Plans for Kindergarten?
CB is just a couple of months into Pre-K and I am full-swing into figuring out Kindergarten plans. Why the hurry? Well, that is actually a good question. For about 1.5 months, I felt like I had to know NOW and if need be, we would move. We actually considered moving out of state. Since Olem works from home, we theoretically can move anywhere. The services in our state are not great so we thought maybe we would move to another state with better services. This sounded good…in theory. The problem was that there were many other problems that arose like having to fly to visit any family, the bitter-cold winters, the crime-rates, the super-conservative population, or the much higher cost of living. We came back to the revelation that we live here for a reason – we love it! And, we can’t think of another place we would rather live. So with that in mind, we looked into moving to other parts of town with the idea that their public schools would be a bitter fit for CB. Our elementary school is really close by but it is also way over-crowded. It is hard for me to picture CB fitting into that type of school system. I know it depends a lot on the teachers but I also know how well the teachers are supported also plays a big role. CB receives group speech from our local elementary school so we are getting a bit of feel for how the school works. Olem and I are also checking out other public schools and private schools so we can get on a waitlist if needed or get in an application at the appropriate time, if needed. Olem and I both attended public school and felt like that our children would follow that same route. Now, here we are seriously considering private school, at least, for Kindergarten. We also heard that HW is already required in Kindergarten and that they already start prepping the kids for the state testing. We need to confirm these b/c they seem quite disheartening. Isn’t Kindergarten for kids – very young kids. I have heard several parents speaking to the issue that Kindergarten is becoming the new 1st grade. The kiddos are expected to be able to sit still the whole time, practice test-taking on the computer, be able to start reading, and complete regular homework, all while cutting free-play and a focus on nurturing the curiosity of kids. As of late, I am about 90% sure CB will attend private Kindergarten. We will keep touring schools over the next couple of months and I feel confident one of these schools will rise to the top and make the decision easier for us. CB’s pre-k is great but it is about 30 minutes away so we ideally don’t want to make that drive every day, again next year.