So much can happen in a week
Well, quite a lot happened this week, and I haven't had time to blog about it all, so let me start with an update on the daycare situation.
We went back to the Montessori school for a second meeting, and they told us that they would indeed have room for lil'ReRe for September, since that is when all the older kids move up, and the 3-year-olds move up to the Casa class. After all the feedback I've gotten from people (generally very positive from people who had attended Montessori schools themselves), we decided to take the space. I still have 2 months to get used to the idea of my baby going somewhere else five days a week, which will make this easier. The weird thing was, the very next day, I got a call from the church-based daycare that would have been our alternative choice, and they said they had a place for ReRe on July 9th. My initial reaction was NO WAY is my son going to daycare in 2 weeks! That, I would not have been able to deal with, so I'm really glad we took the Montessori space.
During the meeting, I checked out some of the things people mentioned, and it seems that all the teachers are thoroughly educated in the Montessori method, and that they do follow it quite closely. Since I'm not a teacher, it is hard for me to judge, though, between different pedagogies, so my questions could only go so far.
I took 2 books out of the library on Montessori, and will report back what I learn, and if there is anything that raises concerns with me. I'm particularly interested in the one about Montessori at home, since it will probably make it a whole lot easier for ReRe is his parents are doing some of the same things at home that he is learning at school.
On the work side, I finally went to the Mississauga Business Enterprise Centre to see what sort of services they offer. I got a crash course one-on-one with one of their trainers, so I didn't have to go back for their formal course, and I signed up for two other courses which both took place this week; one on dealing with Goods and Services Tax, since I'll have to charge it; and one with expert advice from an accountant, a lawyer, and a banker on starting a small business. That course was quite interesting, since I learned the difference between being a sole proprietor and incorporating, but I'm still unsure of which option I will choose. There was also some interesting advice from the banker - like don't use invoice #001, since it makes you look inexperienced! That made me laugh. We spent some time with the lawyer talking about how to properly select a name for your business so that it won't be confused with someone else, it doesn't belong to someone else, etc. This can be very dangerous if you sound slightly like a competitor, even if you are just trying to be cheeky, your name can get you in a lot of trouble. More on that later. And today I spent the morning with a consulant coach, who helped me really flesh out what kind of consulting I want to do, who my market will be, how I will go about marketing myself, and basically put all the steps in order so that between now and September, I can figure out my business name, get the business registered or whatever, do some market research, and a whole bunch of other things. So far, I'm pretty excited, and would blog more about all that stuff, but I need to start preparing for a barbeque I am having on Canada Day. I have been planning this bbq for a little while, but wasn't getting a whole lot of positive responses, but all of a sudden, we've got 30+ guests confirmed, and a whole bunch of maybe's, so I better get cracking!
