In a bit over a month our kids start a new school year. Olivia will be in 1st grade at St. Michael School (continuation of where she went to Kindergarten), and we are undecided about where to send Sawyer. He's been at a great little preschool/daycare run out of our church here and loved it until the last couple of months of the school year. We're not sure what happened, but it made us reconsider our plans for this upcoming season. We are wondering if we should switch him over to Tio Conejo (where O was) for preschool this year. We're not sure if it had to do with a new baby sister, the return of a so-so student teacher, being bored, needing more time/space to run and be active, needing more structure and challenge, simply wanting to be home more, or what--but mornings became TOUGH there at the end. There are so many things we've loved about his little school; it's small, the director is GREAT, they are flexible, have daycare hours, they have computer class, it's close to us, etc. But, we don't know who the teacher will be next year, and because it's small, it's hard to keep people long term. If he goes to Tio Conejo, he'd be in a bigger class (read: more friends his age to motivate him), in a structured, yet hands-on environment with highly experienced teachers, have a huge play area outside, plus the opportunity to play soccer or do tae kwon do (ACTIVE things). (We don't have a yard, remember?) Plus, since we plan to send him there for kindergarten anyway (not a lot of other options), this would give him an extra year to prepare; I know I shared with many of you Olivia's struggles with learning cursive in kinder. . . so what is making us hesitate? Two main things. One: loyalty to the director at his current school. We love her and trust her; Sawyer knows her, and we go to church with her. And, number two: what if Sawyer gets stressed out at Tio Conejo with more expectations put on him? Then again, would it be better to let him struggle academically a bit this year so that next year is easier? Either way, I don't want him to hate school.
We need to make a decision fairly quickly. I keep waiting for writing in the sky or something, but I think we're just going to have to choose, and hope we make the right choice. Sometimes it's hard being a teacher/parent; I can't help but critique schools in general . . . however, I am thankful that we have the option to even put our kids in private school here. I guess this is just one of the situations that makes me miss home. If we were in the states, I'd know what I was looking for in a good school, and chances are there'd be a good public school option in the mix. Just another one of those situations where we're forced to hand our kids over to the Lord and trust that since he brought us here, he's going to provide for them, even in academics.
If you ask why I don't just HOMESCHOOL . . . well, that's another post, or a good long conversation to have over some rich Costa Rican coffee. Let's just say I'm at a point where I'll 'never say never,' but it's not my first choice. We appreciate your prayers and/or insights and/or suggestions in this matter. I'l keep you posted.
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