My little boy has officially started pre-school! Monday was Ryder's 1st day of pre-school and we are so thankful for God providing such an incredible "first school" experience for our boy. The following are a million pictures of Ryder's new pre-school....Little Lamb Preschool at St. John Church and School, right down the street from our house. 
The above picture shows Ryder's teachers who have taught pre-school together for over 20 years. When you meet them it is clear why...they love pre-schoolers! A few weeks ago, Ryder's teacher (in the picture on the left) came to our house to meet Ryder. She brought a "busy book" to read with him and the teacher part of me thinks she was also trying to do a little informal "assessment of prior knowledge" to see what he already knows! I laughed (inside) when she also gave Ryder a little magnet for the fridge with a picture of Jesus holding a boy on it and asked him, "Do you know who this is?" He thought for a second and said, "No." (I guess we haven't looked at that many pictures of Jesus!) "This is Jesus!" she said before he ran off to put it up on his fridge. I guess we failed the iconic symbol pre-test! I couldn't help but snicker to myself the whole time it was happening, but loved that my boy's view of Jesus isn't just (or at all!) a colorful picture on a magnet! Before leaving, she also gave Ryder a frog name tag to wear on the first day of pre-school...he ran to put it in his room were he wouldn't loose it!
After the wonderful home visit, that Saturday, John went to a work day to help get everything ready for the start of school where parents wiped tables, cleaned up the playground, even painted a bit to make sure everything was in tip top shape for the following weeks to come. It was also meat that he had this time to meet Ryder's teachers since he took Cole and Cora on a walk during the home visit to give Ryder his own time with his teacher :)
The following pictures are of the "Open House" we went to, the day before Ryder started. This was his first glimpse of the place we'd been telling him about since I visited in June, and boy, was he excited. Our whole family was able to go, including my mom since she was visiting for the week!!! Instead of a classroom, Little Lamb is held in a old house that has been converted into a pre-school, so every room is filled with different things to explore that the kids get to play with everyday for the first hour they are there. There is no way I could get a picture of everything since there is so much, but I did take pictures of what I could!
These are blocks and steering wheel to make your own car, or whatever you can think of! Ry was especially excited about this! Above him are themed book bags...there are 92 of them that each have books in them that match the bag. Ry will get to bring on home every Friday to read over the weekend. :)
Closet made into a Puppet Show!
Hand washing instructions above the sink in the bathroom...my favorite part is to "make bubbles with the soap before rinsing off"...a great idea to get them to wash before rinsing all the soap off!
During the home visit, Ryder teacher asked him to draw a picture that she would hang up in the classroom for him to find during open house. He found it...complete with his name and picture in the corner :) He's one of 2 new students in the PM class.
In the back room is the pretend "homemaking" area...pretend kitchen,
phone and phone book,
living room area with chairs, carpet, plants, 
There was also a dress-up area with suit coats and dress shoes, but I didn't get a picture of it.
The room next door was bigger, complete with a typewriter, alphabet blocks,
A folder with their name and picture on it...soon to be their journal for the year :) 
a light table,
shape sorter,
pet fish,
pet bird,
and HUGE pet rabbit named Tigger!
Outside, the play area was equally as fun :) Ryder took to the basketball hoop right away and thought it was so cool that it was low enough for him to shoot baskets! Another little boy came up and started playing too, and as soon as he made it, Ry said, "Nice shot!" I love the socialization of school for kids!
There is even real canoe to play in...the boys loved it!
Good old playground,
and a kitchen where some of the girls were playing and asked me for my order. As they slowly took over the kitchen where Ry was eating his snack, he was fine for a while and then slowly slid away from the table when they started to cramp his style a bit...I thought it was so cute and great!
Cute hill with tunnel and slide! Such a good idea!
Most of the boys were riding the tricycles, and Ryder was no exception and since Cole is still trying to reach the pedals, he rode on the back of Ryder's for a couple laps!
Here Ryder is the next day, ready for his first day of pre-school. He has his name tag on from his teacher and his bag with his name on it, ready to go!!!
We are so thankful God has provided such a wonderful place for our boy for this year. I have to tell of his goodness, because if I stayed quiet, you wouldn't get the whole picture of His goodness, and life is about telling of His work in our lives and how He makes a way when there seems to be no way! With our finances tighter than usual (this year especially!), we certainly weren't thinking pre-school would be an option for Ry this year.
