New School Year - YAY!

My children start school next Friday. I could not be more thrilled. Please do not get me wrong, I LOVE MY KIDS. I just love when I see a bit less of them. And HEAR less of them. They've gone way past the point of tolerating each other and it is time for them to separate for awhile. Enter...school.

This year my six year old will be starting first grade which, in our neck of the woods, means full days (kindergarten is still only 1/2 day around here). I think honestly she is as excited as I am. My middle child...need I say more? Anyway, we are both really excited and can't wait. My oldest will be in eighth grade this year, which is really exciting as well. She has already started cheerleading practice and is anticipating seeing her friends and getting back into a routine. We all are, I think.

My now-four year old is starting her second year of preschool, or "Pre-K". This year she will attend for three 1/2 days in the morning. The rest of the days she and my 3-yr-old and I will do "homeschool"-style preschool. My older girls were at a different preschool for 2 years before starting kindergarten. They learned SO MUCH from that school, but unfortunately they moved further south and we moved further west, so it was demographically way to far to continue and allow the other two to go there also. The preschool I have had our 4-yr-old in has been good, but I have not seen the progress that was present in the other two girls. I know, I know....kids are all different. Honestly, I just want a hand in making sure that I KNOW the younger kids have been given and offered the same opportunity to meet that mark, even if they end up not meeting it. And that's okay.

My mother-in-law has a preschool curriculum that my sister-in-law used with her boys. She is bringing it to me tomorrow and I'm really excited to get my hands on it and look it over. I am NO teacher, but years ago I worked with preschool age children at a daycare center and I actually did have "lesson plans" that the "real" teacher made up and had me use with them. So I guess that's experience? Ha ha. I truly am excited.

So, next week we'll be doing the school supply shopping. The kids also need shoes. The rest of the shopping (clothes) will be done when fall officially starts. I hate buying clothes for school that the older ones won't wear until it's cool out and the younger ones want to wear nothing but. We'll go clothes shopping later.

For now, we're just making the best of our last week before school. Going to the pool as much as we can and trying to tie up some loose ends like haircuts and such. Hope we get it all done!