how we got started in this mess!

when our family of five moved to central asia in 2007, our twin girls were 2 years and 5 months of age and our younger daughter was 5 months old. i had every intention of sending the twins to either a play school or a montessori preschool. i had been in contact with a few people who were living here and were sending their children to either the playschool or the montessori preschool and all i received were rave reviews of both.

after arriving in country, i was excited to get them started in a part-time program. since they were barely 2 1/2, i thought part-time would be the best option. we had arrived during the summer, so i wanted to get them used to a school setting at the playschool before having them start preschool in the fall. well, part-time with twins was not an option. the school was not willing on letting "take up space" without paying full-time tuition. so, i decided to have them wait until fall for preschool.

on the morning of their first day, we all woke up very excited. the twins were excited about going. we had their wee backpacks and lunchbags ready and took tons of pictures. we made it a family affair and their dad and i both stayed the first day to help them adjust. well, in short, their dad and i thought very little in terms of the quality of the program, had little confidence in the staff and were rather disappointed in the condition of the facilities. we did give it a chance, however, and the twins finished 2 weeks of preschool at the montessori center. i was told by many other moms that "it does get better" and that "this is the best preschool in the country", but my gut told me that it was best to pull them out.

after some research and serious thought, i decided to homeschool them.