The past 4 months have been filled with sleepless nights about our schooling decision for the girls. We never thought it would be so difficult. We moved to a really good school district and thought it would be a nice and simple transition into school for the girls. They have had no preschool experience, have a July birthday and were premature so we assumed they wouldn't be ready for Kindergarten until they were 6 but knew the district offered options for 5 year olds. However, we never expected the 5 year old option to be full-time. Hence the sleepless nights!
(As a side note, the first decision really was whether to put them in Kindergarten at 5 or at 6. Talk about a big decision. Do you want them young or old? Leaders or followers? Bigger or littler? Driving before friends? Graduating at 18? This decision caused many sleepless nights for both of us!)
Now, many have told us that the girls will be fine going to school all day and that we will adjust, etc. And to some extent we agree. However, we also have had serious concerns about how full-time school will impact Maggie. We can barely schedule more than one activity or outing a day. If we do more than that, we pay for it. So Thad & I anticipated the first school year to be evening after evening of struggles because of the girls being spent from being at school all day.
So, I began exploring options and trying to decide what I could do to make a difference. I wrote letters to legislators and the Governor to advocate on behalf of those parents who still want half days offered. I spoke to the Superintendent & Assistant Superintendent at Rockford to express my concerns. I wrote a letter to the School Board. However, in the end, Rockford continues to stand behind it's decision to move to all day school and it appears that not enough parents raised concerns to get anyone's attention. Oh well, I tried!
I applied to Charter Schools and then learned that they too were moving to all day Kindergarten and Young 5s. I looked into homeschooling and online homeschooling and decided that I don't have more to give and I really think the girls need to learn from someone other than me. I researched the Christian schools and we cannot afford it. I checked into preschools and again we would be required to pay for it and weren't convinced they would be equipped to handle a child with SPD. So, as a last resort, I applied to other districts through school of choice for the Young 5 programs that are offering half day options.
Last week we learned that the girls were accepted into Northview's Young 5s program. This afternoon I will tour the school and enroll them. This is so different from what we expected our first experience with school to be for the girls. I guess it has taught me to take one year at a time with the girls and not assume it is going to be simple or easy. Important decisions rarely are simple or easy, are they? Well, lesson learned! Thanks for listening to my rant about school.
