Thursday, August 11, 2011

School!!

Lots of you have asked about where Ethan is going to school next year.  I posted a little bit last year about our dilemma of having a summer birthday boy.  We have been encouraged by friends and educational professionals to "red shirt" him.  We however feel like he will be ready to start Kindergarten next year.  To make sure that he is we wanted to enroll him in a pre-K program that was academic.  That way he will have a foundation for going to Kindergarten next year and we will also have the opinion of a professional teacher who sees his behavior in the classroom.

River's Edge is the school that we have chosen to send him to next year.  It is a Christian Co-op that actually offers classes all the way through high school.  We don't know how long Ethan will attend RECA, we plan on just taking it year by year.  In this co-op model the teacher prepares five days worth of lesson plans and teaches three of them (Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays).  On the other two days of the week the "teaching parent" (me) is expected to complete the rest of the plans with their children.  Because I do not feel I have experience in choosing a home school curriculum or any experience in early childhood education I love this model!! 

Today we went to Ethan's classroom and met his teacher.  One of the things that "sold" us on RECA was the night Philip and I went to a parent interest meeting.  We met Ethan's teacher after the meeting and she mentioned that she will be teaching the children French!!  We couldn't have been more excited!

As I look forward to beginning Ethan's educational journey I am a little bit surprised that his early childhood years are truly over.  I told Philip last night, "When I look at him I see more and more of the boy he will become and less and less of the baby that he was."  I'm not the kind of mom that gets upset about her child growing up, after all that is what they are suppose to do!  But I have been surprised at how this new season of life has made me look back at how fast time has gone by.

1 comment:

Fields said...

I am so excited for you on this journey! I really believe a mama knows what it best for her child. I love that you are going with your instinct on this one and not what the mainstream tells you is "right". Can't wait to hear all about the first week!