Preschool
Our plan all along was to put Mina into the Playschool that is at her current center (they enroll kids infant through kindergarden). They may not be the "best" and surely aren't exclusive at all, but it has been a good fit for her. They have become an extended family of sorts for us and have been flexible with her/our needs.
She's just been early for a lot of things: walking, talking, complex talking. She moved into the toddler room early and though the Preschool room is on paper intended for age 3, they are starting the process of doing her readiness assessment for the preschool now, with the assumed plan of her starting there in September (she turns 3 in late January). They would go through their assessment, review all of the results with us, we'd go back and forth and if all were in agreement we'd fill out a lot of paperwork and she'd start in that room. The director of the center said that they have concerns about her getting bored with the activities/lack of structure in the toddler room. She appears older than all of the kids in there, both in size and verbal ability. She isn't mature enough to handle the preschool structure now, but they don't want to hold her back.
I was kind of blindsided by all of this when I picked her up this week, but it makes sense. Brian and I don't want to rush these early years (thinking too far ahead), but we also want to be prepared.
He and I both have had experiences in schools where we were ahead of what the other kids were doing, and bored. We don't want her to be in that position. When I was born we lived in Wellesley, and we moved to Waltham over winter break when I was in 3rd grade. They wanted us in Catholic school, but they wouldn't admit us mid-year, so I went to the local public school for a 1/2 year. My math and reading abilities were so advanced, that I would leave my class and have private lessons with the librarian (who was also a special ed teacher I think). I remember feeling singled out and awkward about this, and I was even bullied a bit by a couple of kids for it (the followed me home one day taunting me, drilling me on multiplication tables). When I moved to St. Pat's the next year it wasn't much different. In 4th grade I left the class to have math and english with the 5th graders. In 5th grade they were sick of this 'inconvenience' and had me stay with my own class, re-reading the same general english/reading text that I had already read in Wellesley, in 3rd grade! I finished there and did HS at Waltham Public (where I think I actually did thrive, despite being pushed back a bit for 5 years).
Brian was that smart kid in classes where he was bored in the Everett system. They kind of left him to his own devices, and he did a lot of his own pleasure reading. He wanted to be with his friends rather than 'the nerds', and coasted through the general college level courses in a school that almost lost accreditation while he was there. But I digress.
Who knows what kind of things she'll excel in, and where she'll find challenges. Brian has had a lot of concentration issues to deal with. I'm great at multitasking but have a very hard time with memorization and standardized testing (as a result). Plus, she is her own kid.
Brian texted me that one of Mina's friends in the school is going to be leaving. His parents aren't happy with the quality of education in the Preschool, given 'lack of structure'. We'll miss them! They are neighbors of us and have had philosophical similarities to us. I want to give it a chance, but there is this fear in the back of my head that we may need to find a plan B. I have simiar worries about the local kindergarden. I want to support our local neighborhood public school. On paper it is pretty bad, but on paper there is a lot to contend with given the high % of kids that enter who aren't english speaking. As such, lots of resources have been put into that school. Parents I've talked with have been quite happy with it.
Oh the challenges of being responsible for someone's development! I want her to be happy and interested and learn things along the way. I think that in the end, most kids end up at the same place, just at a different pace. I've done find despite my early issues (as has Brian). Who the hell knows.
She's just been early for a lot of things: walking, talking, complex talking. She moved into the toddler room early and though the Preschool room is on paper intended for age 3, they are starting the process of doing her readiness assessment for the preschool now, with the assumed plan of her starting there in September (she turns 3 in late January). They would go through their assessment, review all of the results with us, we'd go back and forth and if all were in agreement we'd fill out a lot of paperwork and she'd start in that room. The director of the center said that they have concerns about her getting bored with the activities/lack of structure in the toddler room. She appears older than all of the kids in there, both in size and verbal ability. She isn't mature enough to handle the preschool structure now, but they don't want to hold her back.
I was kind of blindsided by all of this when I picked her up this week, but it makes sense. Brian and I don't want to rush these early years (thinking too far ahead), but we also want to be prepared.
He and I both have had experiences in schools where we were ahead of what the other kids were doing, and bored. We don't want her to be in that position. When I was born we lived in Wellesley, and we moved to Waltham over winter break when I was in 3rd grade. They wanted us in Catholic school, but they wouldn't admit us mid-year, so I went to the local public school for a 1/2 year. My math and reading abilities were so advanced, that I would leave my class and have private lessons with the librarian (who was also a special ed teacher I think). I remember feeling singled out and awkward about this, and I was even bullied a bit by a couple of kids for it (the followed me home one day taunting me, drilling me on multiplication tables). When I moved to St. Pat's the next year it wasn't much different. In 4th grade I left the class to have math and english with the 5th graders. In 5th grade they were sick of this 'inconvenience' and had me stay with my own class, re-reading the same general english/reading text that I had already read in Wellesley, in 3rd grade! I finished there and did HS at Waltham Public (where I think I actually did thrive, despite being pushed back a bit for 5 years).
Brian was that smart kid in classes where he was bored in the Everett system. They kind of left him to his own devices, and he did a lot of his own pleasure reading. He wanted to be with his friends rather than 'the nerds', and coasted through the general college level courses in a school that almost lost accreditation while he was there. But I digress.
Who knows what kind of things she'll excel in, and where she'll find challenges. Brian has had a lot of concentration issues to deal with. I'm great at multitasking but have a very hard time with memorization and standardized testing (as a result). Plus, she is her own kid.
Brian texted me that one of Mina's friends in the school is going to be leaving. His parents aren't happy with the quality of education in the Preschool, given 'lack of structure'. We'll miss them! They are neighbors of us and have had philosophical similarities to us. I want to give it a chance, but there is this fear in the back of my head that we may need to find a plan B. I have simiar worries about the local kindergarden. I want to support our local neighborhood public school. On paper it is pretty bad, but on paper there is a lot to contend with given the high % of kids that enter who aren't english speaking. As such, lots of resources have been put into that school. Parents I've talked with have been quite happy with it.
Oh the challenges of being responsible for someone's development! I want her to be happy and interested and learn things along the way. I think that in the end, most kids end up at the same place, just at a different pace. I've done find despite my early issues (as has Brian). Who the hell knows.