one...and the big challenge has been to not let her hug or kiss her to death. We are so glad though that jealousy hasn't really been much of an issue. I know we are still in the middle of it, but at eight months Charlie can respond a bit and her and Angela are starting to play together. It is at moments like that that I am so glad we had them close together. The first few months were not easy ( not like its cake now...but we're better) but they have both been such a blessing.
So, with Charlotte being born it felt like the move just came quicker than expected and time hasn't slowed down since :) For some reason even though we knew we were moving the official paperwork didn't go through until October. This gave us a two day house hunting trip in mid October, move to USA date of November 1st, and a closing date on our house of November 29th. Yeah so Andy and I also turned 30 in the fall; we have yet to celebrate...but we will.
For the weeks before closing we were in a company apartment, which was beautiful, but for a 20 month old an 3 month old who suddenly didn't recognize anything or anybody it was hard. We did go back north to visit family for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Although that was hard to add travel to the mix it did allow our girls to see family and feel comfortable with familiar people.
We had some crazy night, some very stressful weeks, but through it all God was faithful. We feel so blessed with our new house and neighborhood. We have found a church here that we feel welcomed at and are excited to call home. Charlotte is sleeping through the night, Angela has made friends, and Andy and i are adjusting to calling 85 degrees winter weather...but we know we are where we are suppose to be and that feels good.
Well, that is the quick version. I hope to start posting more soon and give some updated pictures.