Another change

Austin was recently tested for the ALPHA program in his school district and qualified. I may have already said this but it is a program for gifted/talented students that is self-contained, instead of the kids being pulled out of regular class to do enrichment work.
Tony and I went to a meeting for prospective parents last night and learned a lot, go to meet the 4th grade teachers and a few of the other parents (that we don't already know). After the meeting, we finalized our decision to send him to the program. We really think he will thrive in that type of environment, and while I am sure there will be frustrations (esp. in the beginning) he will end up really liking the harder work. His teacher this year is amazing, but he is still bored a lot in class. They just can't teach to all the different levels of learning at once. In the ALPHA program all of the kids in the classroom are fast learners, and the teachers make the students go more in depth when answering, always asking "why" instead of just filling in the blanks on a worksheet.
So next year, he will be doing 5th grade math, 6th grade language arts, reading novels in class, finding Greek and Latin stems every day (yay!) and going deeper into social studies and science.
Oh also he will probably come home and cry when he walks into the door the first few weeks. He has such high expectations of himself and is very critical of himself (where does he get that? no idea) and the cutest thing to me is he will NOT let himself cry at school when he is frustrated. So he walks in, I say "How was your day?" and the floodgates open. Last night the teachers were talking about the kids being overwhelmed at the beginning, especially since 4th grade is a big adjustment no matter what school the student goes to.
Feel like I am rambling but let me wrap this up. He is going to ALPHA next year, which means switching schools (again). He is not so happy to leave his new best friend behind, but I told Austin they will be together again in middle school. Another friend from soccer and basketball has been accepted into the program also, so I think that will help Austin adjust. The principal and teachers seems great at the new school and although he will be pushed, I know he will excel once he gets into his groove.

Totally unrelated - I FINALLY turned in my application for the nursing program! I should find out mid to late May if I got in. I'm not really worried about it since I have all A's in the pre-reqs, but then again you never know. We will just have to wait and see. In the meantime, Drew and I are going to the zoo tomorrow for the first time this year. He has only been asking to see his horse (the draft horse at the farm) every day for about 2 months! Tomorrow should be a beautiful day to visit the animals. :)

Oh What A Beautiful Day!

Today is gorgeous!!! It is sunny and warm and my kids are in shorts! I wish the zoo opened today instead of tomorrow - we definitely would have gone!

We went to a cool park down here in Aboite by the YMCA today. Drew of course wanted to do all the big kid stuff that he is not able to do yet, but I put him in a swing and he went down a little slide and through a tunnel a bunch of times. He also was playing in this mulch/rock play area and bumped his head : ( All is well though.

Austin was bored at first - the swings were all taken when we arrived and it was mostly little kids since it's a school day. He did eventually find a friend and they played on the tire swing and regular swings for a long time. The swings have always had a big pull for him. He also did the monkey bars for the first time since last fall. He needs his callused hands back!

The zoo opens tomorrow and as long as the weather cooperates WE ARE GOING TUESDAY!!! I am so excited because we have a season pass (thanks mom and dad) so we can go at least every week and since we homeschool we don't have to go on the weekends. Africa opens in June, which should be amazing - expecially since it has been closed for 2 (?) years.

I am so glad we have days like this where we can go play outside and have a great time. I am looking forward to many more days as it gets warmer and warmer.