And so, another school year began.

After a very busy summer, I think we were all ready for the kids to start school.

Back to School night for Jack - all of the kids thought Jack's classroom was awesome.

Jack has a spot in a half-day, 4-days-a-week public school preschool program.  I requested the afternoon class so that he would be at school while Eliza was napping.  That way he doesn't miss out on any fun morning activities we might be doing, and I get to have a couple of hours to myself (ideally) a few times a week.

Ready to walk in for the first day of school!

We noticed almost immediately what a difference school made for Jack.  He became more confident and independent, better at following directions, more curious and eager to learn, and more talkative.  He loves singing songs he learns at school, showing off art projects, and telling me about all of HIS friends.

Writing his name on the first day of school, with a student teacher.
The students always write their names on a strip of paper when they get to school, then
they go to the board and place their name strip under "yes" or "no," in response to the question
of the day, such as "Do you like to eat apples?" or "Do you like to play pretend?"

Jack's teacher, Mrs. A. has been teaching preschool for 25 years.  Now, Cat has been lucky enough to have several really good teachers.  But I think Mrs. A. is the best teacher we've seen yet.  She talks to the four year olds better than anyone I've met.  You can tell that she sincerely cares about them and she even seems to be genuinely interested in the things they are learning in their school, such as whether the spider will eat the fly that a student brought in today?  There are also several student teachers in the classroom (students from UVU) so there is typically one adult in the room for every 3 kids.

I let Eliza play with Jack for a few minutes when we dropped him off at school the first day.

Eliza has done pretty well with Jack being in school.  Last year, she cried the first time I dropped him off at our co-op.  I think she really missed him.  This year, she's gotten upset occasionally, but it seems to be more because she feels like she's missing out by not staying at school with Jack.  Of course, you can't blame her.  She sees a sand box, a big play house, paint, bugs, fish, and all kinds of other fun things.  I think it's actually amazing that she doesn't get upset more often about not being able to stay.

Cat's Back to School night - seems like 2nd grade is the year to start "real" school, is that right?
Check out that text book!  She's been learning about parts of speech, including predicate,
should I remember what that is...?  Probably...

We found out two weeks before school started that Cat got a spot at our nearby charter school.  (We'd been on the waiting list since April.)  I thought this school, which focuses on classical education, would be more academically challenging for Cat, and it's been a good move.  I liked her school last year, and they did place her in an appropriate reading level, but this new school uses testing throughout the year to place kids in various levels not just for reading, but for spelling and math as well.  

Cat started school before Jack so I wanted her to have a special First Day of School meal.  We wouldn't be eating dinner at home that day, so I made biscuits and gravy, her favorite meal, for breakfast.

She complains once in a while about missing her old school, mostly because of friends, but of course they all live close enough that we can still see them.  She seems to be doing just fine in the new school, though.  During our parent-teacher conference, I asked how Cat's behavior was and her teacher replied, "Great!  I wish I had 29 more just like her!" That's always nice to hear :-)

Too cool to smile at first, but then the laugh came out...

Cat's new school also has a modified school uniform, where the kids wear a collared shirt in one of 6 solid colors, with either khaki or navy pants, shorts, or a skirt.  Cat loved the idea of wearing a uniform to school and I keep waiting for her to rebel and complain about it, but really, she hasn't yet.  

Cat had a harder time containing her excitement once we arrived at the school.

It's funny how Cat will still make clothing choices that show her personality, though.  For example she really likes it when her shirt and her cardigan are the same color, and she will look around for all of the navy blue clothes she can find, so that she's wearing navy blue pants, a navy blue polo shirt, and a navy blue cardigan.  I tried to discourage it at first, but quickly realized that I needed to let her express herself in whatever way she wanted to within the parameters of the uniform.

I hope this year continues to go well for both kids.  And I'm looking forward to having them at the same school next year!  Wherever we're living...