Hurrah! It's the First Day of Homeschool!

Yesterday was our first day of homeschool.  Emma is now in first grade, and Cubby is in kindergarten.  

This day has been a long day coming!   I have been fretting about this day for about three months now.   My husband and I experienced a lot of anxiety and indecision all summer regarding our plans for schooling the girls this year.  We have flipped back and forth between choosing to homeschool our girls versus sending them to private school versus sending them to public school.  It has been quite a time of serious deliberation.

Now you may know that I homeschooled Emma last year, so what's all this anxiety about?  Well, first,  we thought that last year was just a one year deal, plus we used any and all resources at the Imperial Valley Home School Academy, which definitely eased the transition from public school to homeschooling. 

So how did we decide to homeschool this year?  Over the course of last spring and this summer, I shared my concerns and thoughts with many of my friends and family, but I still didn't have a clear vision of what we should do for school.  Finally, after all of my fingernails had been chewed, and it was do or die time, Danny and I left it up to (duh!) God to guide our hearts on this very tough and important decision.  Why we didn't leave it up to Him in the first place, I don't know.  Probably pride or control or whatever makes us want to do things our own way and on our own time.  He had already answered with homeschool as the solution for our family a year ago, and His answer remained true now.  Our moments of anxiety and stress were all for nothing, the decision was already clear.  

We are thrilled with this new season of life that includes two young children to homeschool and another two children two guide through the pre-school years.  I really look forward to teaching the children Biblical principles along with their academic lessons.  Once school time is over, the girls have many extracurricular activities to attend, including singing class, church group, piano lessons, and hopefully many more, as the year gets rolling.  

Today, I just feel very thankful to God that we were able to teach our children in this way, and at this time in their lives.  

So, the day before the first day of school, (pre-1st-day-of-school), which would be Sunday, Danny and I focused on building the girls up for their new school experience at home.  I made a special breakfast of french toast, sausage and fruit which the kids gobbled up frighteningly rapidly.  Then we had home church at our house, since three out of six of us had a cold, which begins by Danny leading the group in a good old fashioned sing-along.  He then taught a Bible lesson on being brave when being faced with a new or scary event (first day of school!), then we learned our new memory verse for the week.  After we prayed together as a family for bravery in face of great fear, I handed the girls their first day of school bags, which had all kinds of fun new school supplies, a new binder, and a new first day of school outfit. It was a great moment.   I know I had tears in my eyes.  

Needless to say, the girls were pretty pumped up about their first day of school.  So that Monday morning, they awoke bright and early, made their beds, got dressed, and brushed their hair, all before 7:30 AM, and we didn't need to leave the house for IVHSA until 8:30 AM.  No matter, we ate our breakfast, and had our morning lesson in our new classroom located in our family room.  I had decorated our new classroom with posters, an ABC chart across the top, a new snazzy bookshelf filled with their books and cubbies for their loot, and a white board with "Welcome to School!" written on it.  I am a former high school teacher, so all this cool primary  grade stuff is awesome!!!!  

Anyway, now to the really good stuff, the pictures!  Check out Cubby and Emma in their new duds, ready to leave for IVHSA on that first day of school:

Sweet Cubby has the hands-down cutest kindergarten smile of any kid on the planet.  With not a top front tooth in sight, she has kinder written all over her.  

And here's first grader, Emma, who is the old pro at all things school related.  She couldn't stop giving her little sister pieces of advice all evening the night before, or that morning at breakfast, or on the way over in the car....

Once we arrived at the academy that morning, we headed over to a larger classroom, since the number of kids enrolled in the program has doubled since last year, yay!  All the kids made personalized posters to present to the group so that we could have a chance to get to know them better.

Cubby was very proud of her poster, but a little too nervous to go up in front, so I had to go with her, and help explain the pictures.  Once she got to the front of the room, I was useless, as she courageously and quite illustriously explained every detail of every picture on the page. 

Emma described every picture on her poster page.

Yay for you, big kindergartener!!

And woo-hoo, way to go 1st grader!!

