Last day of Preschool

Today was Maisie's last day of Preschool EVER. She was sad to be done, but the prospect of Kindergarten is keeping her happy- only a little over a month until she starts! Eek! I wasn't nearly as emotional as I thought I would be (I think I'm saving it all for the first day of Kindergarten. It's the calm before the storm haha). Honestly, I feel relieved that we can almost officially kick off summer. I say almost because Austin has a week left of school- so it's finals week yayyyy. 

A little before 8 am Maisie made a little sign and then we went around the side of the house to take pictures of her last day. All I could think of was my little 3 1/2 year old baby who took her first preschool pictures in the freezing winter and now here she is a full fledged kid! She has grown leaps and bounds in that short year and a half- not only physically, but intellectually as well. While she is still her silly self, she has grown more confident and capable and we couldn't be more proud of her. 

And a comparison:

Home Preschool

Maisie had been looking forward to starting her preschool again at the end of January, but unfortunately we underestimated how fast it would fill up, so now Maisie can't go until spring. This was very upsetting to Maisie and in turn, upsetting to me. So I kicked it in high gear and decided we would set apart a couple hours every day to "preschool". Since I love planning, I throughly enjoyed finding activities that Maisie would enjoy, but also activities that would develop her talents and teach her new things. I went to the print shop last month and printed 60+ pages of various worksheets. I was super excited to get started, but after everyone was asleep I grabbed the large stack of papers and thumbed through them. And that's when I had a realization that maybe I'm taking this too far. If she wants to do them that's fine and dandy, but what if she doesn't? Do I push her? Do I focus on just having fun? Or teaching? Both? Should my home feel like a school or a sanctuary? And if I want a good balance how do I go about creating a healthy ratio? 

So after pausing to think about it I decided I would push her as far as she wants to be pushed. Maisie is very vocal about not liking a certain activity or loving another. So I'm following her cues and encouraging her on things she's uneasy about. It's so fun to see her push through (even when she's complaining) to being so proud of herself after conquering a task... this last one? Drawing hearts. And you better believe they are the cutest little lopsided hearts you ever did see. 

So even though I did print out 60+ pages and have an entire workbook we can work on, its not dire to do every single page. And its ok to go out of order if there's a certain page/project/activity that gets her excited. So, if/when sitting down and doing worksheets becomes stagnant I will have a backup craft/activity/books we can do instead. 

Some things that are helping me with Maisie's preschool: This workbook, my "toddler activities" Pinterest board, and I LOVE this website for crafts and fun projects. 

I still can't believe Maisie starts Kindergarten in only 6 months! I'm terrified and so so excited for her. I hope with my help she feels prepared and confident going in, but most of all I just want to play with her. I want to soak up this time I have with her now. I want her to feel loved and accepted more than anything else. Geeze, I am going to miss that little ray of sunshine around the house, but my plan is just to be present- not to worry about the inevitable future. I just want to be right here, right now. And I fully intend to do just that.

An activity we did where we read about and looked at some Monet paintings and then made one of our own.

1st day of preschool!

I'm still processing the fact that my little Maisie has started preschool and therefore can't fully communicate my mixed feelings about it yet, but as I stood in the freezing air taking the mandatory first day of school pictures, I was beaming with pride. I mean look at her...

There is no doubt in my mind that the world is a better place because she's apart of it.