"School" has been a big topic of conversation around The Gang's house recently. The older boys are mentally gearing up for another year of home-study via their individual cyber schools. The middle two kids are anxiously awaiting news of their homeroom assignments and what changes have been made in their little elementary building around the corner. And Li'l Empress has recently been introduced to the little school and new teacher at the pre-school she'll be attending this fall.
Pre-school is such an out-of-the-box idea for our family. We never sent any of the other kids to pre-school settings, beyond the occasional child-care environment at our old home-schooling co-op and kids' classes on Sundays at church. Not that I have anything personally against pre-school - we were just not willing to pay for it, we never "NEEDED" it, and I was quite content to extend their time at home in our own environment for as long as possible.
In fact, I didn't even send my older kids to kindergarten. I home-schooled them for that year, mostly to avoid the complication of the half-day schedule and the interruption to our daily groove. There was always another baby or toddler in the house, nap times to consider; and down-time for little ones, for as long as they can enjoy it, is really important to me. The constant watching of the clock, the rush to catch the bus or be home in time to get little Johnny off the bus: it just was not for me in that season of our family life - and I didn't want to introduce the pressures of that kind of crunch to my kids until I had to. I liked having my little ones home at this stage of learning. I enjoyed teaching kindergarten. I loved that whatever ages were also home at the time could also participate in the fun. I MOST ESPECIALLY LOVED that I still got a nice, mostly uninterrupted quiet time/nap for everyone the majority of those extra days at home. (I'm a big fan of sleeping kids!)
In fact, I didn't even send my older kids to kindergarten. I home-schooled them for that year, mostly to avoid the complication of the half-day schedule and the interruption to our daily groove. There was always another baby or toddler in the house, nap times to consider; and down-time for little ones, for as long as they can enjoy it, is really important to me. The constant watching of the clock, the rush to catch the bus or be home in time to get little Johnny off the bus: it just was not for me in that season of our family life - and I didn't want to introduce the pressures of that kind of crunch to my kids until I had to. I liked having my little ones home at this stage of learning. I enjoyed teaching kindergarten. I loved that whatever ages were also home at the time could also participate in the fun. I MOST ESPECIALLY LOVED that I still got a nice, mostly uninterrupted quiet time/nap for everyone the majority of those extra days at home. (I'm a big fan of sleeping kids!)
But with Li'l Empress, things are quite different. In addition to the fact that she's a smart as a whip and really ready, mentally and academically, for the challenge and the intrigue of a classroom setting, we have some other factors that must be considered. Factors that I've been researching, talking through with her Speech and Language therapist, and praying about with The Boss for many months now.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of "She's Got Skillz!" - or a momma's first venture into the world of pre-school. . .
Stay tuned for Part 2 of "She's Got Skillz!" - or a momma's first venture into the world of pre-school. . .
1 comment:
A 'teaser' - clever! Looking forward to the follow up on it! ;)
hugs - aus and co.
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