Monday was Aubree first day of "school."
I've spent the last year obsessing over what course of action to follow for her schooling this year. I think she should be starting kindergarten, but Florida's cut-off date is September 1st and it's a hard cut-off, no exceptions. I find that aggravating (to put it mildly).
I seriously considered putting Aubree in a private Montessori school. They were willing to take her even though she's four and I was extremely impressed with the teacher. It was a K-2 classroom with lots of flexibility and adjustments for each child as an individual. My biggest concern about the school was that it was 7 hours a day. That means 35 hours a week. That's almost as long as Mark is gone at work and he's an adult! I'm not willing to give up that much time with my child. I asked the teacher if she might consider half-day enrollment. She tried to ease my fears saying, "I know it sounds like a long time, and most kids have a little bit of a hard time transitioning to such a long day at first, but after a week or two they're just fine." Truth be told, I'm not worried that Aubree wouldn't handle it well. I think she'd even enjoy it. I suppose I'm jealous of my time with her and I think 35+ hours is over-kill.
Florida also offers what they call VPK or Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten. This is a free-to-parents program where kids can attend a preschool for 15 hours a week during the year before they start kindergarten. What I like about the Program is that it's totally a parent's choice where their child goes, so there are a lot of options, both public and private. I also like that it's only 15 hours a week. What I don't like is that it's a preschool and I think society's views of preschools are becoming more and more alarming (but that's a subject for another rant). I also don't think, from an academic perspective, that Aubree will get a whole lot from a preschool setting. I'm afraid that sounds arrogant, but the preschools around here have a fairly standardized set of guidelines and pre-reading readiness figures heavily into their curriculum (think letter of the week).
The final option I've heavily researched is home school. My thoughts about home schooling have changed dramatically over the last few years. But again, that's a subject of another (probably long) post.
Ultimately, with the uncertainty of how long we'll be here in Florida (Mark is actively looking for a new job and once we accept an offer we'll be moving...somewhere...sometime), I decided to go ahead and enroll Aubree in a private VPK. She goes to school Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for five hours at a time. As of today, she's attended twice and has had a lot of fun. I think her teacher is great and there is a lot of time for playing, which is important. For the few months that we're anticipating still being here, I think it will be a good fit and still be new enough to be interesting for her. Bryce doesn't like having Aubree gone. I can't tell you how many times I've heard him say, "Mom, I want to go get Aubree."
Aubree with her VPK teachers
I've also decided to supplement her VPK with home school and when we move, we'll home school "full time." One thing I feel strongly about is that, one way or another, Aubree will be in 1st grade next year (I've put a lot of time and thought and research into coming to this decision and really feel it's in her best interest). I'm excited about the upcoming year and will post more about our home schooling plans soon.
P.S. Yes, I know - I over-analyze everything and this has been a long-standing obsession. When I was PREGNANT with Aubree, and Mark was looking for his first post-college job, I remember telling him, "let's move to North Carolina! They're kindergarten cut-off date is October 16!" Nuts, eh?
I've spent the last year obsessing over what course of action to follow for her schooling this year. I think she should be starting kindergarten, but Florida's cut-off date is September 1st and it's a hard cut-off, no exceptions. I find that aggravating (to put it mildly).I seriously considered putting Aubree in a private Montessori school. They were willing to take her even though she's four and I was extremely impressed with the teacher. It was a K-2 classroom with lots of flexibility and adjustments for each child as an individual. My biggest concern about the school was that it was 7 hours a day. That means 35 hours a week. That's almost as long as Mark is gone at work and he's an adult! I'm not willing to give up that much time with my child. I asked the teacher if she might consider half-day enrollment. She tried to ease my fears saying, "I know it sounds like a long time, and most kids have a little bit of a hard time transitioning to such a long day at first, but after a week or two they're just fine." Truth be told, I'm not worried that Aubree wouldn't handle it well. I think she'd even enjoy it. I suppose I'm jealous of my time with her and I think 35+ hours is over-kill.
Florida also offers what they call VPK or Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten. This is a free-to-parents program where kids can attend a preschool for 15 hours a week during the year before they start kindergarten. What I like about the Program is that it's totally a parent's choice where their child goes, so there are a lot of options, both public and private. I also like that it's only 15 hours a week. What I don't like is that it's a preschool and I think society's views of preschools are becoming more and more alarming (but that's a subject for another rant). I also don't think, from an academic perspective, that Aubree will get a whole lot from a preschool setting. I'm afraid that sounds arrogant, but the preschools around here have a fairly standardized set of guidelines and pre-reading readiness figures heavily into their curriculum (think letter of the week).
The final option I've heavily researched is home school. My thoughts about home schooling have changed dramatically over the last few years. But again, that's a subject of another (probably long) post.
Ultimately, with the uncertainty of how long we'll be here in Florida (Mark is actively looking for a new job and once we accept an offer we'll be moving...somewhere...sometime), I decided to go ahead and enroll Aubree in a private VPK. She goes to school Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for five hours at a time. As of today, she's attended twice and has had a lot of fun. I think her teacher is great and there is a lot of time for playing, which is important. For the few months that we're anticipating still being here, I think it will be a good fit and still be new enough to be interesting for her. Bryce doesn't like having Aubree gone. I can't tell you how many times I've heard him say, "Mom, I want to go get Aubree."
Aubree with her VPK teachersP.S. Yes, I know - I over-analyze everything and this has been a long-standing obsession. When I was PREGNANT with Aubree, and Mark was looking for his first post-college job, I remember telling him, "let's move to North Carolina! They're kindergarten cut-off date is October 16!" Nuts, eh?
3 comments:
Definately not Nut, just and AWSOME mom! I bet Aubree loves school and I bet her teachers love her more!
When is Aubree's birthday? My birthday is September 13th and my mom enrolled me into a private school so I could start kindergarden when I was 4. I am so glad she did. Aubree will someday be happy that you looked out for her best interests.
It is interesting to hear your perspective. As a mother of an October boy, I am happy that he will be the oldest in his class. I know academically he would be fine, but his impulse control still needs some work :) He'll be going to his second year of preschool. My littlest girl's birthday is September 3rd and September 1st is a hard cutoff here as well, so I am sure to run into the same issue in a few years.
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