Marina Goes to School // livelovesimple.com

Marina Grace Goes to School

DenaOctober 7, 2019

Marina Goes to School // livelovesimple.com

livelovesimple.com
livelovesimple.com

Marina Goes to School // livelovesimple.com

Marina started school last week. As usual, her path was very different from her brothers. Roman started preschool when he was just 3-years-old at the Co-op at our church. I loved that program because it was play-based and it was just a few days a week for a couple of hours each day. Unfortunately, after Roman’s first year there, the Co-op closed its doors. For his second year of pre-school, he went to the public school.

I searched for a program similar to the Co-op for Marina when she was 3, but I couldn’t find anything that worked well for us. The only practical option would have been to put her into a 5-day a week program and, at age 3, I simply wasn’t comfortable with it. Last year, when I was making that decision, it was tough. I still don’t know whether I made the decision based on what she was ready for, or what I was ready for, but in the end, it’s the decision that I made. I ended up keeping her home with me and we did a very exploratory, play-based version of homeschooling for the year.

This year she is 4 and I felt strongly that she should be in a structured program before she starts full-day kindergarten next year. I made the decision to put her into the same pre-k program that Roman was in at age 4 (5 days per week/2.5 hours per day.) Because she has not been in school or a structured environment before, I didn’t know how she would do. I was so nervous. Plus she is so strong-willed and emotional that I worried that she may not be able to handle the structure.

However, today marks one full week since she started and I have been blown away by how well she has done. I mean, well isn’t even the right word. She’s been amazing! She absolutely loves her teacher and loves going to school. From her first day and every day that followed, she has been all smiles before, during and after school. She is excited getting ready for school each day and she is full of happy, beautiful stories about her time at school when I go to pick her up.

To say that my mama-heart is grateful is such an understatement. I am absolutely overwhelmed with joy at how the process has gone so far. Of course, I know that it’s only been a week and there are always bumps in every road, but this start has just been a blessing beyond measure for us.

livelovesimple.com
livelovesimple.com

Marina Goes to School // livelovesimple.com

livelovesimple.com
livelovesimple.com

Marina Goes to School // livelovesimple.com

livelovesimple.com
livelovesimple.com

I am sure I’ll have lots more pre-k adventures to share soon, but I wanted to share a silly story about Marina’s school clothes. I had been building up her first day of school for a few days beforehand, getting her really excited. But I waited until “the morning of” to show her her first day of school outfit because I knew that she would want to wear it as soon as she saw it. So that morning I show her the outfit and she loved it. It was so adorable because it made her even more excited about going to school.

Everything was great until the next day when we were getting ready for her second day of school. She wanted to wear the same outfit! Somehow in all of the excitement, I said something that made her believe that outfit was her designated school clothes and she’d be wearing them to school every single day. When I broke it to her that she couldn’t wear them again and they needed to be washed, in true Marina-fashion, there was an epic battle. It took a lot to convince her to put on something different for day two, but here we are, a week in, and we’ve made it over that hurdle, too.

Until next time… xo

Leave a Comment

Prev Post

Backyard Camping Adventures

Next Post

Party Planning & Tips for a Gender Reveal