School Bells are Ringing!

I can't believe it is already September. We've been living in Edmonton for 4 months, and it is time for SCHOOL!

Ella starts kindergarten (eeeeeeekk!) this year. She is in afternoon kindergarten, and I enrolled her in French Immersion. She is a bit nervous about the French and has been a bit grumpy about starting school because of it. I had a talk with her this past week and convinced her that French Kindergarten still includes: playing, crafts, dress up, recess, drawing and writing, numbers and letters, gym class and library visits! I explained that the other little girls won't know how to speak French yet either, but that they can all learn together - she seems to feel a bit more comfortable now :) Tomorrow we have a 15 minute meeting with her teacher, so she can meet her and we can address any individual concerns. Then on Wednesday she will have her first full afternoon - but it is staggered entry, so only 1/3 of the kids will be attending that day. The other kids will go on Thursday or Friday, and then next Monday all the kids will attend together!

Eli also starts school on Monday the 10th. We found him a spot at The Connect Society - a preschool for children who are hard-of-hearing, deaf, or hearing children who have deaf parents. They have a speech pathologist on staff, a home visit program, and the class sizes are small - he will only have 7 other kids in his class, with one teacher and one TA. He attends Monday-Thursday from 9 am to 2 pm. (yes, he will have MORE school time than Ella! Crazy.) He is SO excited to start school though! I think he will really enjoy it, but it seems so long for him to be away! He has had his hearing aides for 2 weeks now, and hopefully attending a school where other kids wear aides too will be helpful in convincing him to wear them!

Ella will walk to school with Emerson and I, and get picked up by us again, plus Eli. Eli will actually be taking the bus to school (!) since it is a half hour drive from here - and because of his speech delays, his schooling AND transportation is fully funded. I will be driving him for the first couple days before we attempt the bus, but he is already excited that he gets to ride a school bus! (Ella is a bit jealous)

What an exciting week for us! My kiddies are going to school! We will have quiet mornings with just Ella, Emerson and I, and even quieter afternoons for the few hours while they are both gone. Eli's bus will drop him back at home in time for us to walk down and get Ella from school every afternoon, and then I'm sure the house will be pleasantly noisy again until bedtime!

I'll be back next week with the cliche "back to school" photos!