Preschool Graduation

 Wow, what a year it has been.  I can hardly believe that I have finished a year of owning, running, and teaching my own preschool.  It is definitely not something I ever thought of doing and just kind of fell into my lap.  Luckily, when I started teaching preschool, I kind of loved it, and it all really worked out.  It has been quite the adventure, and the year even ended on a hectic note.... I think there is just a part of teaching that will always be unpredictable  so you definitely have to learn to roll with the punches and make the best of all situations.

I actually felt very prepared for graduation.  The kids were well prepared, I had all my stuff loaded and ready to go, and had gone through it all in my head a million times.  I do have to say, one of the difficult things is being the teacher and a parent for the same event.  I wanted to have myself and both the kids all dressed up and ready, on top of having all of my teacherly duties covered.  Not only did I have to think of the things for my class, I had to remember to charge the camera, and to invite family, and all of it.  We didn't get great pictures, because I was otherwise occupied, Matt was running the slide show & video taping, and we don't have a good camera right now... just a phone camera... but such is life.

When we got to the library, which I had reserved a room in months ago, we found that there was already a preschool graduation taking place.  I kind of had a panic attack while trying to figure out what to do... We quickly changed locations to another library... called and text as many parents as possible... posted a note on the door... and carried all the stuff back out to the car in the rain.  It was absolutely crazy.  I was pretty frazzled for graduation, but everyone made it to the new location, and I think it all worked out for having been so crazy.  The perfectionist in me, knows it could have been better, and that is hard, but I was so relieved to have it over when it was all said and done that I am ok with it not being perfect.

The kids were great, and I really will miss them.  It is the hard part of teaching.  Having these children a part of your life, a big part, and then just saying goodbye to them.  I hope to see where some of them end up for sure.

Cutest girls... I sure loved having them together and listening to the stories they would make up during reading...

the Pledge of Allegiance

11 Speckled Frogs... a long song, but the kids' favorite

The whole class after graduating!

I was so incredibly happy to have both Sydney and Cooper in my class this year.  They both did phenomenal   I feel so lucky to have been able to teach them and watch them grow and learn.  I can hardly believe that Sydney will be starting Kindergarten.  It will be a big adjustment for me to have her away from me, but I know that she will absolutely thrive.  She is so smart, so fun, and loves life so much.  I love the lessons I have learned from her, and am grateful for what my kids teach me every day.  I'm also looking forward to having Cooper, my best little buddy, with me another year.  These two are my everything and I love them more than anything.  The past two years have been better than I've ever even dreamed, because I never did dream of actually teaching my own kids.  Funny how life gives you more than you could even want!