New School ???

Dave and I found out last month that we had to make a decision about whether or not we want to keep J at his current school for next year. Dave really wanted me to make this decision for a variety of reasons. Originally, I thought I would only leave him at this school for a year to gain some independence from Mommy and enjoy being around other children, but we have had such a good experience that it left me unsure of exactly what to do! I know that the longer we stay may make a new transition later more difficult. So, I started praying, talking to other moms & teacher friends, and visiting other preschools in the area. There are so many factors for us moms to think about in this decision or at least this mom! Overall, I definitely want J to be prepared for kindergarten in three years, yet, these first few years should be all about learning through play. I sneak in times to work with him at home on concepts, but sometimes outside people can be more effective. Most importantly, I really want J's first lessons to be taken straight from the book inspired by the greatest teacher of all time-Jesus Christ.

I also want a place where they love our little boy, and I feel totally comfortable leaving him. I started reflecting on the positives/negatives of where he is right now and this is what I came up with that made me make my final decision: he loves his teachers and they are moving up with his class, they sincerely love him for who he is, teachers offer feedback about him when I ask, it offers structure and socialization, they share stories from the Bible, he is learning academic concepts always through art, play, etc., versus a place where he could probably be learning even more academics, gives assessments, offers elaborate crafts (ha!), the classes are offered more days or longer days. I was going back and forth about these things for days.

Finally, it came to me that I was really becoming preoccupied with all of these details of a school; though, I know so many things are important during the formative years of J's life, but the most important thing right now is that we (Dave and I) teach him about obedience and respect. I heard a pastor say one time that if we don't teach our children to submit to us, they will never submit to our Heavenly Father. So, I put aside all of those silly details about a school, and, well, can you guess what we decided??? He is staying right where he is...still not sure why I created such a long post about it. I will post some pics to make up for it! :)

Here's what J has been doing while I have been thinking about this school thing...