What can I say?  I love my kids.  Maybe we had to have all that anxiety leading up to the first day, so that we would really appreciate the wonderful blessing of a perfect day to start our new journey with our four sweet children.

Homeschool, Here We Come!

My family has made a big decision since I last posted.

Danny and I decided to homeschool our oldest daughter this year.  This decision came after much concern, prayer, and anxiety.  We knew this year was going to be a tough one for her.  She is, after all, repeating kindergarten in order to get her on the right track in school.

At age two, E basically entered pre-school one year early, and since her birthday is only one week away from the kindergarten cut-off, she entered kindergarten one year early, as well.  She stuck out kindergarten last year at our neighborhood elementary school.  E's outstanding teacher and loving group of friends made a year that could have been tough, since she was basically a year younger than everyone else, a success.

After last year, we decided to hold her back a year, to get her on track to enter first grade as a six year old, not a young five year old.  It was an extremely difficult choice.  So knowing all that,  this year was going to be a little strange, no matter what.  Our decision to homeschool for this year came as a result of a repeated kindergarten experience, that for whatever reason, just wasn't working.

After much heartache, tears, and restless nights, I had an epiphany one morning of deep prayer.  After multiple friends approached me with the encouragement to homeschool, I felt a weight had been lifted.  Then, my mom called me with information about a local charter school that cropped up this year that is an actual home school academy.  A superstar of a teacher designs lessons, workshops, tutorials, and also guides the kids through tons of hands-on, inquiry-based science projects.  It was a win-win!  I pulled E out of her repeat kindergarten class only hours after the decision had been made.

E has made the transition beautifully.  We are wrapping up our second week of homeschool, and E is blossoming with this new schedule.  I added an art class, children's choir practice, and a dance class to her already "after school" activities.  She now has the opportunity to hang out with her friends three times during the week.

I am so grateful for the help and support of my family and friends throughout this process.  To every person who has maintained a positive voice for me and my family, I so appreciate you!  For the negative voices, I thank you, too, because your input made me think through the negative side of homeschooling. I am sincerely trying my best to not let E fall into a homebody coma.

I have been blessed by wonderful Christian friends who have listened to me, prayed with me, and have let me cry when I've been beside myself with emotion!  The amazing thing about this whole experience is that I have finally felt what it feels like to truly know God's will.  I prayed on this for weeks, and asked God to please show me His will, and He did!  When I said in my prayer that I would follow His will, no matter what it was, the next day, I had my answer, as clear as day.  God had spoken, and oh, what a sense of peace I felt!

First Day of Kinder....Again

I woke up this morning at 6:15 AM.  I don't normally wake up that early, but today was unavoidable.  I had a very excited five year old loudly whisper me out of a dead sleep to remind me that today was her first day of kindergarten at her new school and she did not want to be late.  It was too early to remind her that not once had she gone to school late in her whole life, but, hey I can console myself now.  

My oldest daughter, known simply as "E" on this site, attended kindergarten at the local elementary school last year, which, I might add, sits only three blocks away from our house.  She is a November baby, and when she entered in 2009, she was four, turned five that fall, and was from then on out called "the baby" of the class.  She excelled academically, but seemed to flounder socially and emotionally.  It was during her birthday month that I decided to pull her out of kinder, try to get her into a pre-school, and try kinder again next year.  By that time, however, she had reached a milestone.  She had made friends, fell in love with her teacher, and realizing how quickly she was learning to read, became a straight-up school girl.  Danny and I decided to let her continue, and make the tough decision about the following year later. 

I deliberated over this decision for months.  I spoke to fellow parents of young kindergartners, education professionals, and young students themselves to prepare for an outcome.  I walked away from all of this research with a wholehearted, yes, she should repeat the year.  She needed to be in a class with kids her own age.  Even if she did experience a tough second kindergarten year, she would still be in the right place when entering junior high, high school, and college.  

