Kindergarten

Well, we haven’t fallen off of the face of this earth as it may seem. Just been getting ready for our big schooling adventure! I’ve been setting up our office as a school room, complete with a white board that Stephen made, a big calendar for “calendar time,” the alphabet and numbers on the wall, and several different school boxes: one for Colby (of course, he wants to do school, too!), Abriella, home supplies, and a “brain break box.” Obviously, we have our books on a shelf as well, and I have a drawer in our desk of hanging folders with other things that I’ll be needing.

Last night, I read The Kissing Hand to Abriella. (I need to learn to stop and actually pose for pictures, so I don’t have such funny faces!). I put a cut out of a hand with a hershey’s kiss taped to it in her lunch for her to find today. I wrote a little note on it for her first day of school.  🙂

Also, before bedtime last night, I made a list for Abriella of all the things she needs to do in the morning to get ready. I didn’t want to be constantly nagging her to get ready. She loved this list idea. We put one in her room and one on the fridge. It worked great!

Here she is all dressed and ready for the first day at Providence. She’ll go Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8-3. Yes, all these poses were of her own doing! Can we say Miss Priss?? haha! She also requested pigtails today. I was quite pleased with her choice! And, can I just say I wish that we had uniforms growing up?! How much easier it would’ve been for getting ready each day! (you can click on any of the pictures below to make them bigger)

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Then, we had a special breakfast for her today. Stephen made a big pancake for her, and I drew a big “K” on it for kindergarten, of course. It was icing. Yum! Also, the “back to school fairy” left her a note this morning. 😉 She said, “Mommy, fairies aren’t real!” But, after thinking it over, she said, “Well, maybe they ARE real, and this one left a note for me!” :-) I loved this note. It says (you can click on the picture to see it yourself):

You’ve been visited by the back to school fairy! Have a magical first day of Kindergarten!

“I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13

Then, off to school we all went. Stephen joined us today as well. He’ll most likely be the one taking her to school, but today, of course, we all wanted to be a part of her first day! Here she is in front of the school sign.

Here she is ready for chapel. They have chapel at the beginning of the day for the first 15 minutes of the day. This is for the entire school, which currently is preK through 10th grade (they’ll add 11th next year and 12th the next year, I believe). This consists of a couple of hymns, scripture memory work (this year, they are starting out learning the Lord’s prayer), some Latin work, and any announcements. Parents/families can also take part in this, if desired.

Then, it’s off to class. Here is Abriella at her seat. She has a class of 16 students. Her teacher is Mrs. Billman (pictured with Abriella below), and the full-time teacher’s aide is Mrs. Butler. Both super sweet ladies! I believe there are 8 girls and 8 boys in her class. Perfect split!

Tomorrow, we’ll have our first homeschool day. I think we’re ready! Oh, and before I forget, I made this for the teachers for a first day of school gift. I forgot to take pictures of the ones I actually made, but here is where I got the idea. http://www.theidearoom.net/2009/02/personalized-hand-sanitizer-soaps.html

Stephen was so sweet and he got me a first day of school teacher’s gift as well. He included a sweet note. Such a loving and supportive husband! Love him! Here’s to a great start of an educational journey for our family! May God bless us in the journey!