First Day of School

And the homeschooling mother sends her daughter off to school!

I've always wanted my kids to have some exposure to the Montessori method of learning, and in our very own "backyard" we have a private school with a properly trained Montessori teacher! So I conferred with the hubby and it was decided: Julia can go three mornings a week for her Kindergarten year. I'll school her the other two days and afternoons with the boys, but she'll get that great start I'm hoping for. Aidan can go next year.

Brothers want to be in on it, too! So far no jealousy, which is good.

And here she is, outside Ms. Beth's school before we dropped her off. She didn't cry or complain!

So today is day two of her new Kindergarten and both days she comes home telling me she did "nothing" and that it wasn't very fun and probably she won't go back. Then, later in the day I hear about stories of children around the world and the foods they eat; I hear about letters she drew; I hear about painting; I hear about dress-up; I hear about the calendar; and most of all I hear plans for what she's going to do tomorrow. =) Seems pretty typical to me!

Honestly, I'm a little worried that she's going to refuse to go at some point. Then I'm not sure what I'll do, since we are obviously homeschooling and she's got the option to stay home. But hopefully three mornings is enough to get invested and not so much time that she feels like she's away from Mom too much.

Still stressing about curriculum at this point. I need a good math curriculum! Badly! I want just the right mix of it all, and plenty of manipulatives, critical thinking and skill building. But I have no idea what any of these things are out there. Sigh... I did "ask Mom" and I've got some leads there, so maybe I won't be high and dry for long. I also want to learn sign language this year, but we're also going to start Spanish and I worry about being too ambitious.

I've got several lovely sets of books I ordered... I'll have to post pictures of those. Plus, I've got a couple sets of computer resources for school covering all subjects, including learning 16 languages, if we want!!! =) (Which, of course, we WANT to do right this minute!)

Another quandary about Julia and Aidan as well... I was assuming that Julia was in Kindergarten this year, only to discover that in NM public schools, children who are not five by September wait til the next year. So she'd be in Kindergarten next year. And I was also assuming that Aidan would be in Kindergarten next year, however, he will have been 4 years old for 5 months when he'd start Kindergarten next year, which is kinda pushing it for being so young! So I guess my kids aren't as stair-stepped as I thought. So what do I do? The reason I'm wondering is because Aidan is already sounding out 3 letter words. Julia still can't tell me the name and sound for all the letters in the alphabet. Aidan can say, sound and sign them.

Here's my "sort of" solution: I'll provide teaching and opportunity for learning, especially where they show interest or seem to be lacking. But since they are young enough, I can take it easy if any frustration even starts to rear it's ugly head. I also think that PLAY is critical in the development of children and want to make sure that they are all getting opportunity for unstructured, creative play. Is that balanced enough? Should I just let Aidan go for now? Or should I take advantage of his seeming interest and ability?

So many questions, so much at stake! =)