Torn

[Caittune]

I was reluctantly going to send my DD to Kindy next year.  When we arrived at the registration yesterday, we were informed that our catchment had been shifted by one block, and now we were in a catchment for a much less desirable school which will be a fifteen minute walk from home as opposed to the five minute walk of the other school.  It is frustrating beyond belief.  I'd psyched myself up that she would be ok at that school and the teachers are involved and she would get the involvement she needs.  We are able to apply for a cross boundary variance, but I have no idea if she is going to get in or not.  I'm a planner at heart and I *need* to know.  

I personally believe DD would benefit from the structure and socialization that school would afford.  However I also worry about her emotional maturity.  

DH is possibly on board for having her home school for Kindergarten and then trying again to get her into the other school in the following September.  

I have a couple of concerns though.  I'm wondering how hard it will be for her to come in after all the kids have had one year together already.  

My biggest concern is that she will be out of syc education wise with the other kids.  She's pretty precocious.  She's just turned 5 and is already reading at an end of grade one level.  And seems to have quite the aptitude for learning.  If we did homeschool, we would likely gloss over kindy stuff and head straight for grade 1.  

I don't want her to be bored when/if she goes into regular school.  

My other concern, if I do manage to convince DH to do full time home school for her for elementary school, how she will do with making friends.  Are homeschool groups usually pretty consistent as to who participates and such?  I have noticed with other non homeschool type classes that we have done that they don't interact much outside of the classes.  They are there for the class and then gone.  Is that the norm? 

I have plans of doing gymnastics or dance for her as a core "phys ed" sort of thing if we do home school.  So I guess if I get her into a consistent class at a school she might be able to make friends there?  

I know I am going to miss the parent participation preschool she's in for sure.  

Blah I'm babblign and the baby is dragging the nursing pillow over so I'm going to hit post and hope for the best. LOL thanks for any input!

[AAK]

Originally Posted by Caittune 

I have a couple of concerns though.  I'm wondering how hard it will be for her to come in after all the kids have had one year together already.  

I don't want her to be bored when/if she goes into regular school.  

My other concern, if I do manage to convince DH to do full time home school for her for elementary school, how she will do with making friends.  

I know I am going to miss the parent participation preschool she's in for sure.  

Ok, for the first concern:  how large is the school?  Is there one kindy class or four?  In our local school there are four.  When first grade comes around, they are all in different classes and very lucky if they know 2 people in their class.  So, a newcomer wouldn't be odd--everyone is a newcomer.  

Boredom. . . that is a tough one.  It is the reason my oldest came home.  But, she came home mid third grade.  In K, 1, & 2. . . the "knowing everything already" just boosted her confidence and made her feel very smart.  She is also a very social kid and, to her, simply being surrounded by people was great.  It made up for any boredom.  (At the same time, it was stressful for her.)

Friends:  homeschool groups vary so much.  You might find a great one, you might not.  We don't care for the ones in our area.  However, we have found friends through a variety of venues.  Some are ones that we went to preschool with.  The dd that attended public school through mid 3rd only kept in touch with ONE friend from school.  She had "tons" of friends.  But, only one that she had enough real things in common with to maintain the friendship outside of the school.  She still has many friends, but they are spread out -- some go to school, some homeschool.  Most go to different schools.  OH, I forgot. . . she does attend the pull out program for gifted kids once a week.  If your school has one, check it out.  It is the perfect place for my dd.  She has some friends from this program as well.  Not all pull out programs are great, but I can't say enough about ours.  They have resources I really can't provide for her.  And, she gets to collaborate with other kids who like to think. . . it makes for group projects that really are fun.

Parent participation preschool:  keep in touch with the parents/kids that you liked from it.  Call and schedule playdates.  Just because their kids will be going to school, doesn't mean they want to drop everyone else.

Amy

[ocelotmom]

While I'd planned to homeschool well before I even got pregnant, a similar situation was what pushed us over the edge when I was getting cold feet about it. The school 5 minutes away closed. Furthermore, the street we lived on was the boundary between the more desirable and the less desirable school, and we were on the wrong side of the street.

I'm glad it provided the impetus, because we're perfectly happy homeschooling!