Thursday, August 22, 2013

Back To School

Is it really time to be getting ready for another school year? It sure is!
This year I will have a kindergartner and a first grader, and only one girl at home with me. To be honest, the girls are more excited about the start of this school year than I am. I am going to miss spending the whole day with the kids and going swimming and being able to just do whatever. I am, however, looking forward to the routine and structure (a little bit) that comes with the school year.

Emily, our oldest child, is going to a new school this year for first grade. The elementary schools here are different that anywhere that I have ever seen - there is one school that is entirely kindergarten, another school for 1st and 2nd grades, and a third school for the 3rd and 4th grade. Strange I thought at first, but it is neat that the libraries at each school are tailored to the specific reading levels of the students there, as well as the playgrounds. Since this is only our second year in this community and in these schools we don't know any of the teachers at Emily's new school, but are looking forward to getting to know them!

Natalie, our middle child, is going into kindergarten this year and she is SO excited about it. She went to preschool last year, but that was only half day four days a week - so she has a little bit of a surprise in store for her. Our kindergarten here is full day, which I was originally not a fan of but am now that our oldest daughter went last year and I saw first-hand the benefits. The biggest thing that Natalie is looking forward to is being able to do the monkey bars everyday at recess!
This year is going to be a bit different for us though, as I am also starting back to school this semester. I am having to put my youngest in childcare a couple days a week for a few hours each day. I struggle with this a little bit, because I have never had any of my kids in a care setting where I did not know the person who would be caring for them while I was gone. So it is definitely a little nerve wracking. I have faith that it will all work out fine, and confident that my daughter will benefit from the play time with other children her age.

I think that we are finally done school shopping - clothes and supplies! It was definitely a lot more this year with two in school, I am dreading the days when the girls are all teenagers and want to pick out all their own clothes and shoes...lol!

I hope that your back to school transition, if you have one this year, goes smoothly for you! What is the one thing that you find easiest or hardest about back to school for your family?