3 going on 10....

I started back at school yesterday and it was so nice to be back into a routine. I love teaching, but I also love having a break from teaching. It really is true that absence makes the heart grow fonder. One of the things that I have really grown to love are my students. I teach 5th through 8th graders and this is my third year with the 8th graders. They have become part of my family and I know all the wonderful details of their lives and cherish the fact that I get to see them grow up before my eyes.

I've enjoyed watching them grow from awkward 6th graders into mature young girls and boys now in the 8th grade. Not to mention they've grown like a foot in the past 3 years! Teaching at Legacy is different than most schools. I got to know SOME of my students in public school, and I knew just a few things outside most of their other teachers. Here though, with the small classes and the Christian atmosphere I am able to really know them and to encourage them beyond academics. Some of my students I have had the priveledge to take home, some babysit my kids, and some I still talk to even though they have moved across the country. We are a family, and I value the fact that they don't trust just anyone to get to know them. It's a great start to 2010.... I am hoping to be at Legacy for four more years so that I can see my precious students be the first graduating class from Legacy and witness their great accomplishments.

I'm not the only one though that went back to school. Even though the kids are too young to be a part of the pre-K program at Legacy, they go to school with me and they work on things with the kids to get them ready for school. I like it because I believe that it is more advanced than other programs though. Josh actually has homework now and is learning how to do school at home on Tuesday's and Thursday's. He can write and spell his name correctly, knows all his colors and shapes and is now learning how to match and classify object. Pretty good for a 3-year old. Here's a short video of his first homework assignment.