Good for her, I say. In Ali's book the brighter the colors, the more psychedelic the patterns and the more glitter and bows the better. Oh, and there must always be a skirt or dress of some kind involved. Every day it is something new and exciting and I can't help but smile a big smile as she steps out of her room in the morning. I absolutely love her creativity and self confidence.
I used to try to wrangle her into an outfit of my choosing anytime we had somewhere to go but quickly gave up. Who am I to squash her autonomy? Besides that, lets be honest, she can be quite stubborn ;).
By the way, I'd like to take a quick second and thank the many kind grandmas we have passed in the stores who always smile and compliment Ali on her lovely outfits. It's always the grandmas. Bless those grandmas. Let's hope Ali's kindergarten teacher next year is just as understanding.
Which brings me to the whole school situation. I've decided to homeschool Ali for preschool. This has been a really hard decision for me. I originally had her all signed up for a reputable preschool in "town" but as most great preschools are it was quite expensive. Academically Ali is doing amazing. She could enter Kindergarten tomorrow ahead of the pack. The only reason I could think of for putting her in preschool would be for the structure and social aspect of it. Don't get me wrong, I think both of those are very important but I couldn't bring myself to pay X amount of dollars for them. We have Ali in dance and are also going to sign her up for seasonal sports. I'm hoping that will help her make friends and learn to interact positively with others. As far as structure, every morning when Emma leaves for school we have 90 minutes of preschool, or Ali's cool school as we call it. We have a schedule we made together and follow and I'm able to plan the lessons around where she already is and build from there. It's been working out really great and it's been fun spending the one-on-one time with my Ali-gator and getting back to my early childhood education roots.
Anyway, I think this is the perfect preschool picture for her back to school book, don't you?
Just keepin' it real ;)
And of course I can't forget her back to school questionnaire.
3 comments:
I completely agree with you on every decision you've made in this post. :)
I never sent my kids to a preschool that I paid for. It just didn't seem worth it to me. I figured I was staying at home to teach my kids anyway....... My kids have always been super ready for school- even when we didn't have "structured preschool" hours at home. Kudos to you for knocking it out of the park!
I love your Ali- she reminds me of my Maggie. I decided long ago that if it didn't pertain to her eternal salvation- some things just weren't worth the fight (ie: clothing choices that were crazy-pants!... as long as they were modest)
Ali's smile is so contagious. I couldn't help but grin as I was looking at her sweet little self :D
SUPER!!!! I am so excited for you being her teacher! That rocks! This year I am trying out the joy school idea with Bryan. We will see how it goes! I loved what Breezi said,"I figured I was staying at home to teach my kids anyway." I feel the $$$ I paid out for preschool was quite a waste. I am the one who has taught all my kids to read and count and their colors so far. I thought that they seemed to be at preschool for socal reasons. I love the idea of just signing them up for sports and then we have church. Anyway, Ali is adorable and super duper smart like her sis! I hope you never feel a reason to defend why you homeschool. It is simply the best and you are willing to put forth the effort. ALSO say you spend that X amound of $$$ on field trips and educational games and what not! You would have a ton of stuff you could use on Canyon NOT WASTED. Or you could be CREATIVE (which makes a mother feel good) and spend close to nothin and save a TON and be all around a happier person right? AND those memories will always be with Ali either way.
This got long fast. Too much to say on the matter I guess :)
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