Pre-school's out for SUMMER!

Its been a busy month/year/life with Leila. She is the hurricane that entered and rocked my world over 5 1/2 years ago, and the wind just keeps on blowing with her. She is amazing.

She was enrolled in Aloha Christian Pre-school for their pre-K program which is for kids who just miss the cut-off for Kindergarten. She attended five days a week for 2 1/2 hours- just like most kindergartens. I originally wanted to push her into Kindergarten last year. If she had been born just 5 days earlier, she would have gone into kindergarten, and I would not have considered holding her back. But thanks to the cost of the test to put her in(a few hundred dollars), the chances she would pass it(she had to score 98%), and the fact it would still go to an arbitration board and they could pull her out of kindergarten the first three months if it wasn't working, I decided to not go that way. I didn't want to put that kind of pressure on her, or myself for that matter. I didn't want people judging my child. I also didn't want to push her to grow up faster than she already is. Plus, thinking way down the line, I feel much more comfortable sending my 18, almost 19 year old off to college than I would a 17, almost 18. A year does make a big difference in the teen years. And while I am sure I have turbulent teen drama ahead of me, do I really want to kick her out of the house a year earlier by choice? No. Also, her being the oldest in her class she will have added responsibility and actual ability to lead and help others. This is a trait she already has and will naturally develop even more, and I believe it will serve her well.


Here she is on her teachers lap, with the two assistant teachers next to her.

Here she is with the Pre-school director who has helped her a few times when her days were not so great.

Leila had a "Spring Program" where she sang and received a certificate of completion. She was lucky to have several family members besides us in attendance. She was by far the most animated and excited student singing. I will post some video later- I couldn't hold the camera steady I was laughing so much. :o)

I love this school. We put in an application for Nathan to go next year if he doesn't get into the Aloha-Huber Park free pre-school. He is looking forward to having his firsts and lasts just like Leila. In fact, he has been quite emotional because I think he is recognizing his sister is getting a lot of attention right(earrings, school, reading, just being so cute most of the time!). So, we will work on getting our one on one time with him. He can certainly cause a stir like his sister, but I tend to think of him as the constant base, while Leila is wild music with ups and downs.

We have a long summer ahead of us and I sincerely hope I can make it thru alive! I will post my plans to keep us happy and sane and somewhat organized once I figure out how I am going to do that.