Poor Neglected Little Blog

I feel bad for neglecting you, blog. I really do. Life has been so very busy lately that I just have not had the time. But, here is an update on our little family.

First of all, I am working an insane number of hours, but I am teaching so it is work doing something I love. Not many people get to go to work everyday and be around smart, creative, fun people who enjoy being there. I have also started graduate school. I am majoring in secondary education, so I will be able to teach in the public schools soon. (Right now I teach college.)

We're also in the process of converting to Catholicism. We're going through RCIA which is basically a class that lasts several months to prepare people to enter the Catholic Church. We love it. Our confirmation and first communion is Feb. 7, 2010. We're currently attending St. Anne's Catholic Church.

Jason, the dear husband, has also started grad school. We're actually doing the exact same program except he wants to teach middle school and I want to teach freshmen high-schoolers. We would both love to teach at a private Catholic school.

Natalie started preschool this August. I had toyed with the idea of homeschooling her, but I am not confident enough in my ability to actually do it. She is going to public school right now, but we plan to try to move her to a Catholic private school by first grade. The cost is just something that we are struggling with. She loves school though.

Look for more posts soon!

Portrait of the Artist

 
 
 
 
Today we made a few art projects. We did hearts for Valentine's Day and talked about how Valentine's Day is for people to show each other that they are special. We also traced our hands (she did hers all by herself!) and cut up some paper. Natalie had never used scissors before, so I thought she caught on pretty quickly! She cut and snipped for almost an hour! It was scissor love!

Then we made some lunch after we did our projects. Natalie made peanut butter and honey sandwiches on organic wheat bread. (It's special peanut butter - just nuts and oil freshly smashed up!)

Natalie did a very good job spreading the peanut butter with a butter knife and she even got to cut the sandwich herself! She was so sweet because she told me that I could have half of it because I was her Valentine. :) I love this kid! We finished off with some frozen grapes, yum!

To Preschool or Not?

"Oh, my child is turning four! I must send her to the best preschool. She's been on the waiting list since my husband and I started trying to conceive...but I am still worried that she might not get in for this year!"


I really DO NOT want to be that mom. Natalie is three. She goes to daycare... against my better judgment but that's not a battle I want to have with the dear ole hubby again right now. Two weeks ago the daycare owner told us that if we hoped to get Natalie into the public (free) preschool for the fall that we needed to get her application in by the following week at the latest. Gosh, don't you love deadlines?

So this got the gears turning in my head. Should Natalie go to preschool? I did. My husband did - but we had totally different experiences.

More than that, should Natalie go to public school? I have absolutely no faith in the public school system. I am sorry to those few wonderful teachers out there trying to make a difference. The problems with the system are too big for a handful of great teachers to fix, IMO. Once upon a time I wanted to be a public school teacher. Then I started getting into the school system and actually reading about it. So I changed my major. (I'd much rather be a librarian and/or do art preservation.) And I knew that I did not want my child to go to public school.

I don't want her to go to a snooty school like the one the mom at the beginning of my post is trying to get her kid into.... first of all, we're middle class. We can't afford $1000 a month for a preschool. If I were to send her to a private preschool, it would be a Montessori school. I love the Montessori methods and have studied (and applied) them extensively.

So I asked my husband what he thought. I told him that I did not want her going to public school - and I am not wavering on that - and I told him how much our local Montessori school costs ($6000/year!) and I asked him what he thought we should do.

He thought about it a little while and here is what he said:
Natalie's a smart and curious kid. We're both very educated. I have a degree in theater and creative writing. I have a strong background in language arts and social studies. You have a degree in English and are only a few credits away from degrees in Early Childhood Education, History, and Art/Art History. You have a solid background in educational theory and practice and I am getting a stronger background with every class I take. Why not home school? Maybe try it for the "preschool" years and see how it goes.

Well...... that's really not what I expected my husband to say! His biggest concern is that she will be "weird" and I think that means unsocialized. But I really think there have to be ways around that! Don't you? So there it is... stewing on the back burner. I have some more reading to do, but I've been thinking about it. I still have really another 2 years before I HAVE to send her to school (according to SC laws) so why not give it a try? Maybe like a pre-test before the exam? Oh, and believe me.... this is something that I never expected to even consider!