We then decided that we didn't want her to repeat kinder at the same school, due to the almost certain stigma she would be made aware of with her former classmates moving up to first grade, while she remained behind.  So we pushed and got her into the top academic school in our town, a country school which is about a 12 minute drive away.

Today was her second first day of kindergarten.

She is beyond excited.  In her backpack she carries crayons, sharpened pencils, and three hand-written notes to her new teacher.  Notes that say things like, "I love you" and "I love school," but might be translated by the teacher as, "I was in kindergarten last year and already know all my letters and how to read and write basic words."

Danny met us at the house at 8:00 after being at work already for two hours.  I packed him a breakfast, which explains the foil covered dish.  E felt very special having her dad come home to attend her first day of school.  In the background, J.D. appears to be wondering why he can't just ride off into the sunset with Danny in his big truck to search the world for tractors and hammers for the rest of their lives.

My happy beautiful girl.  I know every parent on the planet says this kind of stuff, but I really can't believe she'll be turning six in a few months!

Another four under five winner!  I am starting to see a trend.  My four little kids CAN all stand in a photo and smile, or attempt to do so, for a brief moment.  The trick is to get ready with my camera on time!

After this photo session, we hopped into the car and headed out to the country.  We joined a line of Suburbans, Tahoes and trucks heading out to the country with squirmy, excited seat-belted youngsters inside.  Once at the school, we marched straight over to the kinder classroom.  Now up to this point, E was the picture of excitement.  

However in the classroom, something changed.  She saw the new teacher, and realized it wasn't her treasured teacher from last year.  She looked around at the other children's faces and recognized no one.  The classroom was large and unfamiliar.  I saw a shadow cross her face, and she reached out to me and said, "Mommy, don't go."  Luckily, we were all invited out to the flag salute, and we stood near E and her class.  Afterwards, while walking her back to her class, I assured her that she would be fine, and that I would be back to get her right after lunch.  She seemed a little dazed, but we had to go, so I grabbed Little G, Danny held J.D. and Cubby followed us out as we walked to the car.  

"She's going to fine," Danny and I said almost simultaneously.  

And it turns out, she was.  She did have an upsetting encounter with a "big kid" on the playground which prompted a few tears, but the majority of the day was fun, although hot.  She already made a new friend she reported, and she loves her teacher.  She also loves the merry-go-round, which she calls the dizzy thing, and she liked writing her name a bunch of times, since she already knew how to do it.  

Not to sound super corny, but perhaps some things are better the second time around.

Dolly's Day Out

My oldest daughter is really into her doll.  The doll's name is Sydney Lee and she has fully captured my little five year old's heart.  E literally dresses her for bed, gives her a "bath" in Sydney's pink plastic tub, and takes her with us just about everywhere we go.  

Sydney Lee is part of our family.  In fact, we share the same last name.  More than once, I have thought myself alone, when all of a sudden I'll sense someone watching me.  I'll look to the chair beside me which I assumed was empty, only to find Sydney Lee sitting quietly next to me.  It's a little creepy, but hey, things could be so much worse.    

The truth is, I am trying to subtly ween E and Cubby off of their obsession with Barbie.  After reading quite a few of his books over the last year or so, I have come to agree with Dr. Dobson's way of thinking on the Barbie matter.  Barbie is too grown up and way too curvy for little five year old's to be playing with.  He has other, more scientific research and findings to support his case against Barbie, but basically I don't need all that.  I agree with him, and my home has become a no-Barbie zone.   I want my girls to play with dolls that look like them, not some long-legged hussy!  Whoa, I went a little far, sorry.  

So back to Sydney Lee. 

 E mentioned to Grandma Donna that she wanted to put on a doll fashion show.  Ever since E discovered a little shop that sells Sydney Lee sized doll clothes, E is all about doll clothes and accessories.  So, Grandma Donna took this idea and ran with it.  She and the girls made a curtained entrance that opens onto a red-carpeted runway.  They wrote out a script and organized three full outfits for Sydney Lee to wear for the big show.  Grandma Susie and Aunt Ayron were called and lunch was planned.  This fashion show was going to be success no matter what!

