My answers to Chinese oppa...

1. How is teaching pre-school going, any plans on expanding?

i love it! i can't EVER see myself going back into the classroom. this is perfect for me- i get to stay home, i have only six children, i'm in charge of what tyler and chase learn, the kids crack me up all the time, i set my own hours, get the tax breaks of having a home business, etc, etc... :) i'm not saying there aren't any moments when things get harried with six preschoolers cause it definitely does get crazy at times, but on the whole, i've really enjoyed this past year. no, no plans to expand at the moment. i've thought about it but sometimes the pay off isn't worth the extra effort. for me, i have to still be able to balance out my family life and have FUN doing what i do. i think if i tried to expand right now, the stress and work level of it wouldn't be worth it. maybe in a couple of years when both tyler and chase are in school, i might just do some one on one tutoring. i would love to teach kids how to read, maybe for preschoolers or to help out struggling kindergartners?


2. What have you been up to?

totally doing the whole "mommy thing." what does that look like? wake up at 6:00 every morning, get breakfast on the table, make lunch for tyler and chase, get the kids dressed brushed, check homework and get out the door by 7:40 to drop off tyler, come back home by 8:10 am, do a few things here and there and the children start arriving at at 8:30. school from 8:30-1:10 (12:30 on wednesdays). the time really flies by when the children are here. pick tyler up around 1:30 on most days. mondays- piano for t, tuesdays- spanish for t and c, wednesdays- cooking class for t, thursday- soccer practice for t, fridays- i don't "work" and go to moms group in the mornings. saturday- soccer game for t , sunday- church. in between, do a load of laundry a day, clean up, put things away, have play dates, make sure the kids' brains are somewhat stimulated throughout the day. as night rolls around, get dinner on the table, do dishes, give boys baths, pjs on, story time, children go to bed at 7:30. (oh, and jason comes home at all hours of the night. usually around 6:30 ish or so, but sometimes at 10:00) then, i get ready for the next day, write emails back, pay bills, maybe watch something funny on youtube and, lately, i've been going to sleep really early- around 10:30 and not my usual 12:00. that is my very boring life at the moment. thanks for asking so i could have that documented here on my blog for the boys to read when they get older.

3. Do you miss me? =P

yes, i do. how are you and liz? can you believe how much time has passed since our days in college? sometimes, i would love to just go back in time and spend ONE day in college again. what would i do? hmmm... go to korean class and be bugged by you and d. :) come back to the dorms and get punked by you and d. then maybe do some korean homework (can i copy yours? hehe) then, dinner at koko house for some nutritious chicken and some lemon soju, i mean, lemon gatorade. haha. those were fun days. miss you!


also, i've been meaning to write something in here. maybe some of you noticed that i posted on facebook about this the other night. lately, i've been hearing a lot of parents say, "i don't teach my child at home because i don't want them to be BORED at school." like seriously? it makes my head want to spin when i hear this so please don't ever say it to me. haha. omg, if you want me to go off, ask me about this subject. :) from my experience in the classroom, children who have parents who have taught them- about ANYTHING- is more interested, is more motivated, have higher self esteem, love school more. what? you think that they will yawn and go to sleep if they are taught at home? um, it would be the OPPOSITE from what i've seen. ok, in some very RARE cases are children soooooo advanced and bright that they are actually bored at school...i'm talking near genius children, and i've only met 1 in ten years. the rest all fall in brighter-but-normal category and in all cases, these children LOVED school because they had parents who were smart enough to teach them a few things here and there along the way. and what would happen, you say, if you taught something at home and they learned it again at school, well, wouldn't you say review is a great thing and that children need to review things often for something to stick? i don't know, sometimes someone will tell me with such PRIDE that she doesn't teach her kids anything, and i just smile and think, "we'll good for you!" i am the number one advocate that parents are their child's first teacher. i've been in the classroom so i know just how hard it is to teach a class of 33 children in ONE class. i could go on and on about this, but i think i'll step off my soap box for today. it's just something that irks me....why be proud of saying that you don't work with your child "at all?" WHY?!!!!

h, i'm getting to your questions next, girl! thanks for calling me yesterday. you rock.