Our life has been busier than we thought it would be when we moved to Illinois a year ago...on top of a grad school schedule and nightly marching band practices for John, we never planned on having speech therapy 4 times a week for Cole in the midst of our family going from 4 to 5 with the addition of Cora Grace! The Lord certainly has his own plans for us and I am SO thankful He does. Even in the midst of the craziness, I'd rather be in the middle of it all in His presence with all 5 members of our family than in the middle of my own dream world any day. His way is better. I'm so thankful His way included giving Ryder a "place." It is clear Ryder had found his place in the middle of therapy with Cole when he takes over the roll of the therapist and tells Cole how to do what he's being asked to do, or corrects him by asking for more precise pronunciation, and although I am so thankful God has provided Cole an excellent "helper" for the rest of his life, it was becoming increasingly clear that therapy needed to become primarily "Cole's place" and with the help of our family, God has now provided Ryder a place of his own.
What a blessing it was when the Lord spoke to our family back in CA and "out-of-the blue" they called to ask if they could help send Ryder to pre-school. I say this only to testify of God's goodness...of His providential hand in the life of those who trust Him with their lives. Would God still have been good to us if Ryder couldn't go to pre-school this year?...absolutely. But it's so good to share how God speaks to us so that we can all realize that His voice may in many forms in our life. We had been praying about whether or not to keep searching for a pre-school or to let it go and trust the Lord to work it out. As soon as we had determined to stop our search, the phone rang, and the Lord spoke to us through the generousity of our family who we had not shared the whole situation with before they called. The Lord has moved in their heart as well. He is GOOD. After we spoke and realized we'd be able to send Ryder to pre-school afterall, one of the places that still had openings, was the place I've just shared with you!
At first I was trying to get him in the morning class, during Cole's therapy time. If I would've had my way, he wouldn't get to spend great time with Daddy in the morning (whose class schedule worked out PERFECTLY to spend time with Ry 3 mornings a week!) Since he's in the afternoon class, Ry is in a class of 8 students with 2 teachers! I'm telling you...ask God to have His way...it's always better....in the big ways and details, God has more information than we do to make better decisions! Praise Him!!!
Needless to say, Ryder had great first day in pre-school. I rushed home from therapy with Cole, Gramma had feed Ryder lunch already, we jumped in the car and before walking him in I asked him if I could pray for him and if there was anything he wanted me to pray for specifically. In the middle of my prayer, he stopped me and said, "Mom...will you pray that I won't be scared and that I'll make new friends?" My heart melted and I prayed. I prayed with confidence and boldness that the Lord continue the work in Ry that he'd begun almost 4 years ago. Ryder was the first one there greeted by his 2 teachers. He bounded in the house, I signed him in, he hung up his bag by the hook with his name, ran back the bathroom to wash his hands (one of the check-in procedures to try and keep everyone healthy!) and started playing with the blocks trying to build a car right away as the rest of his new friends started to come in too. I even discovered another little boy in his class has his exact birthday! When I picked him up almost 3 hours later, the first thing Ry said to me was "Mom! I made SO many new friends today!"
God provides, God answers prayer...ask Him to reveal Himself to you today! He is waiting to make Himself real to you...just like he has for my boy :) What a great first day! Day #2 tomorrow...More pre-school stories to come!
living room area with chairs, carpet, plants, There was also a dress-up area with suit coats and dress shoes, but I didn't get a picture of it.The room next door was bigger, complete with a typewriter, alphabet blocks,
A folder with their name and picture on it...soon to be their journal for the year :) a light table, shape sorter, pet fish, pet bird,
and HUGE pet rabbit named Tigger!