Here are my proud daughters, standing before the stage of Sydney Lee's fashion show.  My orange jumper clad niece is considering ripping everything to shreds.

The show began, and Sydney Lee walked the runway with composure and confidence.  She dazzled.  She shined. She did need a little support from Cubby, but all models need a little guidance and mentoring, right?!

E read the script that she and Grandma Donna had written and practiced.  

Despite my girls' best efforts for the fashion show, no one would have guessed that the pint-sized peanut gallery would show up and go for broke.  These two little munchkins clapped and screamed and squealed throughout the entire performance. 

Luckily, Sydney Lee is a professional, and she continued her walk unfazed. 

The heckling and screaming continued....

but E remained the consummate grown-up in a sea of juvenile delinquency.  The show must go on!

Until the little girls decided to stage a toddler sized protest. 

In the middle of the show, they decided to lay across the red carpet, disallowing the entrance of our dear Sydney Lee in her newest ensemble.  Was it Sydney Lee's leather shoes?  Were these two kids opposed to using animal products in clothing?  Did they consider this slave labor, since Sydney Lee is obviously underage? What could their motivations possibly be?  Oh yeah, they're two.  Enough said already.

Just as at the end of every great fashion show, the designer (and doll owner) walked the red carpet with her dear model.  Amidst the clapping and cheering, a deep love of fashion bloomed within my little girl's heart.

And then they got hugs and congratulations from the crowds of admiring onlookers.

After the show, the stage and entrance turned back into a playhouse.  Maybe this is what those two crazy toddlers wanted in the first place!

Giddy Up!

My girls love horses.  This is not by accident.  Their infatuation is the result of yet another highly orchestrated plan on my part for them to share the same hobbies and interests as me.  I am open for other interests, of course, but I do a little steering toward my intended directions as well.  

The girls have ridden on the pony ride at the fair a couple of times, but that's about the extent of their horse riding experiences. I take that back.  My sister, Ayron, queen of all party entertaining, hired a gal to bring a pony and a donkey to her hubby's birthday party one year.  Cubby rode that pony for about an hour straight.  Since she and E were the main riders, they got all the chances they wanted, and Cubby felt quite at home atop that tiny saddle.  Watching her up there, I was in heaven.  

So, when we changed our plans to a vacation in the mountains, I immediately called the local stables.  One stable provided a trail ride for kids.  The small horses are led by hand through shady, winding trails, while the kids hang on and enjoy the scenery.  

I located the stables, made the appointment, and we were off.  Minus the proper riding gear.  Oh well.  I didn't bring jeans or boots (since I don't own any boots for the kids) to summer vacation!

The girls seemed to feel a little unsure at first.  

But once on top of the horse, they did just fine.  E's horse was named Angel, which made E very happy.

Cubby's horse was a little Arabian named Medallion.  I made Cubby say that name a thousand times, she said it so dang cute!

Once the girls felt comfortable, it was time to start the trail ride.  I tagged along on foot to make sure they were OK, plus somebody had to take pictures!  

It started to feel a lot longer than a 30 minute trail ride.

I sort of fell behind at one point.  

Then I caught up to take this picturesque shot.  

E was very happy riding Angel.  She told me later that she was pretending to be a princess taking a ride through the forest.  Somehow, I already knew that.

At last we made it back to the stables.  E had a great ride.  She confidently rode Angel, asked questions of the owner, and gripped that saddle horn with a vengeance!  Once she had dismounted she informed me that her new hobby is horseback riding.  As soon as she said that, my heart did a little pitter-patter.  Imagine that!  

Cubby didn't want to dismount.  Ever.  She felt completely at home and comfortable with Medallion.  She could have ridden off into the sunset if it hadn't been for her pesky mom dragging her off the saddle.  

My two junior horsewomen proved brave enough to ride on horseback for close to an hour.  I heard no complaints, whines, or cries.  As we left, I asked the owner if she had any horses for sale.  To Danny's relief, she didn't, but I've got my feelers out there for a sweet, kid friendly horse for my girls to get started on a lifelong love of horses.   Giddy Up!!

