Back to School

 Painting different colored circles...remember when "school" was this fun?!

Happy Back to School week to all my teacher friends! I've been praying for all of you this past few weeks! Praying that you are given great wisdom and patience and a class full of kids that will bring you laughter (and maybe some happy tears!). I know some amazing teachers and I believe God can do great things in their classrooms!!!!

Happy Back to School to all the students I know! Summer 2014 is right around the corner. Work hard. Be a friend to others, especially the kids that look like they need a friend. Enjoy getting to wear your new school clothes. And always make good choices :)

As each new school year begins I am reminded of two things. One, I miss being there on that first day and week. There is so much excitement. Kids are fresh and looking to you to be their new leader. School supplies are new - no broken crayons or bended folders yet. I really do miss that first day. Then I'm reminded that I love my job now so much. I am so grateful to be at home with Eva. And every year on that first day, when I know so many other kids are going to school, I'm a little sad to think about that I only have a few more years left with her at home. Eva won't start kindergarten until she's almost six, so I still have four years with her at home. But I know those four years will pass by too quickly.

A few people have asked me if I will put her in preschool. I honestly don't think so. Maybe the year before kindergarten, but we will see. Part of my degree is in early childhood education so I feel like I'm pretty qualified to work with her on skills at home and she gets plenty of other social time. I'm also super pumped because I am going to start using the FREE Letter of the Week curriculum to be intentional about doing preschool activities with her a few days a week this year. I also found this Hands on Homeschooling curriculum that I really liked but it costs money so I thought we'd stick to the free one this year, and maybe order this in a year or two. Mostly two year olds learn through play and experiences so that's what a huge part of her day needs to be. She already loves to spend lots of time reading with me and can already "help" me read repetitive texts by chiming in. She also just started counting up to 10! The rest of our "school" time this year I want to plan intentional activities that introduce numbers and shapes and some early writing concepts (things like tracing lines).  I've started printing off some stuff to use and reserving library books for different themes. I'm turning one small part of the playroom into a bulletin board to use for "school." The teacher in me is so excited!