Monday, August 09, 2010

Up in the Air

So since Peanut has been born we have talked about putting her in school so that she is 2 years apart from Red. I have a good friend that really wants me to keep her back a year so our girls will be the same grade. She says that they won't be as good of friends if she is a year older in school. They are only 2 months apart in age. If I move her ahead it will be her and two little boys at church if I keep her back there will be her with 2 boys and 6 girls. Then I start thinking about my Monkey and how he is one of the youngest kids in his class. I wanted to hold him back so he could be the oldest in his class but J said has the same birthday and was the youngest and he turned out fine. Now seeing Monkey as one of the smallest kids in his class I'm wondering if we did the right thing. It also doesn't help that at least two boys age wise should be in the grade above but their parents held them back so they could be the oldest. He isn't really struggling academically he gets As and Bs for the most part, though he did get one C the last quarter of 2nd grade. The only way to fix his situation is to put him in public school and hold him back because no one there would know him or homeschool him a year and when he tests in he tests for the lower grade and then he can blame me ;) He is my issue what do I do with Peanut??? Her birthday is 6 weeks after Monkey's making her even younger than him in school. Though she is a girl and the youngest of 4. I just don't want to make the same mistake with her but I also don't want her to feel left out at church. I also don't know if I want Red and her 3 years apart in school. I didn't like the idea of having the boys 3 years apart which is another reason I wanted to hold Monkey back so that he and Red would only be 2 years apart. I guess in the grand scheme of things it really isn't a big deal they just get out of our house a year earlier, which kind of makes me sad. Oh I think we should of held him back :( I hate second guessing myself and having all this guilt. I really didn't sleep well last night thinking about this. What are your thoughts? What would you do with Peanut? How about Monkey?

6 comments:

Amber said...

That's a big decision. Unfortunately, I have no clue what I would do. I guess this is one good thing about Drake being born in February. He's not even close to the deadline for schools. Good luck, Tonya!

Kat said...

I never had to think about this before, but with Grace's bday in August I know we will go through the same thing. I think what we will do (when the time comes) is put her in 3K early and see how she does. If it feels like too much for her we will take her out. If she does well she will go on to 4K the next year. And then we will watch and see how she does again. If she continues to thrive she will enter school a bit early. If it seems to be a struggle we'll take her out. Nothing is set in stone. You can always make adjustments. :)
Good luck!

tracey.becker1@gmail.com said...

Sorry Charlie, I have no advice other than that this will all be some tiny memory someday...

corrie said...

i think if your kid is ready for school, than go for it! i wouldn't keep her in or out depending on what kind of friends (or specific friends) she would have... that's always a toss up. being smaller is a downside, BUT most kids catch up size wise before high school.
OR you could always home school ivory for a year. if she isn't challenged enough you know to move her ahead. finn should really only be in preschool, but we are starting kindergarten curriculum with him this fall, and after looking over the first few lessons, i know it's going to be super easy for him. i want him to be challenged mentally, not worry about how he matches up to his peers. someone will always be the smallest.
anyway, i am a rambler. good luck!

corrie said...

SORRY! i totally used a name! delete it!!!

Tonya said...

thanks everyone! For now we are leaving her in school and taking it a year at a time. The way our school is set up there are two different levels of Kindergarten. 1 and 2 so she can go to Junior K, then K1 and K2 then 1st or she can do Junior K, K 2, then 1st. So we'll see how she does or how I feel about it when the time comes. I just don't want regrets :)