It's been A LONG time since I blogged. Over 3 months! What a great 3 months it was! We had a simply WONDERFUL summer together! And then it came to an end. The plan for the school year was that Mack would continue at the same child development center as last year, attending pre-kindergarten in the morning, and then he would ride a bus to my school to attend pre-kindergarten in the afternoon. There are MANY, MANY reasons why I thought this was the best plan for him. I prayed and prayed over this. After 16 days of doing this, we are scaling back! I am a teacher. Nearly EVERY year, nearly EVERY 5th grader enters my 5th grade class at age 10. MANY, MANY, MANY people felt I should think about not entering Mack into kindergarten until he is 6, since he is a boy and he has a late summer birthday, etc, etc....but I'm like, NO one enters my class already being 11....seriously this has happened two times.
If I could stay at home with him, I would wait. If I had an option for him that would not cost me an arm and a leg and did not include 18 children in a class, I would wait. My thinking was that he is gonna be in full time care anyways, so lets get him learning and growing and such!
Well, he definitely is learning. He is also growing, in EVERY way. BUT, developmentally he is really more like a 3 year old right now....3 going on 4. By next fall he will definitely be more like a 4 year old and maybe even a 5 year old. By the time he turns 6, he will start kindergarten and within a month of school starting, some of his classmates will also turn 6, and instead of being the youngest in his class with his history, he will be one of the oldest and this should be a great asset to him.
Mack has grown 5 inches in height in the past 11 months! He has gained 10 pounds! He has learned loads of English! He knows his colors, can count to 10 and sometimes beyond and can identify many letters. He has come from Haiti to Minnesota. He has learned to really trust people. He sleeps through the night. I won't list the million and one ways he has grown this year, but he has grown and is growing. Beginning tomorrow he will stay all day at his preschool. Instead of getting on a bus and coming to more instruction and learning at my school, he will go play outside on the playground, eat lunch and have a 1-2 hour rest time. It will still be an adjustment for him. As much as he was struggling with his no nap, listen and learn ALL day routine, it was becoming his routine. Pray for him as he stays put all day tomorrow. He loves his teacher and the feeling is mutual. Pray for him as he continues to grow in all kinds of ways. Pray that he can relax, rest and even sleep at nap time (this has been a challenge for him, sleeping away from mommy). Pray for his teachers. Pray for the others kids he calls friends. :-) Thank you so much for your continued prayers!
Stay tuned for Mack's ONE YEAR HOME! Just 23 days away! Also stay tuned for that day when I may have some kind of news to share about adoption #2!
