First Day of PEP

Yesterday was our first day at PEP - which is the acronym for the homeschool enrichment program we are attending this fall. The first "P" stands for Pinelands.Here is Annalise posing for a traditional "first day of school" type picture :) She is extremely pleased with owning a lunchbox. Yes the floor is filthy, it has been a filthy floor kind of week. If I have a bad start on Monday, it seems to translate into a dirty floor all week. So it's almost Monday again, we'll try to get a better start.

So lunchboxes - we looked at the extremely picked over selection at Target, but I was not pleased with the options. Online I found lunchboxes that really reflected our kids for about $2 more and free shipping. Caleb's is ocean creatures.

Annalise's is garden themed - bugs, flowers, and plenty of pink. They are also big enough to hold enough food to feed either of them for 2 days

Caleb's supply box:

Contents: 24 crayons, 8 markers, a huge glue stick, scissors and a picture of him and Rob with a bunch of fish they caught.

Lunchtime - just in case you think Natalie looks uncomfortable, she was cushioned by the Maya wrap and was totally content.

Caleb's solar system from one of his classes.

Here is how his PEP day goes (we'll only be going on Fridays): He has 3 classes - one first thing and then a playground/movie hour then another class and then lunch, then one more class. I haven't gotten a clear idea from him what his first class was about, but the 2nd one was where he made the solar system and the 3rd one is where they have speakers who work in the community - this week it was a guy who taught Karate. His class has about 15 kids in it and is mixed K-4 and K-5, a pretty even mix of boys and girls. All his classes are in the same room, although I meet up with him after each one and they are all taught by different people.

While he is in class, I have to be on campus and I also have to volunteer (we are assigned times and places, but the commitment is extremely small - 15 hours over 24 weeks). They have a nursery for kids 3 and under too, but if I am not volunteering, I can't just drop Annalise and Natalie off, I have to stay with them. They also have a bitsy-kid playground, and we can go there too.

It is not quite like a regular preschool - I don't think they are going to be drilling letters and numbers, but there are lots of kids, small chairs, short tables, a playground with swings and slides, and of course lunchboxes!

It was interesting for me to see a large group of homeschooling parents and kids. I've also met lots of homeschooling families here and adults who were homeschooled and you really cannot stereotype them, they come in all types!