Better things to do with $30,000!

We've lived here in the DC area now for almost 8 1/2 years and for the entire time we've lived here I've had one of my kids in a co-op preschool. Sometimes it has seemed like a lot of work, planning, hosting, and teaching preschool every 6-8 weeks, but I figure over the course of my five kids we will have saved at least $30,000 in preschool tuition fees! Not to mention the more important fact that I firmly believe that the academic, social, and spiritual education they've received has far surpassed any experience they ever could have had in any paid preschool program!

During the course of my eight and a half years of constant and zealous participation in different groups, I have become something of a preschool coordinator for our community. People call me when they're interested in participating in a group and I collect the names, divide up the kids into groups, assign a leader, and help them get started and then let them do their own thing. Most years we end up with 3 or 4 different groups going at a time.

Every year has been rewarding in its own way, but I have to say that this year by far has been the best year yet. There are eight kids of Pre-K age, and somehow the dynamics of the kids' personalities, the other Moms, and our fun curriculum have just made it into a fantastic year!

So here was life at our house yesterday:

After reading books, watching short clips of volcanic explosions, the kids each got to make their own volcanoes!


Each explosion was just as magical as the next with shrieks and giggles to accompany each one! Unfortunately our poor deck will most likely smell like vinegar for weeks to come.



Even Ellie and her friend Bradford (he comes over to distract her while I'm teaching) have a great time joining in on the volcano snack!

Check out our infrequently updated preschool blog if you want to see some of the fun things we've done over the year!

Fun, fun, fun!