I am proud to announce that VIP is now registered for Kindergarten. All of our T's are crossed and the i's are dotted. She even got to go to an open house where she got to meet all of the teachers and ride a school bus around the parking lot.
Photo: Cathe Post
January 13, 2011
Knowing the challenges that some parents face when choosing a school for their child, or evenfinding room at a school for that matter, I feel like we were blessed in making a win-win decision for our daughter.
Our daughter, as our family doctor has put it, is a willful child. If I may pull out a few more labels for my daughter; she is an extrovert, she is highly intelligent, and she is a constant mental challenge. She is extremely social. She loves people and she loves learning. And, my husband and I know we need to keep her busy and challenged without over scheduling her.
My Pre-Kindergartener just brought home a packet to save her a spot in Kindergarten for next year. She goes to a Christian pre-school that also offers Kindergarten. Paying for her to go to this school (like most pre-schools) was an easy choice to make; she loves going to school and she learns a lot from it, so we made room in our budget. Kindergarten on the other hand, is something our taxes pay for in a public school. And, unlike some other school districts in this country, there is no lottery or waiting list to worry about.
My husband and I have been talking about our dilemma since the start of the school year: do we spend the money (out of pocket) to have her continue with a small class size, shorter class days, and a definite focus on morals and values, or do we save the money and put her in public school where her class size will double, but she will spend more days (and hours per day) in school?
I went to the public school I thought my daughter would be attending to find out our boundary wasn’t for that school – even though it was in walking distance. Instead, the school she would go to is several miles down the road (there is a major intersection between us and the close school. They don’t want kids crossing it by themselves. The weird boundary line is a good safety measure, I suppose).
However, once we got to Pioneer Elementary, my mind was put at ease. I went to the office to verify the boundary and find out if there was any curriculum information. I was handed this year’s packet and given information about several open-houses. I was also given information about a Thursday morning reading group in their Family Center. It is a time provided so kids that may go to the school next year can be exposed to the school environment and meet their future class-mates.
My husband and I both feel at this point it is a good choice to put our daughter in public school next year.
What challenges and decisions do you face as parents with children who are just starting school? Discuss this in the GeekMom forum!