Volunteering at their school

Today was cool enough to wear a sweater! I love fall! We've had a beautiful September. It's been bright and sunny for days now. Which made the cool fog that settled this morning that much more mystical when the kids got up.

Last week, I started volunteering in the boys' classrooms. It was a lot of fun. In Alvin's room, I do the reading tests with the kids. It went really well, and calmed my fears over how behind Alvin is or isn't. He's doing just fine! YEAH! In Paul's room, I did apple prints. They had read, "10 Apples Up on Top", so we stamped 10 apples above one another on a long sheet of paper.

I got to Paul's room a little early and was able to watch their math lesson. It was so much fun. The teacher had a drawing of a kid on the board with two dashed lines. One was above their head and one was around their belly-button. The kids were supposed to draw a picture of something taller than their self (pink sticky note) and something shorter than their self (yellow sticky note). The teacher then stuck each sticky either above the head or around the belly of the drawing. What a great hands on way to teach math concepts.

I LOVE MY KIDS SCHOOL! While I think home school is great and plan to do it when my kids are older... I am so glad I gave our neighborhood school a chance. They amaze me!

Coming along...

School is chugging along for the three boys. Paul loves kindergarten! He's coming along well and finding words to read. He's also beginning to read stories back to me. Alvin is enjoying it this time around... although after two years of preschool (making this his 3rd first day of school), it's not as fascinating to him anymore. He enjoys the friends, change in scenery, and what not... but I can tell this year will be harder for him. Nick is LOVING fencing. His teacher represented the US in one of the past Olympics, which is cool. They have been fitted for suits and masks. He has learned he enjoy the Pistol grip over the French grip. He's hoping they'll be allowed to hold their swords today.

Other than that... I am learning how to balance my expanding world. I remember my dad telling me, "If you see your kids as in the way, they always will be. If you treat them like the highlite to your day, they will become such." It's so true. Instead of scheduling my day out by hours, I schedule it around naps. Rilie and I play till his first nap, then I work on my calling; then we play till his second nap, then I clean the house. If he skips a nap, I don't fret about my calling or house work. It's taking a lot of faith. Not that I don't want to play with Rilie... there is just a lot to learn about Primary (like preparing for a Sacrament Program) and it really affects the family if I get too behind on house work. But, switching to this method has really helped a lot. Thank you for inspiration!