This little girl has been struggling so much. Kindergarten just wasn't what it was cracked up to be for her. Each day she would go to school a nervous wreck and come home a silent, moody girl who would break down at the slightest thing. We couldn't figure out what was going on. She said she loved her teacher, but "there was nothing else good about school". Something wasn't right. We spent hours talking with her trying to figure out how to help, I went to her class to observe and see if I could pinpoint it, we prayed like crazy and still nothing seemed to help. I kept telling myself kindergarten is a big adjustment and it would just take time, yet every day seemed to get worse and worse. She loves to learn new things, yet she hated going to school. Our happy, spunky, loving child was gone and she was pushing us away from her more each day.
We started looking into other options because we knew something had to change. I considered homeschooling, but knew that Mikayla really needs the social aspect of school because that is a hard thing for her to conquer. A new school opened about 15 minutes away from us that focuses on classical education and has strong morals and values so we decided to check that out. After the first tour I went on I knew Mikayla would do better there. It's a much smaller, more intimate school, but it was a lot less chaotic. There was order and cleanliness, unlike her previous school that was being pushed beyond capacity. The school was peaceful, the teachers loving, and the environment was much closer to the environment we try to keep at home...one where the Spirit can reside.
Even though I thought the school would be a good match we wanted Mikayla to be able to make the choice with us. When we first told her about it she wasn't crazy about the idea, but said she would think about it. We took her on a tour of the new school and let her have some time to process the idea. We asked her to pray a lot about it and see which choice felt better to her. About a week later she was once again bawling about going to school saying it just made her nervous and she didn't know why. I sat her down and we made a list of pros and cons of both schools for her to look at and help her decide what to do. As soon as I drew a home on the new school side (because it is a half day kindergarten program so she would be home more) she immediately took the pen from my hand and wrote "I love" above the picture of our home. Her decision was made. She wanted to be home more and we were great with that.
Left (old school): Kuch (her teacher), come home after quiet time, have PE (ball), have music, have computer class.
Right (new school): No Kuch, ? new teacher, don't take take your lunch and eat it at school, no PE, no music, come home at noon, I love home.
It's been a week and a half in the new school and although it is hard for her to adjust, she is doing so much better. She is slowly returning to her old self, laughing and smiling again. There have been some hard moments as we realize she is quite behind from the month spent at her old school (where she was told everything she did was good and was kind of forgotten because she behaved and was quiet). The new school pushes kids a lot harder, but she is thriving off of that. No more of the same exact worksheets (around 10 of them a day to be exact) day in and day out. She is being challenged to think and to work hard. Her teacher is aware of her and recognizes when Mikayla is struggling and encourages her. Her teacher knows Mikayla takes a long time to adjust socially and has paired her up with a different kid each day for the past couple of days so Mikayla isn't alone. She is being taken care of while she is away from us and that calms my heart greatly.
So cute in her uniforms for school!
We don't know why her previous school was not a good fit. All we know is that her instincts told Mikayla something wasn't right and we have to trust that. What a better way to teach about the Holy Ghost directing your life than this experience at such a young age? I am so grateful for this family we are raising and for the things our kids teach us on a constant basis. Mikayla asked to teach the family home evening lesson on Monday and she got the lesson together all by herself. Her lesson was on choosing the right, keeping the commandments, and having faith. She had several props that taught how lots of different things are hard, but that you can start off working on them little by little, even though they are hard. These things included making and remembering to take your list to the grocery store, learning to sew, tasting and eating an apple (even if it's big), growing tall, and making a calendar in all different ways. She likened all these things to the commandments. We all obey even though it can be hard for us and we all figure out how to obey in different ways. She even confirmed that none of us are experts at keeping the commandments yet. I think maybe this past month has taught her a lot about enduring through trials.
And through it all she still tells me every night "I love you more than anything in the world, Mom." She has amazed me the past month and a half with her courage and perseverance through a really time for her.
