This beautiful boy of mine turns five years old today. He has been looking forward to this birthday for months and months and has already had one birthday cake at Grandmas house - chocolate cake, chocolate icing and pink candles with fire!
Calvin is simply an adorable kid. He is sweet and loving and adores babies who cannot talk. He loves to ride little training wheeled bikes at breakneck speed yet still finds his way into my bed most nights. He loves to look at books (not reading yet), loves Scooby-Doo and toys that move. He loves going swimming and is a pretty amazing little hiker. He is very much a boy and a youngest child and is forever trying to keep up with his older siblings. He has made my life happy every day and I love him so much!
Calvin just makes the cut-off for kindergarten which starts in a couple of weeks. He would be the smallest, youngest boy in his class. We had been planning on sending him to half-day kindergarten, but recently have been struggling with the idea that maybe he would benefit from one more year at home. I just finished reading Outliers which has made me even more reluctant to send him this year. What are your thoughts and experiences? Have you kept a child home an extra year? Were you glad you did? I would love some feedback and suggestions - help!
I kept Andrew home an extra year..so he is starting kindergarten this year. I am so glad that we kept him home for this past year. I think he is going to be so much more successful this year because he will be older (and we had a great year together). But, each kid and each situation is different. Do what your mother instincts tell you to do :)
ReplyDeleteJosh is my baby boy, third child, like Calvin, and very much likes to be the baby. He is going on 7 now in first grade, and still wants to sleep with me, calls from school at least once a week saying he's sick and wants to come home, etc. It's hard to get him to let go of the apron strings. One thing that has helped is going in to his classroom as much as I can. For him I think it was necessary to push him along a little. Calvin might be a different situation because he is younger. Half day K is very short too... it wouldn't scar him either way, right?
ReplyDeleteGood luck, this is a hard decision. Jamie was a late August b-day and is the youngest in her class and Sid is an October birthday and is one of the oldest in her class. And they each did kindergarten differently, Jamie full-day, Sid half-day. The best advice I can give anyone is to pray and listen to the spirit, that is how we decided and we have been happy with our decisions!
ReplyDeleteI agree with the other moms...if you feel unsure, I'd say you might want to keep him home another year. I once had a wise mom say to me that she wished she hadn't let her child skip a grade because it was like she lost a year of his childhood! Different situation, but it makes you think.
ReplyDeleteDid you send Calvin off to school today?
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