What a whirlwind this past week has been!
If you had asked me six months ago, what Tera’s Kindergarten year would look like, I would have answered matter-of-factly that we would be homeschooling. It was the option that made the most sense for our family.
And then I found out about CHESS. CHESS is a hybrid/homeschool/university model school in our area (to be fair, it’s actually almost 40 mins away from us). And door after door after door was opened wide for us to send Tera there for Kindergarten this year. We are SO EXCITED.
As we entered into August, I heard that Tera’s new school was in need of a lot of help. They had just bought a new building that had been abandoned and was in a state of massive disrepair. Theo and I volunteered our time one morning and we were very discouraged. There was NO WAY this building could be finished and opened in time for the first day of school (even though they had already moved the day back one week). Once we saw the needs at CHESS, we jumped right in and began helping out whenever our schedules would allow.
The community that we met working in the hallways and classrooms of the school reminded me so much of Sahel Academy. I graduated from Sahel ten years ago, but I have yet to find anywhere that has that tight-knit community. Until now.
Let me tell you what…we think teachers are stressed going back to school and setting up their classrooms? Well, the teachers at our school had to hang ceiling tile and drywall, paint, hang outlet covers, put together their furniture AND decorate their classrooms. Seeing those teachers working so hard day in and day out helped me to feel more confident in our decision to send our kiddos here. That’s the kind of person I want instructing my child throughout the week.
God was truly over the details- the classes were at the exact time of the week that we were already taking Tera to school, childcare for the boys would be covered, and Tera would receive a tuition discount. Her tuition discount, along with my pay, will almost 100% cover Tera’s tuition. We have been praying for months for an opportunity to cover her tuition, and I’m always so surprised when God answers our prayers in unexpected ways. I don’t know why I’m surprised, because he always does…but alas….it takes me awhile to learn things, ok?
I was offered the job on Thursday, met my students on Friday night and had my first class first thing Monday morning! PHEW! What a whirlwind!
Theo took us out for ice cream to celebrate me being an official employee for the first time in FIVE YEARS!
Back to school night…
The only downside to all of this was that it kind of took away from Tera’s first day of school. Instead of doing a special meal for her the night before, I was working frantically to write lesson plans. Instead of waking up early to make her a special breakfast, I was rushing through my own getting ready routine. Instead of tearfully dropping her off at her classroom and going home for the day, I rushed her to her class and then headed down the hall to my classroom. Oh, wait…that last one isn’t such a bad thing.
And don’t worry…I still burst into tears the first time I walked into her classroom and saw the little desk she would be sitting at. HOW IS MY BABY IN KINDERGARTEN?!?!?!
The first day of school finally arrived, and we were all ready!!!! I’m teaching, Tera is attending her elective classes (Spanish and Dance), Kiah is in the preschool for the morning and Ezra is in the childcare for the morning.
First morning jitters!
The first day went well! Tera loved her elective classes, Kiah did well in daycare and Ezra only cried for the last hour. I have a lot to learn about getting back to teaching, but I’m so eager and excited to be in the classroom again.
We all go to school together on Monday for a half day, and then Tera goes on Tuesday and Thursday for a full day. I picked her up on Tuesday and asked her if she missed me and she smiled real big and said “NOPE!”. At least she’s honest.
This whole thing feels like God has led us. Sometimes we felt like we had a blindfold on (like when we registered for school but weren’t sure how we would pay for it).
*I know that many people have questions about how we like the hybrid school model, but I don’t have an answer for that yet. I’m sure I’ll blog about it once we have a little more time under our belts!