About Us

Welcome! We're Still Playing School!

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Thanks for joining us here as we share playful learning activities for kids! In this space we'll explain the how and why behind our "playing, learning, and remembering" each day.

Who Are We?

We are a family of five with four of us still here together...

I'm Devany, a former kindergarten teacher turned write-at-home-mom. I have my degrees in Early Childhood Education and Educational Psychology. Since 2011, I've been writing here to record and share the educational invitations to play that we create together. 

E is our oldest daughter. When she was born I decided to step out of the classroom to fully embrace this chance to be both her mom and her first teacher. What I didn't expect was to come to the decision to homeschool, but after one year of traditional preschool, we decided that was best for our family and never looked back! E is an independent learner with a vigorous appetite for academics and art. At age five, she loved her Cowie, creative expression, reading, pretend play, and science!

Now at age 11, she loves musical theater, playing her ukulele, reading, and animals. She is in sixth grade.

Violet is our second daughter. When I started writing here at Still Playing School, I was pregnant with her and imagining that I'd soon be teaching two kids. Instead, in July 2011, we received a fatal prenatal diagnosis. I stopped writing as our world drained of its color. We could only think of, hope for, and see Violet as we anxiously awaited her arrival. We spent two and a half brief yet beautiful days with her in November of 2011.

Now I am writing again, but this time about her story, our grief, and the connection we still carry on with her, always.

Our son D is our rainbow baby.  Born a year and a month after his sister Violet, he returned the light to our world and the sparkle to our eyes. From his bright red hair to his unstoppable energy he is unique. At age two, he loved Thomas, dinosaurs, and running circles around us!

Now at age 8 he loves video games, science experiments, and he is one of the most self aware and empathetic people I know. He is in 3rd grade.

Last but not least, my husband Mr. SPS is our behind the scenes guy! He is a web developer with a passion for photography so we couldn't do all that we do without his hard work, support, and endless knowledge of all things technical.

Why Still Playing School? 

When I was a child, my favorite thing to do was to play school with my dad and my brother as my only students.  In 2011, when I started writing here I was imagining having two students to teach again soon as E was two and I was pregnant with Violet. That was not meant to be and yet here we are several years later with E & D as my two students.

Still playing school, still learning as we play, still remembering their sister every single day.

Our life is not perfect. It never will be again without Violet. But what I hope you to see shining through the images we share and the words we write is the joy that is still in our home. The soundtrack to our lives is laughter. 

This is the place I come to write about and mother all three of our children. We are playing, learning, and remembering.

Photo credits: Karen Reichley

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