Kindergarten!!!!!!

We have officially entered into a new phase in our lives. My munchkin has started KINDERGARTEN!!!!!!!! Oh my goodness! I can't believe it! As with all parents these days are bittersweet...but mostly sweet. We absolutely MUST praise God for this time because He has provided for us to put Josie into a classical school.

If you are anything like I was about 7 years ago you're asking, "What the heck is classical school?" Well, I found out when I was hired several years ago to teach P.E. at a classical school in Austin. The more I learned about the teaching philosophy the more I fell in love with classical education.

In a nutshell, it is old. We're talkin' ancient--literally. It's methods are extremely similar to the methods used with people like Socrates and Plato. Yes, I mean old. Of course it's developed since then but at it's foundation it is the same. It uses the developmental phases of children to their educational advantage.

For instance, little ones are considered "sponges" so the aim is to allow them to "soak up" everything they can. Middle school ages are called "Logic" students. This allows those tween and teenagers to ask the questions and the teachers embrace the questions...teaching the students how to think for themselves. Finally high school is called "Rhetoric". Here they take all the knowledge they have, combine it with their ability to think things through and then articulate their ideas WELL...even defend them...much like debate.

The extra-super-fabulous thing about this school is it is Christian, so high school students learn how to defend their faith in a world that thinks it can't be proven....in other words, they are learning to love God with all their "hearts, strength, and MINDS" just as the first commandment instructs us to. (And how often we forget the MIND part of the commandment!)

Realistically, we have no idea if our kids will go all the way through the school. We are doing our best to stay open to God's plan for our EACH of our kids. What we do know is this has been a dream of both Wesley and myself and God has allowed it to come to fruition today.

Seeing her cousins made the whole morning even better!!!

I loved picking up a happy girl at the end of the day!!!

So what do Caleb and I do on the days we're home together? Well, here are a couple of ideas for ya.

He asked my mom for one of these for Christmas.

Need I say more?