I may have been blogging for about 2 years but this is still my 100th post! This one will be about Kindergarten, another big milestone that is coming!
I found out last year that our school has an October 1st cut-off for birthdays for Kindergarten. So since Owen will be turning 5 before then, he can start kindergarten next year. Brandon and I were trying to figure out if it would be good to start him or if it would be a bad thing, especially for a boy (driving later, etc). After talking with his teachers at "school," we all decided that he is easily ready academically speaking. Now the sitting still part we need to work on! The checklist academically that they gave us seems sort of sad - can count to 20, knows ABC's, can recognize some letters and numbers, knows name, speaks in sentences of at least 4 words. On that note, he shocked Mommy around Thanksgiving my typing the word NOVEMBER on his computer. Wow!
So, we started looking into kindergarten and I found out that sadly, we have half day kindergarten here. I honestly think that this should be banned. Most kids go to some time of pre-k and in a lot of families, both parents work making half day a greater challenge. Anyways, so now I had to investigate a daycare that does half day in our area (where we currently go is 20 miles away from school, so no chance) and that buses to the school (believing it is going to be afternoons at kindergarten for him). I also asked about prices for Quinn if we were to bring her there. Wow! To move both of them was going to cost me $20-$40 more per week with Owen doing half-days! Thus, Quinn will stay put!
I can't believe that Owen is already that big of a boy that next year when I'm doing my school supply shopping, I will have to get him things too! The cliche` is true - they grow up way too fast!
I love the fact that St. John's has the options of full OR half days... I can certainly see your side of things, but for me I like the idea of having that first year to transition into things. Of course I may feel very different by the time Aiden is actually that old. LOL!
ReplyDeleteLike you, I was surprised by the very basic things that are considered on target for a child starting kindergarten. However, I know from experience and trying to help my sister's kids play catch-up that if the parent isn't working with kids at home it can be hard for even smart kids to catch up. It is amazing to me how fast those kids learned and were EXCITED about learning with just a little bit of attention. Owen is lucky to have a mom who cares enough to make education important since the beginning! =)