Kindergarten or Not Part 2

Sorry to all of you who are kind enough to read my rantings. Now I know what it feels like to have writers block. I kind of just ran out of things to say, then summer came and life just got in the way. Keep checking back, I have plans for more recipes. Here is an update to the kindergarten question.

To answer some questions, we tried to get Shelby evaluated and the school district didn't offer anything of the sort and told us to just wait for the first week of school when she would be evaluated. I think this was so dumb. What would I do if they said she wasn't ready and you have to be on waiting lists for any decent preschool in our area? So I made my decsion. I would have her repeat kindergarten. This year she would go to another school in the district and then we would move her back to our home school next year to repeat.

So today I went to have her SEP (student, educator, parent) evaluation and finally got some honest answers from the teacher. First thing was there was some confusion as to Shelby's enrollment. She didn't have her registered at the school even though I went in at the end of the last school year to register her. She told me her classes were really full and that it would take away from the other students to have her there if she was going to repeat. GUILT!! But as we got talking, and she tested Shelby (who tested low on the tests), I came to the conclusion that maybe one more year of preschool wouldn't be so bad. The teacher told me that I would have a fight on my hands to get the district to let her repeat kindergarten. She would have to be evaluated by a panel of 5 educators and psychologists. I just don't want to go through that or put Shelby through that. My reasons for holding her back are because of her size, immaturity of her social skills, and her knowledge level. All of her friends are also a year younger. I have decided that I will dig into my budget and pay for another year of preschool. Now how do I deal with her father?

So I told Russ the decision I made, and of course he didn't like it. He would rather throw her in the deep end and see if she swims. I on the other hand, already have my hands full with 2 boys that struggle, and I would rather give Shelby an advantage. Trust me, I would love to get her out of the house 5 days a week, but I know this is best for her.

She will be plenty busy. I have her enrolled in a FREE program called the Waterford Research Institute where they teach them computer, reading, and math skills 2 days a week for 45 minutes. It is free, because they are doing a study to find out computer learning in 4-6 year olds. Shelby will also be taking dance classes again.

I finally feel relief from all this kindergarten business. I have to say, this has been in my top 5 most gut wrenching decisions so far in my life. I can only hope I made the right one.