First Day of PreKindergarten

R on his first day - boy was he excited! He did so well too, and the anticipation was worse than the actual for this mommy.

Apparently we really cannot make up our minds :)

So R will be going to PreKindergarten this Wednesday for his first day. Yes, I had said before that he would be attending Junior Kindergarten, but when we registered him and she saw his birthdate, she gave us this other option. He will be going three days a week, in with the kindergarten kids, asked to do all the things that the kindergarten kids do, though not graded per se, so if he doesn't want to participate or do them isn't forced to. It'll be like he is auditing kindergarten. And the kindergarten kids who he will be in will will be doing the more "academic" stuff on the two days when he does not attend. Of the afternoon class he will be in - 6 of them will be in pre-K and 12 in K, so a really good ratio. I am nervous and excited all at the same time. And so sad that my little man is now entering a new stage of his life - schooling. And that that is forcing us to enter a new stage - one in which our lives are a little more scheduled and less free to pick up and do whatever we want to do whenever we want to do it. He is growing up WAY TOO FAST! I love him so much and cannot believe he will be leaving me this week, in only two days, to be a big boy with a whole life of which I am not a part. OK, I'm going to stop now before I cry. Talk to y'all later.

Jr K

Registered R this morning for junior kindergarten. At a church preschool nonetheless. We weren't looking for a church one specifically and turned out it was our best possible choice and they had room. I am very excited for him, I think he will do good and thrive AND I get to volunteer once a month to help! Yeah for me. Now I gotta find someone to care for the girls while I do... and tell R that schooling has changed a bit... and call the kindergarten \school he was supposed to be in...
Guess all the work isn't done yet. :)

Kindergarten, not yet

I am feeling better about keeping R at home for another year. Part of what makes me feel better is that M and I made the decision for sure this morning. I'll tell you why I have been so stressed about it. Jobina commented on the last post that in MB at least the Kindergarten curriculum has been "dumbed down" so much that going into grade 1 and not having done Kindergarten is OK. I actually have been hearing that here in Calgary the Kindergarten curriculum is closer to the grade 1 curriculum - like kids know how to read and are expected to write "short" stories (one to two sentences) by the end of kindergarten, as well as have math skills and stuff, so not sure if AB is more focused on that or what. Most kids know how to write their name, trace letters, etc before starting K, and our son does not and I never want him to feel like he is not as smart as the other kids who could be almost a whole year older than him.
I spent a lot of today calling around seeing if there are any spots available in a preschool or junior K for him and I found a couple of good schools that he could go to - so I am feeling more relieved and feel like I can actually leave for the next 5 days like I planned to.
Well, off to pack! I'll write more when I get back.

I needed this today...

Today has been really emotional for me so far. I don't think my sleep was very restful. I did not have breakfast. May not help that I am leaving my entire family tomorrow for 5 days. Or the fact that M and I are trying to decide if R will be attending Kindergarten at the end of this month.
That is probably the root of it. My baby, old enough to go to Kindergarten, but still not yet 5. He just doesn't seem ready yet and I am having a hard time not putting that blame on myself. Not that there is blame to put. He is a very smart child, that is not it. We just are trying to figure out if we are doing him the best service to send him to school, on a bus, to be out performed by children who are almost a year older than him in some cases. I do not ever want my child to think that he is not as smart as other kids and I do not want him to be dogged by that his entire schooling, nor do I want him to hate school. Everyone I talk to - friends who have been kindergarten teachers, parents of children born later in the year, Michael's doctor, our parents - have supported what we have said and agreed with the things we asked them about. Now it is just figuring out what we are going to do. Is there a preschool out there that we can send him to that is not full? One that will teach him things, so he will learn and grow and not just have play time?
Aargh - I didn't need another thing on my plate today. I'm busy enough packing and getting my family ready to be without me for 5 days.
I got video forwarded from my mother-in-law today. It helped a bit, though I cried. Watch here.