Loving their new school!

Both Hana and Vienna are enrolled in Cimarron Montessori School, about 4 miles off base.  Before our move north, I drove up from Edmond one day to check out some schools for Ha, since I had yet to fall in love with anywhere she went (beyond preschool) in Edmond, and I really didn't want to end up in a situation where I felt like I needed to switch schools mid-year (again).  I had even considered homeschooling for a bit, but she loves the social interaction she gets in school soooo much, and I also knew it would be quite the challenge (although many seem to successfully do it) to provide adequate education to both Hana and Vienna, given their age/ability gap.

We could not be more happy with Cimarron.  It follows the child-paced learning, individualized Montessori style, and, in my opinion combines some of the best features of homeschooling (such as the one-on-one attention) and institutional programs (group work/interaction, learning deadlines).  Hana started out in the 1/2 day program, but after a few weeks her teacher determined she was ready for full day (8:30am-3pm) instruction.  She has a lighter program in the morning and after lunch and recess, she enjoys more focused math and reading work in the afternoon.  The curriculum for all students also emphasizes music, sign language, and Spanish.  Hana's teacher gives me a great and detailed report every afternoon when I pick her up and she truly seems to love it.  She has never been a morning person, but gets up with a great attitude every morning, ready for a new day.  Another aspect I love about her program is that, to encourage self-direction/responsibility, she is given a list of assignments each day (certain lessons and worksheets she must complete).  However, it is up to her to take the initiative to complete them, and it also allows her to work in her favorite tasks during her own time throughout the day.  This definitely means a lot of time for her artwork, and she is becoming quite the exceptional young artist.  :o)

All classrooms also have parent viewing windows, with one-way glass, which allows me to go to the school whatever I want and observe the girls in action!  Another plus is that I am able to provide the girls with home-cooked lunches without having to furnish a doctor's note (a requirement even at the private schools the girls attended in Edmond) and I love that each class is on a student-provided snack rotation, and that we can bring in homemade goods to share.  :o)  We were still living in Best Western for Hana's first snack day, so she brought cheese sticks and graham crackers, but we are preparing pumpkin chocolate chip muffins for her snack day on Monday.  Vienna brought in homemade pretzels for her first day and will be baking little loaves of bread shaped like bears with raisin eyes for her second, this Friday.

After seeing Hana thrive at Cimarron, Vienna couldn't wait to start.  I was hesitant at first, finding the idea of sending her to private school at 3 years old, when I am currently unemployed (but looking!!), was somewhat frivolous.  However, it is such a great program, and the one for her age is just for 3 hours a day.  I also thought it would be a nice transition for her into the school, since I am hopeful I will get hired somewhere one of these days and she will at the very least be going to at a half-day program at Cimarron when/if that happens.  The main thing holding me up (job opportunity-wise) is that I am still waiting on Oklahoma Nursing Board approval to take my NCLEX-PN, a process somewhat stalled by the fact that I needed to first file an equivalency application since UCO is not a traditional LPN program, and some of the courses I took as nursing prereqs were out of state.  I have several applications in for local Medical Assistant positions, which, to me, sound a lot like LPN positions sans the licensure requirement (increased liability is placed on your employer instead).  I received an email saying my information was being forwarded to the hiring manager for one position, but that was about a week ago, and I haven't heard anything since.  No news is good news, though, since it seems like a lot of the hospitals let you know right away if they're not interested (I've already been rejected for 2 CNA positions and 1 nurse tech position, the former two from the same hospital as the Med Assistant position, and I found out in each case within 24h of applying; the latter was apparently a current-student-only position, so that one wasn't too demoralizing at least...).

Anyway, Vienna is LOVING her school.  She is given a lot of independence in the program, and is allowed to work on any lesson she has received instruction on, and is even responsible for fitting morning snack time into her work schedule (she forgot one day and was NOT pleased, lol).  It is amazing to see that in these rooms, home to well over 100 small activities apiece, including activities that involve pitchers of water and such, that the work areas are always spotless and well organized--because the kids are successfully taught to work on one lesson at a time and to put the materials away before starting on the next.  It is so nice to see the girls blossoming in an environment I am so happy with.  Hana has already been on her first field trip (to a cultural festival celebrating Oklahoma's history--she got to meet cowboys and participate in a reenactment of the Land Run!).

Here are some pix of their adventures:

School playground:

Hana's first day:

Artwork (recurring theme is Disney!).  

Ruler marks to indicate height/age difference between Ha (long hair) and V (curly hair).  She also loves coming up with long strings of letters and sounding out the "words" with me.  :o)

Vienna's first day:

Baking pretzels for V's school snack: