Today, we had a major milestone in our family. Amelie’s first day of kindergarten! She’s on the young side. Her birthday actually falls on the cut-off date here in Utah, September 1st. I think that basically means she’ll be the very youngest person in her class.

A view of her school--Walden School of Liberal Arts in Provo. It looks kind of like an hacienda.

Walden is a really cool Montessori charter school. What does this mean? It’s publicly funded, we had to put her name in a lottery to get in, classes (especially in the elementary grades) are taught using the Montessori model (the model that I favor and talk about on my blog), classes are also multi-age (Amelie is in a Kindergarten/1st grade class), there are no buses so we have to drive her to and from school, and class size is smaller than the average public school. Her first day went great and we’re hoping this school turns out to be a good fit for Amelie and for our family.

My baby girl--growing up so fast!

She was so very excited about starting kindergarten. Though I do think she was a bit disappointed that she wouldn't be riding a bus.

Her classroom. I was trying to be sneaky about taking pictures (didn't want to disturb the kids in class), but you can see the open shelves of work for the children. That activity at the entrance is a cool bell activity.

This is some of the Practical Life work--you can see the little sink for washing hands and dishes, some dress-up clothes, and some other fun work.

I’m just so thrilled that we happen to live close enough to the only Montessori kindergarten through 12th grade charter school in the state. And that we got in! Exciting times.