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Thursday, September 10, 2009

Preschool...is there an S in school?

Everyone,

Much to the amazement of several people, I decided again this year not to send Butterfly to preschool. I couldn't find one I liked or one that fit our budget. Seriously, no one around here just does a little preschool in their basement for a few hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays. That's all I wanted for her...just something low key and small! Everything around here (for 4 year olds) is every day or every other day full time. There were some schools in the area that did MWF things but from 9am-1pm or cost around $400 a month. I couldn't do it.

So, we're not. Instead, I had talked to a few friends about doing something small with some of the 4 year olds in Butterfly's church class. That seemed like a viable option for me. But then, it hit me. I would actually have to teach. And you know, entertain six 4 year olds at my house. On a regular basis. All with trying to juggle the boys along with it.

I decided to just rework our day and make time for teaching Butterfly myself. There are thousands of home schooled kids and they seem to be doing just fine. I started to research out some ideas. I asked my friend Lolli about some ideas. We ended up deciding to do this school thing together. Once a week we will get together and do some activities, along with a trip to the resource center once a week. Add to this a dance class for Butterfly (to get her some teacher time) and I think we've found a perfect fit.

I totally stole another friend's idea and we are doing one week dedicated to one letter. This week was S week. S for school and September. Here's what we've been doing so far:

We had to get out daddy's big foam swords and sword fight one night. We also played sword fighting on the Wii and Pirate is really good at it. Go fig.

We bought some new S books at the used book store and read them several times this week. "Bernstein Bears Talk About Strangers" and "Blueberries for Sal". We talked about having a family password and how to be safe.

We've discussed how S at the end of a word makes that word more than one. We counted things in seven. She played Starfall on the computer and pointed out S's on signs as we drove around doing errands.

Today we got together with Lolli and AJ and enjoyed a school type day. They were so excited and ran around quite a bit but we had some good activities. Check out Lolli's blog for pictures about today.

Once we got home today, EVERYONE took really long naps. Me included. I think tomorrow we'll talk about snot and sneezing. I have a cold. And watch a S movie. And sleep some more.

Safire

4 comments:

  1. Hi Safire! You are one of the winners from the Multiples and More end of summer blog party! Email us at multiplesandmoreblog@yahoo.com so we can get your prize sent to you!

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  2. Yeah, you're a better woman than I am. It was either luck out that someone finally did a preschool or hope he can learn something from movies. :) Just kidding. Sort of. But yeah, some friends talked about doing a co-op here too, and yes, the idea of me having to teach and have kids over and all that with the twins around too was so unappealing. I'd much rather pay someone else! But really, it's more that Cash is shy and I need him to get used to teachers and organized settings. Ballet should be good for teacher time - you're right. Good luck, sounds like you're doing great!

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  3. Anonymous1:14 PM

    Sounds like you're doing a fabulous job! That's too bad about the preschool situation. My mom used to run a preschool like the one you're looking for (when I was young), and it's sad that preschool has become so intense.

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  4. I give you props - I admit I look forward to my few alone hours each morning a few days a week. I like your letter of the week - that's a great idea. I may start that here, too!

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I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble. --Helen Keller