Starting School

Tonight is back to school night at Trey's new school and he officially starts Pre-K on Monday. I can't believe it. My little man is getting so big. I'm glad he is excited about school. It makes it a little easier on his momma's heart.

I really enjoy my children and had hopped that I would be home schooling them. Many of you that know me, know that this has been a desire of my heart. I even worked on a few pre-school activities at home with them over this passed year. We talked about it and prayed about it, but Hugh never felt that was where God was leading our family. I'm going to continue to work with Anna Grace in the mornings while Trey is at school. And of course I'm going to supplement and do whatever I can to foster and support what Trey is learning as well. I have fond memories of my mother sitting down with me after school to ask me all about my day and help me with homework.

When we were looking at houses back in December, we met Nicole, a doctor's wife, whose house we were actually considering. We hit it off and talked about the hospital there in town (where Hugh will be moonlighting,) finishing residency, moving and buying our first home. It was so nice to meet someone who knew and understood exactly where we are in life. She had also been in education before becoming a stay at home mom, so we had that in common as well. She really gave insight into all the schools in the area, public and private. She knew about teachers, programs, and each school's teaching philosophy (creative, learn through play, as opposed to a more structured classical approach.) She even gave us contact names and numbers.

Hugh was the one whom took initiative and contacted all the schools for information. I was still holding out hope on home schooling, but I was keeping an open mind. There was one private Christian school in particular that Hugh was interested in. I think he tried to persuade me to seriously consider it, as much as I tried to persuade him on home schooling. I couldn't understand why we would consider paying for pre-school when I'm perfectly capable of teaching them here at home. I was, after all a pre-school teacher before we had children. We compromised on narrowing it down to two schools, one public and one private to pray about and seriously consider. They both came highly recommended and fit our philosophy of education. They also both had waiting lists. So when I called to make the inquiries, I found that the public school was closed to applications and had already chosen their students for the year. We thought we may have missed out on the chance for Trey to get in preschool for the year, and Hugh agreed that if the other school was closed as well, I would teach Trey at home, and we would put him on waiting list now for kindergarten next year. I called the private school and found that they had one opening left, and it just happened to be in their four year old pre-school class. We took that as a sign that God had definitely closed one door and opened the other. We had our answer. We have actually met several people in our new neighborhood had through visiting churches that have had their children on the waiting list for a couple years, and couldn't believe we got in. It was definitely the Lord.

We started the application process in March and Trey was accepted in May. Because it is a Christian school we had to sign and agree to their philosophy and mission statement, give two references (one from our pastor, and another non-family member,) and give a written statement on what we expecting the school to provide for our child both educationally and spiritually. We were able to take a tour of the school when we got here, and Trey even attended a four day summer camp they were offering. He was immediately hooked. He talked and talked about school and even went to bed early every night because he was so excited about being ready for school the next day. -Thank you Lord!

The thing I like most about the school is that it is not merely a Christian school in name only. They take their spiritual leadership and education as serious as they do their formal education. I would say 95 percent of their faculty and staff currently serve in ministry in some capacity or have been involved in missions. Many of them have lived in foreign countries serving on the mission field. All of the teachers have degrees in their specialty area and most have advanced degrees. This has really helped me to let go of my disappointment, and embrace the excitement of this new stage in our life. It will help us to get to know people in the area and Trey will make new friends. And we (Hugh and I) feel a peace that this is where our family is supposed to be and serve. That makes all the difference in the world. I'll have to share pictures of his first day. I hope you are enjoying the last couple days of summer with your family and the special little people in your lives! ~Blessings!