2 more short months…

Until my big kid is a Kindergartner! Doesn’t that seem crazy?! The birthday cut off for Kindergarten is Sept 30. Mason’s birthday is September 11. I’ve talked to some teachers who have said wait, some who say send him. Parents who have similar experiences with birth dates have given me the same response. Just like every other aspect in parenting, it all comes down to the individual child. There is no “one answer fits all” to this kind of question. Being that Mason is off the charts in size (actually taller than one of his friends who is 9 months older), size wasn’t an issue- if anything, it was a reason to go ahead and send him, since he’s such a big kid.

Academically, I was fairly certain he was ok. I’m not biased when I say this kid is smart. He is. People all the time tell me they think he’s so much older than he is. He’s just a smart kid, well spoken and learns so quickly. Not to mention, this kid has an amazing thing with numbers. He can add, subtract and just simply glance a something and tell you how many are there. It’s eerie at times, really.

I took him over to the new student welcome center for Fairfield City Schools. I had him evaluated to see if he was ready for Kindergarten, or would benefit from a year of Kindergarten Readiness for a year first. He scored perfectly on everything and the evaluator even told me some of the skills he knew were “goals” for knowing AFTER Kindergarten and were 1st grade requirements. She was more than confident he was ready for Kindergarten. And when she did his evaluation, she had no idea he was 4 and wouldn’t even be 5 until after the start of the school year. That made me feel much better. So we registered him.

Now if you remember back, this is much different from my post on home-shooling. After not finding a single home school program that I just loved and felt confident with, Dave and I decided to give school a shot. If he gets too sick, or his skin can’t handle it, then we pull him out if need be. Kindergarten isn’t mandatory anyway in the state of Ohio. If he can’t handle it, we’ll pull him, study from home and give school a shot the next year. We’ll just keep trying it until his body can handle it.

Am I paranoid? Heck Yes. I’ve already gotten familiar with the school nurse and she was so very reassuring. I have a meeting scheduled with her in August as well as one with both her and his teacher the day before school starts to go over everything again. They are already aware of him and his allergies, and I’m making myself known. From my allergy parent support groups, the biggest thing I’ve learned is to make sure you and your child are “remembered”. I plan on working as a room mom and getting active. Kids with allergies can’t get lost in the cracks or fatal accidents are more likely to happen.

So my “baby” is getting ready for Kindergarten. Which means riding the bus and everything. I can’t believe he’s this big. I’m looking so forward to the fun he will have and the things he will learn.

School starts just 2 months from now. Which also means, in just a little over two months, Mason will be FIVE. When did THAT happen?! We’re already working on a super fun bowling party. That was Mason’s choice and his favorite thing to go do.