The Status

   The Status on School:

Elleigh is adjusting.  Things are better than they were for her.  Once again, just a lot of adjustments and a much different atmosphere.  It does not help that girls are SO mean!  I pray NONE of my girls ever act like some of these girls.  Surely parents know when their kids are just down right mean.  I told A one night after a long time of talking through girl issues that I just could not imagine why the Lord thought I could do this 4 times!!! 

Decked out in their panther gear on Friday!

Sallie is doing wonderful!  HUGE PRAISE!!!  The Lord knew with it being not an easy adjustment for Ell that we needed it to be for Sall.  We had our ARD meeting last week and it went really well.  It is one of those things I really can not explain to you but as I sat there waiting to begin my emotions about got the best of me.  8 people surrounding you all about to tell you what your child can’t do.  Just one of those things that you just wish you never had to do.  It went really well though.  She spends part of her day in special ed and part in general ed.  They all say she is doing well and her special ed teacher has really high expectations for her.  Of course they have all fallen in love with her.  I know she is mine but something would have to be wrong with you to not fall in love with Sallie.  Most often it is because she is not given a chance.  Her special ed teacher teared up as she told us she knew Sallie would succeed on the first day when she walked in the classroom and looked around like “I got this”  That is Sallie!  Hopefully she will continue to do well and our meetings will all be as pleasant as they possibly can be under the circumstances.  One of my greatest fears was that she would be mistreated (and she may be at times) and I know she will face that her whole life.  I have avoided so many situations with her because I can’t stand to see her left out or treated differently.  We have been in situations where other children have said, “she’s weird and doesn’t talk” and many other things that are hard for me to take.  Most often she is just ignored.  However, her teachers tell us that the kids in her general ed class love her and play really well with her.  I can’t tell you how happy that makes me!  Someone at church told me on Sunday that they heard she was the class celebrity and that the girls argued over who got to play with Sallie!  WONDERFUL WORDS to this mama’s ears!!!  Thank you Lord!

One thing is for sure-she sleeps very good at night!  She is wiped out!

This is what we see from her these days-walking away!  She gets her back pack on and she is ready to go!Ell was brave enough to deck out in her BAMA attire for school!

The little girls are getting used to their new life.  They get closer every day.  I love to hear them playing together and using their imaginations.  Every day I am amazed at what they are learning.  Hopefully next week we will get started with some more structured learning time.  Every time I look at my memory card I have a million pictures that I have not taken!  I do love this one!

This is another find on the memory card…  Lizzie and Elleigh look so much alike!  They act a lot alike too which is why they normally are fighting!  Not sure how they got a picture this close together and both survived! Lizzie was helping A make pizza and she wanted me to take her picture.  She loves having her picture made (by herself!) I looked at this and noticed how much the toddler look is fading…  BIG SIGH!  Next yr she will be in school.  I hope I make the best of every second I have with them at home. We have been asked about our decision to put the girls in public school vs homeschooling.  Over the past few yrs of homeschool I have seen MAJOR benefits.  It is not easy (at all!) and it is not perfect (nothing is) but I think that Elleigh was homeschooled in the best yrs possible.  We were able to work through so many things at home during a time when they can be so easily influenced by others.  I hope that she has a firm foundation to stand on and is not changed by those outside influences now.  We felt like it was a good time to put her back in school and with us moving here where homeschooling is not nearly as popular as it was in FW.  However, we went into it all knowing that we would try it and if we feel that it is not the best for her then we will re-evaluate.  Others have said to us, “well it is public school.”  We are well aware of that and we know what goes on in schools and we feel she is prepared to handle those things but it is still our decision as to what situation is best for her as far as school.  I know some say you can’t shelter them forever (and I have said it) but I have learned that homeschooling is not about sheltering them.  It is about educating your children while preparing them to make wise choices without being influenced by things they don’t need to be influenced by.  We were talking to a homeschool family recently and we were discussing how you always get the comments about your children not being social enough.  Well, there is a lot of “social life” they do not need to be a part of!  As far as Sallie, well we just have to see.  So far, this seems to be a great fit for her.  We do plan to start Lizzie and Millie here in public school.  I would love to homeschool them during middle school but who knows?  All of that to say we are just taking it one yr at a time and making decisions we feel are best for each of our children individually.  So, that’s where we stand on the schooling issue!  As with anything, it all has its pros and cons!