Preschool!

We officially started preschool this week!  It was a great first week and boy, I think I am learning as much as the kids!  I have not had one minute to spare this week and I've gone to bed early most nights!  It's a good tired though.  I had kind of dreaded this week not because we were starting preschool, but because we were starting preschool, had two swimming lessons, dance began again on Wednesday night, we have our first soccer game tomorrow, and in case all that wasn't enough I decided to go pick up our chickens this week too.  'Cause I just wasn't busy enough!  Haha! 
It actually all went great and I'll probably wonder what to do with myself next week when we aren't QUITE as busy. 

So, what's going on with us for preschool you may wonder.  Well, we are doing a 3-year old homeschool preschool curriculum this year.  We have chosen homeschool for this year for several reasons.  For one thing, the twins are only 3.  They will not be 4 until December, so they are past the cut-off day for all of the 4 year old preschool programs.  There are 3 year old programs out there, but they are all private and expensive.   In an effort to save money, Dustin and I talked at length and decided we would try homeschool for this year.  We are saving about $7,000 in tuition alone for 2 kids, plus gas money to take them back and forth.  That's no small amount!  Of course I used some money to buy materials for our homeschool, but not $7,000 that's for sure!  I can't say much about gas costs, because we do use a lot of gas since we live in a rural area and are always doing something! 
Are we going to do homeschool next year or send them to preschool somewhere?  We are not sure.  Neither Dustin nor I went to preschool and we turned out okay (in our humble opinions!).   It's funny because when you mention you are homeschooling, people ask such interesting questions.  I've been asked more than once how they will get into college if we homeschool.  Ummm...seriously folks?  They are THREE!  I have 15 years to figure that out, I will have to get back to you on that one!  I know it can be done, but as for the specifics, I am not sure.   I am more into ABC's right now.  I think we will take it one year at a time at this point!  Another reason we have chosen homeschool, at least for now, is because while I DO feel our kids need to begin learning the basics, I don't feel like they need to be in school all day.  So much school time seems to be spent in recess, nap/rest time, snack time, lunch time, gym, library, and all the other extra activities being offered.  Actual instruction time doesn't seem to be that much.  I'm not saying kids aren't learning a lot, but a lot of time is spent doing other things. 
I guess what I'm really saying is, we aren't ready to let them go yet!  

I will say that I've been really nervous about how it would go, would the kids listen to me, would we be able to manage with Henry running around, would they really learn anything, etc. etc. 
I was pleasantly surprised!  I have loved it so far!  I honestly am shocked because for some reason I thought it would be a struggle or fight each day, but the kids are eager to learn and wake up asking to "do their school".  We began on Tuesday, and we have completed four days of work in three days.  We doubled up today because we did not get to do our work yesterday.  We got our chickens yesterday and were very busy with that.  I considered it a "field trip" day because boy was it educational for many different reasons.  :-)  We will also probably do a few things tomorrow afternoon that I want to get done this week.  I didn't realize how much I would like that aspect of homeschooling as well, the flexibility.  We've done our work in morning and afternoon and both worked out just fine.  We are able to fit it in where we have a free block of time.  I am thoroughly enjoying watching the kids learn things and feel proud of themselves when they do something well.  They go around singing little songs we are learning, and can repeat their Bible story.  I am very proud of them and am looking forward to watching them grow, learn, and mature! 

We are beginning yet another journey, and I hope to share the ups and downs here.  I will try to post pictures as well when I can. 

I will share more on our curriculum soon, and what we've spent to homeschool two kids so far. 

Tomorrow brings our first soccer game-I hope that goes well too! 
I am not done blogging our vacation and some other things we've done this summer.  My to-do list is never ending and I guess that's a good thing!