This school year was a huge year of change for us. All summer long I worried, stressed and basically obsessed over different choices I had to make regarding the kids schooling. I make things so hard on myself because almost every big decision I make (mostly the decisions I have to make regarding my kids) I really really really over think everything. I look at every angle and think about how each decision would affect them either good or bad. I takes me a really long time to make sense of everything and to come up with a good solution to problems and choices. Before I make a big decision I like to go to the temple and I have found that I leave the temple with more clarity and I am able to make decisions easier. Landon and I discuss everything and we make a logical decision together. We really feel good about our decisions regarding the kids schooling and so far the kids are thriving.
Back to school haircuts! Avery cut 10 inches off!
We decided to keep Avery at Alpine Elementary where she thrives and has really good friends. She likes to walk to school and walk home with some neighbor kids. This year she started first grade and has Mrs. Bailey as a teacher (who we love!) The first day of school Landon went to work late and we all walked her to school. She was a little nervous when we first got there so I had to walk her into her class. It was a hard day for me for two reasons. One, she wasn't around to help me with the little boys...she is a really big help. And two, first grade is long! I was worried about her all day and I really wanted everything to go well for her. Luckily she came home and said she loved first grade! She was tired and hungry but her usual old self which was a huge sigh of relief. She has been in school for three weeks now and is doing so well. She has great friends and she is learning so much! She has probably learned more in three weeks in first grade, then she learned her whole kindergarten year...yeah...
Over the summer I thought it would be fun for the three older kids to do summer school in the mornings. I thought it would be a really good catch up for Avery, a way to keep Jack busy and to keep his brain active and a great way to help get Miles ready for preschool. During my research I found out that Challenger School does a summer program. I took a tour of the school and fell in love with the curriculum. The summer school program was awesome and I loved the way the kids were learning and becoming more independent. Jack really thrived there and his love for learning was growing instead of being squashed. He would bring his math book in the car and before he would go to bed he would just sit and do math. He loved it and I was loving what he was learning (things I thought he should be learning at Alpine Elementary). Everything has come so easy for Jack in his life especially with school. I was worried he wasn't learning how to work hard and when things did start getting harder the older he got, he wouldn't know how to work through it. Challenger was a good fit for him because the curriculum is challenging enough to help the kids learn how to work hard and be independent thinkers.
I had intended for Jack to go to Alpine Elementary with Avery but 1 week before school started I really just could not get Challenger out of my mind. Talking with Landon we both felt that we wanted Jack to try Challenger to see how it went. It sounded crazy at first sending both kids to different schools but the more we thought about it everything seemed to work out perfectly. Landon drops Jack off in the mornings so it is one less thing to worry about and my brother Scott picks Jack up on Tuesday and Friday so I am really not doing a lot of driving (something I thought would be really hard). The school is 15 minutes away so it really isn't that bad. So far we have seen A TON of growth out of him. Not so much academically (yet) but the way he gets his homework done and how independent he has become. The things he is saying sound so grown up and profound. He has made really great friends and there are only 16 kids in his class. We are LOVING Challenger for Jack.
We actually love that the kids have their own schools. They are very competitive and Avery has always kinda lived in Jack's shadow. I love that they have their own environment where there is no competition on who got to school first, or who got an eagle goal that day, or what they ate for lunch...etc. Their personalities just do better separated...I thought that the other way around would be better for their relationship but I actually think that being separated has done better at bringing them closer. Sounds crazy but so far it has worked.
Sweet Miles started preschool at Bear Hollow! 6 months ago I would have said we weren't even going to put him in preschool. He was so far behind socially and verbally that I didn't think he would be able to handle preschool. We have worked to hard these last 6 months with early intervention therapy, gymnastics classes, music classes, learning from a lot of book reading and of course summer school. He has grown SO MUCH! He talks so well and his behavior has improved so much. We still have some work to do but we are so proud of all that he has accomplished. He had his first day of school yesterday and I was nervous all day at how it would go. When I went to pick him up his teacher was gushing about how well he did. I seriously got emotional because we worked so hard for that first day of school to be a success. I know I can't expect perfection everyday but I know that school is going to be a lot easier for him because of all our work. He is so lucky to be with his cousin Georgia too. I think it helped a lot to have someone familiar in class with him. Anyways, get me talking about education and my kids and I will talk your ear off! Haha! I am passionate about it I guess! So far this school year has been awesome and hopefully the kids continue to learn, grow, progress and thrive.
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