Guess What?

Guess what I've been doing? Working my tail off! I have two sibling children "enrolled" in my in-home daycare and preschool. They're three and five years old. We will only have the sister until fall, at which time she starts kindergarten.

Here is the little guy with the stuffy he brought from home. We are all in love with him already. The sister is nice and fun, but not quite so sweet as her brother. They are both bright and teaching them is easy. Speech is a challenge for the three year old, and we are still learning what sounds he is missing and what the substitutions are. One is /k/ and I'm trying to help him, but that's not an easy one to describe or show mouth position for.

My living room has become the playroom, the family room has become my children's school room, and half the dining room is the preschool room. Fortunately, my girls now read all their own social studies, science and literature, so that makes running a daycare easier than it might be. I have the girls narrate their assignments to me after they finish, and after the daycare kids leave at 5 PM (they're here full-time), I do writing and spelling with my girls. They boys just need me to check their assignment sheets and listen to them narrate, and of course I have to go over their writing assignments via regular writing conferences.

It isn't easy, and after three days I'm still getting the hang of it, but it's a blessing to have this necessary income. All my children love kids and they've been such a big help to me. They are learning how to run a business and be professional, and what hard work feels like. It's been a positive experience thus far, though I'm so busy I can barely check email once before bed. I've worked on this post a few minutes over three days, and don't expect to get back here very often.

And how are you, my friends? Anything new in your lives?