Outside, the play area was equally as fun :) Ryder took to the basketball hoop right away and thought it was so cool that it was low enough for him to shoot baskets! Another little boy came up and started playing too, and as soon as he made it, Ry said, "Nice shot!" I love the socialization of school for kids! There is even real canoe to play in...the boys loved it! Good old playground, and a kitchen where some of the girls were playing and asked me for my order. As they slowly took over the kitchen where Ry was eating his snack, he was fine for a while and then slowly slid away from the table when they started to cramp his style a bit...I thought it was so cute and great! Cute hill with tunnel and slide! Such a good idea! Most of the boys were riding the tricycles, and Ryder was no exception and since Cole is still trying to reach the pedals, he rode on the back of Ryder's for a couple laps! Here Ryder is the next day, ready for his first day of pre-school. He has his name tag on from his teacher and his bag with his name on it, ready to go!!!We are so thankful God has provided such a wonderful place for our boy for this year. I have to tell of his goodness, because if I stayed quiet, you wouldn't get the whole picture of His goodness, and life is about telling of His work in our lives and how He makes a way when there seems to be no way! With our finances tighter than usual (this year especially!), we certainly weren't thinking pre-school would be an option for Ry this year. Our life has been busier than we thought it would be when we moved to Illinois a year ago...on top of a grad school schedule and nightly marching band practices for John, we never planned on having speech therapy 4 times a week for Cole in the midst of our family going from 4 to 5 with the addition of Cora Grace! The Lord certainly has his own plans for us and I am SO thankful He does. Even in the midst of the craziness, I'd rather be in the middle of it all in His presence with all 5 members of our family than in the middle of my own dream world any day. His way is better. I'm so thankful His way included giving Ryder a "place." It is clear Ryder had found his place in the middle of therapy with Cole when he takes over the roll of the therapist and tells Cole how to do what he's being asked to do, or corrects him by asking for more precise pronunciation, and although I am so thankful God has provided Cole an excellent "helper" for the rest of his life, it was becoming increasingly clear that therapy needed to become primarily "Cole's place" and with the help of our family, God has now provided Ryder a place of his own.
What a blessing it was when the Lord spoke to our family back in CA and "out-of-the blue" they called to ask if they could help send Ryder to pre-school. I say this only to testify of God's goodness...of His providential hand in the life of those who trust Him with their lives. Would God still have been good to us if Ryder couldn't go to pre-school this year?...absolutely. But it's so good to share how God speaks to us so that we can all realize that His voice may in many forms in our life. We had been praying about whether or not to keep searching for a pre-school or to let it go and trust the Lord to work it out. As soon as we had determined to stop our search, the phone rang, and the Lord spoke to us through the generousity of our family who we had not shared the whole situation with before they called. The Lord has moved in their heart as well. He is GOOD. After we spoke and realized we'd be able to send Ryder to pre-school afterall, one of the places that still had openings, was the place I've just shared with you!
At first I was trying to get him in the morning class, during Cole's therapy time. If I would've had my way, he wouldn't get to spend great time with Daddy in the morning (whose class schedule worked out PERFECTLY to spend time with Ry 3 mornings a week!) Since he's in the afternoon class, Ry is in a class of 8 students with 2 teachers! I'm telling you...ask God to have His way...it's always better....in the big ways and details, God has more information than we do to make better decisions! Praise Him!!!
Needless to say, Ryder had great first day in pre-school. I rushed home from therapy with Cole, Gramma had feed Ryder lunch already, we jumped in the car and before walking him in I asked him if I could pray for him and if there was anything he wanted me to pray for specifically. In the middle of my prayer, he stopped me and said, "Mom...will you pray that I won't be scared and that I'll make new friends?" My heart melted and I prayed. I prayed with confidence and boldness that the Lord continue the work in Ry that he'd begun almost 4 years ago. Ryder was the first one there greeted by his 2 teachers. He bounded in the house, I signed him in, he hung up his bag by the hook with his name, ran back the bathroom to wash his hands (one of the check-in procedures to try and keep everyone healthy!) and started playing with the blocks trying to build a car right away as the rest of his new friends started to come in too. I even discovered another little boy in his class has his exact birthday! When I picked him up almost 3 hours later, the first thing Ry said to me was "Mom! I made SO many new friends today!"
God provides, God answers prayer...ask Him to reveal Himself to you today! He is waiting to make Himself real to you...just like he has for my boy :) What a great first day! Day #2 tomorrow...More pre-school stories to come!
That looks like an awesome preschool! Ryder sounds like such a fun little boy. I hope (when we have more kids) Isabella is just as helpful and loving to them as Ryder seems with Cole and Cora. I also thought the telephone and phone book were interesting additions to the class. We only have cell phones and use the internet to look up everything so I wonder how many kids would know how to use a regular phone and a phone book. Congratulations to you all for a successful start to Ryder's life as a student. :o)
Wow! Thank you God for supplying the provision for preschool, the amazing facility, friends for Ryder, teachers that love kids and a plan that is always good! We love you God and appreciate you today! Go Ryder we are so excited for you and your special place this year! Oh the things that God is going to do!
I love this post! What an awesome place for Ryder to grow. His teachers sound wonderful. I love that God has opened all these doors for you. And I love that you prayed for Ryder before he entered. What a great example for him you are!
Ryder Daniel the cutiest 4 year old ever! He is God's little man in formation.
This was so fun to read Danice! What a great testimony of the Lord's provision. Thank you for your faithfulness to share what He has done :)