An update: A post about preschool...

We sent our Max off for his second semester at preschool this week. 

No fuss. 

No tears (me, he's never shed a tear over school).  

We've I've come a long way over the past few months. 

I love hearing others' school stories and how they incorporate home schooling, so I thought I'd share what's been happening over here...

As many of you know, whether or not to send Max to preschool this year, and where, was a decision we really wrestled with. 

As an August baby he's in the position of having to be either one of the oldest or youngest in the class.

In some ways, I felt well equipped to make this decision. 

When I was pregnant with Max, I was working as a science teacher and completing the courses for my teaching license at CU. 

In one class, I was assigned to do a case study on "youngest boys in the class" and the effects that role has on students.  

The statistics were alarming.

I knew I was carrying a boy, and that he'd likely be born in August (and at that point his name was going to be Alexander).

Julian also agreed with the research, and additionally felt like that extra year might help him should he play sports (this was not something on my mind at the time, but now I too think he will be involved in athletics).  

Before he was even born, Julian and I were already resolved in our decision. 

All of that is to say, he still has a couple of years before kindergarten, he didn't need to start preschool this year in order to follow the usual progression of preschool, pre-K, and then kindergarten.  

But. 

Another topic that was covered again and again that year I spent studying education was the importance of early education, namely preschool. 

So we toured program after program, interviewed teachers and administrators, and talked at length about whether or not he would be better served with another year at home with me and Eli, or if it was time to expand his horizons a bit and include a few hours of formal preschool each week. 

Ultimately, what swayed the decision, was how badly he wanted to go. 

When it came to the program that would best fit, I had a lot of expectations  hopes (other teachers have assured me this is normal when you have a background in education).
 I wanted to find a place where he would be challenged academically, but most activities remained play based and incorporated the Montessori approach.
I knew he needed a teacher that was firm with boundaries, but I also wanted someone who was warm and kind. This is his first school experience after all, more than anything I want him to love school. 

 I also hoped we could find a place that would teach from the Bible, include physical education, art, music, science and other languages...perhaps I was asking too much?

As many of you know, we thought we'd found the right program and we sent him off on his first day of school, which was extremely emotional for me. Looking back, I think it was so hard to let him go because I already had reservations about his new classroom after meeting his teacher at the student orientation. She is a good teacher, just not the right fit for Max, and by the end of the week we withdrew him from that school. 

I was ready to give up on preschool altogether and try again next year, but another program was  recommended to me by three different people within the couple of days that we were making the decision. I figured it wouldn't hurt to check out one more. 

When we arrived, a group of students and teachers were heading out to a beautiful wooded area surrounding the school for a nature hike. 

I already liked it before we even got in the door. 

As I toured and talked with teachers, I was impressed by the many years of experience and passion for education in that building, there are so many incredible teachers that have spent their lifetime teaching little ones. I was almost in tears because I was so happy to have found this school, it has everything I had dreamed of for Max's first school experience and more. 

So, we did the first day of school round two, this time with no tears partly because he'd already gone, but also I was so excited for the new experiences he was going to have (also no pictures if you can believe it). 

Max never even looked back when I dropped him off, and he has learned so much in just few short months of formal schooling, he's made great friends, and we all love his teachers (especially Eli, who desperately wants to stay at school with big brother). I feel like I have two dear friends who are as invested as I am in Max's growth and development. I've realized that even despite my best efforts there are already a few gaps in his skill base (like when his teacher asked me why he doesn't know how to use scissors, and I told her I go out of my way to make sure he never gets his hands on them, we both laughed). He started with just one day a week, but after missing almost the entire month of November due to travel, illness, and the holiday, we decided to bump him up to two days a week, 5 hours each day, and it feels appropriate for his age (and I still get to have him at home most of the time for now).  

Some of Max and Eli's workbooks...

There have been many changes in our day to day routines since school started in August. We've always spent some time each day working on school skills, but we've bumped up the amount of time each day, and started spending a bit more time working from workbooks in addition to lots of reading, crafting, and occasionally watching our favorite educational DVDs (we love the Baby Signing Time and Preschool Prep Company series).  

