We opted against pre-school this term and it's making our lives somewhat, though not entirely, simpler. It's definitely a richer life. As confirmed by one of her pre-K teachers, Adele is Kindergarten ready but we've missed all the testing deadlines to get her in to a class for this school year. Instead of pushing charter school, I am now pushing public and planning to supplement (as was the plan already.) I am teaching Adele more basics and relying on experiential devices to aid my lesson "plans." I loaded up at Michaels and have a little preschool set up right inside the house. We fleshed out some of our hobbies to have more fulfilling and educational experiences with puppets, dress up clothes, and crafty goodness. While the rest of the area's kids were off on their first day of school, we went on our first field trip. In an effort to keep up with the 50 place challenge, we went somewhere new - the Children's Museum of Phoenix. The "Noodle Forest" was not near as fun as we anticipated but "The Climber" totally rocked. Speaking of the 50 place challenge, due to some visits to new restaurants and parks, we have 10 new spots left to hit.
To make up for what Adele will miss in socializing at Pre K, we are putting her in dance classes, per her request. School has created more stress than it deserves but I am finally feeling at peace with choosing public school. AZ's education may be underfunded and low ranking but our district is high performing so that balances it out a little.
