All day Pre-K

Anyone who has talked to me since moving, knows that pre-k has been a dilemma for us. Last year, Kenzie went to a private pre-k for 3 days for 3 hours. She had a small class which included her best friend and she thrived. It was a pretty perfect situation. Upon moving to Atlanta, I started searching out preschools. I know preschool isn't for everyone, but Kenzie and I get along much better when we get a bit of break. Also, I had no friends here and no one in the ward to hang out with and I really wanted Kenzie to make some friends. 

Georgia is kind of unique in that it offers lottery funded preschool. Parents only pony up a few bucks a day for lunch/snacks. The catch is that school runs from 8:30-3, five days a week and you have to sign documents saying you will send them all week for the full time. I was so torn in wanting her to go, yet not sure that I could justify all day pre-k. The private preschool nearby was another option but it would cost quite a bit and the times really cut into the Clara and Emmett's main nap time.

 After being pent up together for a couple of months here, I figured we could try it one day at a time and I could always pull her out. Opinions on it run deep in the ward here and I did have one woman trying to call me out as a bad parent the night before it started. I'll say this for southern women, they don't hold back and like to tell you how it is whether you like it or not. 

Anyways, the first day was a little shaky but she came home happy. The second day she went right in the classroom and didn't look back. I loved the ease of only having two children at home and felt like I maximized the time I did have with Mackenzie. Then the second week hit and she was sick. We're talking sore throat, running a constant fever over 100 for the entire week. Of course I kept here home and the next week, we paid for it. She suddenly hated school and that whole week was a battle between keeping her in or taking her out. I would ask her every morning if she wanted to go and ultimately, she would end up begging to go even though I wasn't sure about the classroom environment and teaching style of the teacher. I did a lot of praying and on Thursday of that week I finally asked God to let me know in some definitive way if I should keep her in school because I had made my mind up that I was going to take her out.. The next day, there were no fights or tears and when I went to pick her up, her teachers went out of their way to tell me how much they enjoyed Mackenzie and how well she was doing. I took it as an answer and am so glad now that she is in school. I know it's not for everyone, but it is a great situation for us.

They had to make little people that looked like them. She did all of the cutting and design. I only helped with the glue placement for the beads.

Recently, they had their 50th day of school and asked the kids to dress in 50's attire. Lucky for me, I already had fabric and the internet has some great tutorials on circle skirts. Next time I make a circle skirt, I'm going with ribbon in the waistband, the elastic was a nightmare for a mediocre seamstress like me.

She was so mad taking these pictures because I wanted her to wear the cardigan which "made her look like a boy." This girl wants to wear only skirts/dresses and has to have something "fancy" on.

I signed up to take popcorn to the kids and ended up staying to help with their party. The kids were really polite and Clara enjoyed going to school.