Too Cool For School

Katherine missed the deadline for kindergarten...barely. So of all her friends she is the only one not going to kindergarten this year. Two Tuesdays ago was the first day of school and Katherine was not happy to be excluded from it. She cried when we drove past the elementary school and she saw the swarm of kids with their backpacks and all the school buses and begged me to take her. "I will be good!" she cried, as if her behavior was somehow the reason she couldn't go to school. When I explained, again, that she was too young, she said, "But I will be five on my birthday! I am a big girl!"

Back in February, Casey and I decided to have Katherine tested for early enrollment to kindergarten. We felt that she was outgoing enough and smart enough to fit in with the older kindergartners. When we got the test results back, we were pretty disappointed. Katherine had scored quite high on math and reading and had done well in General Knowledge (whatever that is), but she lacked the dexterity (in other words her handwriting was awful...which sadly is an inherited trait. Neither Casey nor I is going to win a handwriting competition any time soon) and the maturity to really be a good candidate. She was still four after all.

In retrospect, there are things I would have done differently. I also have my opinions about the testing process, but it is what it is and I can't change the school district's decision. I try not to think about it too much because Mama Bear comes out and I know I'm being biased. Every mother thinks her child is the brightest and beautifulest and the most special child ever. But mine really is! (kidding!.....kind of) Anyway....

During the summer, I looked into preschool for her, but all the private ones were WAY too expensive, like the price of college tuition expensive. Some of the elementary schools around here have free Pre-K for those who are low income or have a child with special needs. The rest of us get put on a waiting list where we languish and die. Until I learned about the school district's Pre-K program, I was never unhappy about Casey's job. For one brief moment I actually wished he was a grad student again! Then a beautiful ray of sunlight pierced the preschool gloom. That ray was called Joy School.

I have a friend who is participating in Joy School with a few other ladies around town. She told me about it and said they were still looking for one more mom to spread out the load. I jumped at the chance. It's not free and it is certainly not easy, given that I will have to teach one week a month, but it sure beats the pants off $238 a week (!) plus miscellaneous fees and......ugh....fundraisers for preschool. It also gives Katherine a classroom atmosphere that isn't Sunday School. And it gives me two whole hours twice a week to do whatever I want, which--let's face it--is usually running errands or cleaning, but eventually I hope to be able to just be a slug during that time.

Katherine has been in Joy School for two weeks and is having the time of her life. She has her own backpack and a school box with crayons and scissors. She also gets to paint, sing and play with other kids. She is on Cloud 9 and it couldn't have happened to a nicer girl.