I know that every mom anywhere thinks that her Snowflake is the Smartest Ever, or, at least, the Most Clever Ever Kid to Walk The Earth.
My husband's aunt is on the Board of Directors at the local Lutheran School. She called this morning because it came to her attention over the weekend that they have 5 kids enrolled in the Pre-K program. One of those kids is 3 years old. She wanted to know if I was interested in seeing if we could get my older daughter in on that action.
My older daughter will turn 3 in 13 days.
In the state of Oklahoma, children must be 5 years old on September 1 to enter Kindergarten. My kid will be almost 6 when she's legally allowed to start her (outside the home) school career in this state. My kid takes after her parents and is smarter than the average bear (in my very humble opinion). I remember being bored in school. My husband remembers being bored in school. My husband and I were also among the younger students in our class. We have talked about the situation and decided to put her in some sort of preschool, then do either Lutheran Private or public school Kindy and re-evaluate as we go through the early grades. I don't know that I'm cut out to homeschool, and my hope is that the very small classes at the Lutheran school would give her the flexibility to read up (or science up, or math up, or whatever) with higher grades if she's not being challenged in her "appropiate" grade.
We do have the option to "try it out", and to try it out on a M-W-F schedule. (The Pre-K program is officially M-F, 8:15-3, and does include nap/rest time.)
So... am I crazy for considering this? Is it nuts to put my 3 year old in a class designed for kids up to two years older than she is? Am I setting her up to fail? Am I That Mom? What am I not thinking of here?
4 comments:
Are you kidding? Small-class Lutheran pre-K sounds perfectly sound. Hanging with well-mannered bigger kids and a doting teacher is nothing but net, says I.
Please allow me to point out that you have a three-year-old who doesn't throw fits. You might be able to rule the world.
Did I say that she doesn't throw fits? If I did, I need to take it back. :P
And, if I can ever get my hands on some video (that someone besides Mom Of The Year recorded) of her flower girl performance this weekend, you'll know that she could use some lessons from some well-mannered kids...
We considered the possibility for E, too, though the Lutheran school of choice does have a program for 3's. Ultimately, we decided to wait and revisit the issue next year. Goodness knows I could use the respite school would provide, but I don't want to push the compulsory school thing so soon. If we ultimately choose the compulsory route, I want to be together for as long as possible. (Our options are homeschooling or a very theologically sound Lutheran school. Pretty good options to have, either way, I suppose.) If I could combine religion class, chapel and choral singing from the Lutheran school with the ability to learn everything else freely at home, I think I would be the happiest camper ever.
The Husband thinks that we should wait, and revisit things next year. IF we can't start Kindy early, she'd be in for three years of Pre-K, which is a lot.
Mz - We're very fortunate in that we live a block from the best elementary school in the area AND have a great Lutheran school nearby. Ours does have a 3s program, but it's from 8:30-11, two days a week. I am still working full time and, to be completely honest, that schedule would add more headache to my life than I think it's worth. Plus, I'd have to pay for it AND FT daycare. So... we're skipping it. :P
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