Eli insists on having his own workbooks too! 

This is our hands down favorite workbook, and the first one to really draw Max in. 

We also try to mirror the school day a bit...we have a weather wheel, keep a daily schedule (for a while we used magnetic labels on the fridge, but these were destroyed), try to keep more regular snack/lunch times, and we use a lot of positive reinforcement! 

A bead goes in the little jar each time Max listens and obeys the first time I ask, and also for other bonus good behavior. Once the jar is full he gets to go on activity of his choice (the zoo).

We used this visual cue for green/yellow/red light behavior for a bit, until I could just say green/yellow/red to Max and he knew what I meant. I found this one hard to be 100% consistent with, especially because Eli had a light too.

 The first time I packed a lunch to send to school felt like one of those classic mommy milestones. I can't remember where I read this, but I love the idea that parents not only pack lunches full of nutritious food, but also try to stuff as much love, confidence, and wishes for a good as they can stuff in there. It really feels that way. 

Max's teachers really stress the connection between healthy bodies and healthy minds, and we are encouraged to send fresh whole foods, no sugar. This has been a great reminder for us to always have lots of healthy whole foods on hand, and spurred some conversations with Max about which foods are nutritious and which foods are treats. 

He is very motivated to grow up to be "healthy and strong", I love that he is bringing this message home from school. 

This is a bit off topic perhaps, but I thought I would share in case it's helpful to someone. I was warned that we would have a lot of illness this fall, since Max would be exposed to all sorts of new germs at school. So far, that has not been our experience, we've had the usual amount of occasional little colds and bugs. I'm not sure if the vitamins we give most days has contributed to this, but I also don't want to test it, we love our Honest vitamins!

As any parent who has sent their children off to school surely knows, there is a huge influx of art projects that start to come home. One time when Max was around 2.5, he saw me throw away a few of his scribbles, and he was so crushed and hurt. I really learned a lesson about showing him that we value his work (and to never ever discard of it in front of him at the very least). We are working on a system that both respects his pride in his work, but also our need to have an orderly home. So far what is working for us is that everything that comes home is photographed, either alone if it's a special project, or grouped by theme for little pieces of work. At the end of the year, I plan to make a photo book of his year's worth of work, and hope to continue to do so for each child and each grade. Special projects get displayed on the fridge for awhile and saved in a clear organizational box, again we hope to do this for each child and each grade. 
 So far this is working really well, we will see how it goes in the coming years.

Finally, I wanted to share a great Bible book for kids. Our friends Natalie and Jared gave us this a year or so ago and we have loved it. Max and I sit and read a chapter or two together every night before bed, and it has become a very special time for us. I am also impressed with the way they share the stories in a kid friendly manner and how much has really stuck with Max.

I would say that our preschool journey started off a little bumpy, but we are so glad that we kept looking and found a program that is a great fit for Max and our family.
I can't imagine not having my one on one time with Eli each week. I remember reading in one of my childhood development books that around 18-24 months kids become aware of gender and start to align themselves in the family with their same gender. I absolutely see this in Eli, he is very focused on being one of the boys right now, so it's nice to be able to take him to music class each week and have our time together.

 I took Max to the grocery store with me for some one on one time last week and he noticed that the store had a big Valentine's Day aisle out (already?). I explained that we send valentines to the people we love, to show them that we care about them. He asked if he could pick a card for someone and I said sure...I was so curious to see who he wanted to give a card to. He picked the above card, and announced it was for his teacher. Not only that but he carried it proudly around for the entire shopping trip and manged to not lose it and only ripped it a little bit. 

Be still my heart.

He loves school.
I too love school.

Both Julian and I spent the first 26 years of our lives as students, immersed in the world of education.  We hope to foster that same student spirit and passion for lifetime learning in our kids.

I will sign off with a quote I really liked from a book I am currently reading, Deliberate Motherhood. It really encompasses what I have been feeling lately, as far as my role as a mother and educator to our two little guys...

"We are building for the centuries.
We are building character, and tradition, and values, which meander like a river into the distance and out of our sight, but on and on and on."
-- Anna Quindlen