Monday, July 17, 2006

Thinking about school

As of late we have had several conversations with Reece to try to prepare his mind for the possibility of entering school this fall (more on this later). When he understood that we wouldn't be staying with him after the first time of meeting his teacher, etc.. he expressed a bit of concern. I reassured him by telling him he wouldn't be alone because God would go with him and help him learn spanish and make new friends, and have fun and learn lots of things. So he has been saying he is going to school in a few months with God.

Last night when I was tucking him in he was laying there looking at the ceiling...
Me: Reece, what are you thinking about?
Reece (smiling): I'm just thinking.
Me: But, what are you thinking about?
Reece: I am just thinking about school.
Me: What are you thinking about school?
Reece: Just thinkin' about what God will do with me.

This week we plan to check out a few schools in the area. This has been a difficult decision for Benjy and I - and we have yet to decide exactly whether or not we will send him this fall or not. But we have agreed to considering and investigating so that we can make an informed decision, either way. In Mexico, they have been yearly adding a new year of mandatory kindergarten and this fall, 3 year olds are required to enter kindergarten. To us, it feels very early to put Reece in school 5 days a week (8 - 1:30pm) since he just turned 3 in April. It seems too soon to be doing homework, etc.. (Mexico has a different philosophy about learning at this age, with a higher academic push than we might be ready for for him right now - which is interesting in itself because there is a high drop out rate as kids enter middle years to high school age! Interesting). We are trying to balance our childhoods experiences, our cultures, "letting go" and all of those things with the good it would do for his exposure and ability to learn spanish, and his social development. We aren't as concerned about the academics right now, but do think it could be a good experience for him to be in a school environment....just not 5 days a week (do you get the idea we don't like the full time option?). We believe that if we don't put him in, he will be just fine to enter kindergarten the following fall - but we do need to check into that too, with the changing laws, etc.. So - it is a question of timing and finding a place that we feel is a good fit for and will work with us and our philosophy and that we feel comfortable with. We are going to look into Montessori schools as well as it seems they might have more of a "play school" kind of learning environment rather than a "sit in your desk" approach. So, that is what lies ahead for us in the next few weeks. Please pray for us to have wisdom to do what is right for our family and for Reece....and that we would find a school that is affordable, close by in location, and with friendly, flexible teachers that support our desires. We just might be shopping for school supplies! We'll see. And please - if any of you have advice or suggestions on how to process this stage of parenting, school experiences, learning philosophies, foreign schools and missionary life - please let us know! Thank you!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Um... wish I could help as far as giving valuable input! No experience in this area, though! I will just talk to God about it!

I love how much you guys pore over the details of your little guy's life... He is blessed!