I am in SO much trouble.
Well, I'm not really in trouble. And I probably won't be. But if the milk I just spilled on my husband's BRAND! NEW! wireless keyboard had fouled it up, I could have been. Luckily, it also missed the optical mouse, since it was resting on a mouse pad that came with it for some reason (I thought part of the beauty of optical mouses--mice?-- was that they did not need a mouse pad, but whatever. It may have saved my butt). In honor of my idiocy, I'll post my favorite link for idiots (more fun if you have sound).
If he finds out, he also may not let me drive his NEW! (not brand new, new to us) Concorde. And that would be a bummer, because friends, I never thought we'd have a car with a leather interior.
Enough bragging about our new toys. Time to write something serious for once. I've always thought we would homeschool our kids, and for the most part, my husband has been supportive. I know homeschooling can be controversial, and I've done a lot of research on it to make sure it's something that would work for our family. Socialism is not something I consider a problem for most homeschoolers, as long as the kids are active in extracurricular activities (and my four-year-old is). For the past three years I've been "practicing", doing preschool with her. She's very bright, and it's been a challenge for me to make things challenging for HER. But I could definitely see that learning one-on-one would be a real benefit for her, allowing her to learn at her own pace without waiting for the rest of the pack to keep up with her.
However, these years of practicing have shown me that I'm not necessarily disciplined enough to keep up with her. This last year especially has been hard, because I was pregnant and then had a new baby. I know some homeschool moms can do it, but I haven't been able to. In additions, I've been struggling with depression for some years, which tends to come out especially post-partum for me. I'm on medication and, for the first time, seeing a therapist, and I think things are finally moving in the right direction. But I've recently come to realize that until I have my mental health under control, even if homeschooling would be good for her, it would probably not be very good for me. I'm too much of a perfectionist, and even though, despite my lack of discipline the last couple of years, she's still advanced for her age, I still beat myself up because I don't "do" lessons with her every day.
So, after much indecision, I finally decided this weekend that sending her to kindergarten would be the right thing, at least for now. As soon as I made the decision, I felt complete relief. It just felt like the right decision.
Today I took her to the school to get information about signing up; my friend told me that Kindergarten Round-Up is next week, so I need to get started. The secretary was very helpful, but there may be an issue about her age. She was born just past the cut-off date for eligibility. It's apparent to me and everyone who knows her that she's more than ready socially, emotionally, and intellectually. The problem, though, is classroom numbers. We live in an area that is growing very rapidly with new families moving in all the time. If there are too many students, the principal will probably not waive the cut-off date. The principal is out of town until Wednesday, so I won't be able to find out more until then.
My other option is a private preschool or kindergarten, maybe a Montessori school. There is one maybe 20 minutes away that might work. I don't want to be a pushy mom, but I also don't want her to be even more ahead of the class than she probably already is by the time we put her in public school. If I can get her into a private kindergarten, we can probably transfer her back into public first grade the next year.
If he finds out, he also may not let me drive his NEW! (not brand new, new to us) Concorde. And that would be a bummer, because friends, I never thought we'd have a car with a leather interior.
Enough bragging about our new toys. Time to write something serious for once. I've always thought we would homeschool our kids, and for the most part, my husband has been supportive. I know homeschooling can be controversial, and I've done a lot of research on it to make sure it's something that would work for our family. Socialism is not something I consider a problem for most homeschoolers, as long as the kids are active in extracurricular activities (and my four-year-old is). For the past three years I've been "practicing", doing preschool with her. She's very bright, and it's been a challenge for me to make things challenging for HER. But I could definitely see that learning one-on-one would be a real benefit for her, allowing her to learn at her own pace without waiting for the rest of the pack to keep up with her.
However, these years of practicing have shown me that I'm not necessarily disciplined enough to keep up with her. This last year especially has been hard, because I was pregnant and then had a new baby. I know some homeschool moms can do it, but I haven't been able to. In additions, I've been struggling with depression for some years, which tends to come out especially post-partum for me. I'm on medication and, for the first time, seeing a therapist, and I think things are finally moving in the right direction. But I've recently come to realize that until I have my mental health under control, even if homeschooling would be good for her, it would probably not be very good for me. I'm too much of a perfectionist, and even though, despite my lack of discipline the last couple of years, she's still advanced for her age, I still beat myself up because I don't "do" lessons with her every day.
So, after much indecision, I finally decided this weekend that sending her to kindergarten would be the right thing, at least for now. As soon as I made the decision, I felt complete relief. It just felt like the right decision.
Today I took her to the school to get information about signing up; my friend told me that Kindergarten Round-Up is next week, so I need to get started. The secretary was very helpful, but there may be an issue about her age. She was born just past the cut-off date for eligibility. It's apparent to me and everyone who knows her that she's more than ready socially, emotionally, and intellectually. The problem, though, is classroom numbers. We live in an area that is growing very rapidly with new families moving in all the time. If there are too many students, the principal will probably not waive the cut-off date. The principal is out of town until Wednesday, so I won't be able to find out more until then.
My other option is a private preschool or kindergarten, maybe a Montessori school. There is one maybe 20 minutes away that might work. I don't want to be a pushy mom, but I also don't want her to be even more ahead of the class than she probably already is by the time we put her in public school. If I can get her into a private kindergarten, we can probably transfer her back into public first grade the next year.
posted by Andrea | 2:58 PM
1 Comments:
Its difficult to make those choices. Your choice will be the right one for your family. I would have home schooled if Charter Academies were not an option. I was not sending them into the public school system where we lived at the time. I'm glad I didnt have to home school because I would have lost my mind!
Good Luck to you!
lawbrat
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