The question of the hour here is: Is Thing 3 (who will turn 5
this spring) going to be ready for K come August? I returned this morning
from registering him in our school district which requires a: file full of
papers, 20 mins online, 3 hours searching for a birth certificate you later
come to realize you never ordered (did I mention this is the third child?), and
an amazingly only 30 min. process talking to two different people at the school
district office (last time it took over an hour. I lucked out and the nurse
hadn’t arrived yet at 7:30am so I got to skip her).
All this while I internally wonder, Is he ready? Our other two
boys did PreK at 5 and K at 6. Am I pushing him out of the nest too soon?
Should I homeschool him longer?
I scanned an article the other day about
readiness signs and talked to a couple experts on Skype (2 of my SILs are
teachers). They reassured me that the
youngest child is often more ready early on bc they have learned so much from
watching older siblings. I think this is
very true – but I’m still not totally convinced. I know he is ready
academically, but what about socially and emotionally?
I made a checklist
here that might help you decide as well:
Social Skills: Check
– randomly uses potty words and giggles. Just the other day he chanted off “Poop!
Pee! Poop! Poop! Pee!” happily as he helped set the table. He will fit right in
at the lunchroom table.
Fine Motor Skills:
Check – He can definitely hold a pen and
is apparently a creative genius thinking outside the confines of plain old
paper for his latest art endeavor. Hubby wisely had me check his back to make
sure no other Things were involved.
This was all him!
Verbal Skills:
Check – Just yesterday morning over breakfast T2 called him a "Screaming
Banshee." T3 quickly responded, “You’re a
Screaming Banshee of Doom!” Adding “of
doom” to any sentence means your son is verbally developing right on track and
will be able to hold his own among his peers.
Awareness of Others:
- Check – T3 is well aware of what his brothers are doing, and he is NOT doing,
right around his bedtime. The unfairness
of the world weighs heavy on his little shoulders as he goes to bed a full 30 –
60 mins before them most evenings.
Self Care: Check
(and the angels sing “halleluiah”) – he takes care of #2 start to finish now. I can totally deal with a plugged toilet from
exuberant TP usage – much better than none at all.
Self Assertive:
Check – he learned at an early age to scream the loudest and longest if he ever
wants to be heard above the din of two older brothers.
While registering him this morning they asked if he has an
IEP (I don’t know what it stands for but basically they are asking if he needs
any extra help or services). I said, “No. But he does have two older brothers and that
should qualify anyone for counseling.” And
in his case, it made have also given him just what he needs to attend school
outside our home come fall. We will see
if this mama can let her last little duckling fly yet…sigh.
1 comment:
I found myself questioning if we sent G to school too early. I've even contemplated having him repeat kinder. He is progressing on schedule and is at no disadvantage, (even though he is the youngest in class) that I can tell. However, I wonder if holding him back will put him at an advantage, as opposed to just keeping up with his peers.
Bc he already is in school and your wise brother made a point that he may wonder why his friends are in an upper class and he is not... I'm leaning against having him repeat. But if I could do it again...I would highly consider keeping him home another year.
Good luck!
Post a Comment