Wrapping It Up

This has been one of the busiest, happiest, and most eventful weeks of my life with young children.  Wrapping up the school year has become a week that is packed solid with programs, graduations and the long-awaited recital!  And I only have two of my four kids enrolled in school!  I can only imagine when Danny and I will get to attend the dance recital, and watch as all three of our girls dance their way around the stage to beautiful music.  J.D. will probably be sitting beside his dad, banging on the bleachers with his play hammer, wearing a bored look on his face, but hey, at least three are in one program, right?!

We have so many events going on at the end of the year, that I literally send out an events email to all of our family members.  The events are listed chronologically, and the dates and times are highlighted so no one can feign confusion.  As if I would let that happen!  I also throw in a little mom/relative guilt, like, "We hope you can make it to at least one...," knowing that now they feel they have to attend most.  It's part of being a mom of four, I will do anything to show my kids' sweet on-stage skills off to the world! 

So it all started with Mrs. Green's Kiddie Pre-School End of the Year Program. 

Mrs. Green is retiring this year after many years as a beloved pre-school teacher.  She has a high, sing-song voice that the kids follow with a dazed look on their face.  And that dazed look is most definitely love and infatuation.  She is magical.  Here is Cubby receiving her "diploma" for graduating from her first year in pre-school. 

Look out, E, it's a wild, ferocious tiger!  Wild animals was the theme this year, and as you can see, the entire outfit had to fit the part. 

Mrs K. (see No Peas, Please) decorated Cubby's cape since I have zero time, and less skill in this department.  It is super snazzy! 

The guys called each other before the event.  "So, what are you wearing, Jim?"  They were very pleased with themselves.

My girls are experiencing absolute and utter fantastical bliss right now.  Are their faces shining with an inner light, or is it just me? 

Next came E's Kindergarten graduation.

Classic Kinder. Love it!

E walked away with a certificate and a classic photo of a five year old in a graduation cap and gown.  Those kinder teachers know how to bring every parent and grandparent to tears. 

Speaking of grandparents in tears, Grandma D was definitely hiding some behind those glasses.  When the kids all started singing/yelling "You're a Grand Old Flag" in unison while doing smart little hand motions, my eyes welled up too. 

Grandma S and Grandpa J gave their support, and fully enjoyed the program.

I was so thrilled to capture this shot of E with her grandpa.  This is the real deal, folks.

Next we attended E and Cubby's Ooh La La Dance Recital.

Lovely.

They've learned to pose like little dancers. 

Uncle C & Aunt C stopped by to give the girls some roses.  E immediately went over to the sink to start snipping the ends to place them in some water.  She arranged them beautifully.  Cubby walked around with her roses for a good while before giving them up to me to be watered. 

Cousin Ellie wasn't about to miss an opportunity to don a tutu!

I am awfully proud of this bun. 

Finally we attended Cubby's last performance, her second pre-school end of the year program. 

I love the contrast of their stoic faces with their bright, colorful outfits.  Are they 4 or what?

Some kids really got into the program. Shake it!

Ahhh.... there's a smile! 

And here's another classic Walker family photo.  Danny's eyes are closed.  E and Cubby are super happy.  G is distracted and about to make a run for it.  J.D. is making a run for it, but is being held back by his unperturbed big sis.  

Clearly, G had seen a more desirable location.  Next to Grandma D with a donut hole is pretty much her idea of heaven.  I have to admit, sometimes that's mine, too.

The girls learn the Cubby's pre-school promotion is pretty serious business from Grandma S! 

Punch + Donut Holes = HUGE SMILES!

And here are my lovely ladies.  This was Cubby's first official year in pre-school, and she couldn't have enjoyed herself more.  E finished up her year in kindergarten, and has become quite the young lady.  Time is ticking by quickly now, just like all of my fellow parents with older children tell me it will.  This week, however, I will look back and say that it was a busy time, but a time when I was really living, enjoying, and loving my life with four kids under five.