Back to School

The second day of school seemed much more real to me- we have quickly fallen into a new routine, starting with waiting for the big yellow bus at the end of the street. 

 Adam and Emma get loaded up on tricycles or wagons, Leah rides her bike or scooter.

After we wave good-bye to Leah, we race home to see who wins the golden duck- a highly coveted prize around here- for the day.

Then I get to work- naptime for Emma, playtime with Adam, running errands, housekeeping, and preparing for the afternoon.  This will become especially crucial on piano days- I've got 6 fantastic students now!  Then we pile into the car and make the seven minute trek over to the elementary school. 

We have spent the afternoons doing art projects, reading lots of books, and visiting the zoo and park and library.

Leah is the only half-day kindergartener in her class, but it doesn't seem to bother her at all that school goes on without her in the afternoon. I, on the other hand, spend far too much time wondering if we are doing the right thing by bringing her home and spending less structured, quality time together in the afternoons.  But when I see tender moments like this out my window-

I know that we are doing the right thing for our family, for this time of life anyway.  Iowa only offers full-day kindergarten, so I am considering our time here a fantastic introduction to the schedule and structure of elementary school.

Because Leah is not a school in the afternoon, she misses out on math class.  I will get to work on her math with her at home, but I'm not sure I know what kindergarten math really entails.  We were outside popping bubbles one afternoon and I thought I'd turn it into a math lesson.  "Okay Leah, if you pop a bubble and Adam pops a bubble and Emma pops a bubble, how many bubbles did you pop all together?" to which Adam replied, "Thu-whee!"  Apparently I need some kind of curriculum to follow.

School so far has been fun.  Leah had lots of good things to say about her days- she is happy to be in the class with two of her best friends Sabrina and Lilly.  Her teacher doesn't raise her voice, but Leah did say that they do have to listen to a LOT of "constructions... I mean instructions".  She loves earning sand dollars to spend in the classroom store, and is very curious about the possibility of eating breakfast or lunch at school.  She doesn't seem very nervous about school anymore, she's just soaking it all in and taking it in stride.  And when I start talking too much about her going to full-day kindergarten as soon as she wants to, she kindly says to me, "Mom, you can stop talking about full-day kindergarten.  I don't want to go to full-day kindergarten.  For now, I just want to come home and be with my family."

And, as much as it hurts my mother heart, I have a pretty good suspicious that that sentiment is not going to last forever.  So I'm going to take it while I can.