Back to School!

I've been such a bad blogger, and will try to get caught up soon... for all those 3 people who follow :)!! So after our vacation, it was "time to get ready for school".. This was a really BIG deal for me.. Yep even bigger than the first day of Kindergarten. It was the first time my dd went to a regular education classroom and she LOVED it. I mean, what book-loving nearly, 7 year old wouldnt LOVE school?? It was a long haul getting here, and I know there will be challenges along the way, but I'm so thrilled for her and soooo hoping the happiness, and ability to deal with the challenges of a bigger classroom (as compared to special ed) will continue for her. The teacher is amazing and there are 11 children in the 1st grade (partly due to a set of quadruplets!!) but 11 is still a lot less than 20 if she were in a dedicated class. The overall class is 23 and it's a K-1-2 (the teacher has lots of support from various aides and 2 dedicated to the class). The teacher does "pull outs" for teaching academics and has the help of a few wonderful aides. Thusfar big brother and little sister havent killed off each other or the teacher - a GOOD sign :)!! Actually this was a big worry of mine. I really didnt want them in the same class but it truly seems so far, to be a non issue. They each have their own grade/group of friends and go thru the day as if they were in separate grades (with classrooms to separate them it seems). Soooo BIG yay!

They're doing a lot of review right now and I now know I didnt fail them miserably with homeschooling. They're actually both ahead of where they need to be. I think this school perhaps works a bit slower (large mix of kids) than others and I really like that. I'm certainly in NO rush for my kids to know their multiplication tables or be able to read a book in 5 minutes flat (those wonderful timed reading tests). BUT having them back in school makes me take another look at homeschooling. At times I complained about how hard it was. It WAS!

YET it was also wonderful. I hated that I seemed to have not a moment (I'm a mom who needs a moment here or there) and hated that my home seemed to have been taken over by the circus. BUT I loved the fact that my children *were* learning so much, and truly I believe they were... even tho at their age, so much learning is thru play.... BUT gosh.. now, by the time they get home at nearly 330 and we sort thru papers, do homework (and they're exhausted and they crash so early, so there's not a ton of time for homework).. ugh.. I feel like it's a marathon. I guess what I'm trying to say is this: homeschooling didnt work for us last year. In retrospect I REALLY appreciate so many facets of it. If public education isnt going to be a good match for one of my children at some point, I will go back to homeschooling in a heart beat. As I learned about the "math program" the school uses and had "hints in my brain" that I'd heard in the homeschool community it wasnt great.. I was sooo glad for this past year. Because of homeschooling we tried about 4 different programs before settling on one and now I have that knowledge. I know that whether we homeschool or not, the manipulatives of "math u see" worked sooo well for both my children (altho the books themselves seemed dry and why we didnt stay with it). But Ellie is so visual and hands on.. it's one thing to have "hands on, counting manipulatives on paper and another to have the real thing"....So this is something we may use in the future...

So pic attached was first day of school with her good friend. Sorry for the sun shining into the lens.. but still like the pic!