I have to ask... Why do schools have you sign kids up for kindergarten the spring before they actually go? Why not a month or so before they are actually crossing the threshold of the school? Really. This inquisitive parent would like to know.

I’m scrambling right now, trying to figure out what to do. Most of you already know that Connor is Gifted. At two years old, he brought me "Green Eggs and Ham" and read it to me cover to cover. About that time he decided to start using the computer on his own (guided by Aaron & I, of course). He currently excels at reading and math.

I feel so blessed by this but at the same time it can be very frustrating. I’ve had him in preschool since he was two to balance him socially. To say that I’m unhappy with his current preschool (where he would also be attending Kindergarten) would be putting it VERY mildly. His teacher tried telling me a couple of weeks ago that he may not be ready for Kindergarten because he wasn’t getting his crafts done in this "free range" classroom. First off, it’s preschool and he’s not getting graded. Second, if you give a four-year-old a choice between doing a craft, eating a snack, or playing building blocks with his friends with no time constraints, which two do you think he will pick? It won’t be the craft! I told her that if he wasn’t doing the things he was supposed to, maybe I should be homeschooling him. You should have seen her sputter and try to backpedal out of the situation.

I thought I had found a great program at a college prep charter school for him to go to. It has a full-day class, Spanish from K through 12th grade, placement testing. The program sounds fantastic! Then we visited the school today. To say we got a bad vibe would be an understatement. The first thing Aaron asked before we even got out of the car was, "Is that bullet holes in the windows?" I say,"Noooo. It’s got to be kids throwing stones at the building or something like that." (Still not good, but better in my mind than the bullet theory.) We get to the main office and there was no one to give us a tour and the lady we talked to hardly knew any history of the school she worked for. She gave us a bunch of pamphlets about the school and a promise of setting up a tour at a later date. There were a couple of other things that set off my mommy alarms, but nothing that I want to talk about here. Needless to say, I don’t think we’ll be enrolling him there. That makes me sad because the program showed so much promise.

So, that pretty much leaves me with his current school system, since we can’t afford a private school. I think I’m just going to have to really put some pressure on them for some answers and to provide adequate services for my child. Be the squeaky wheel, as it were. And if that doesn’t work, there’s always homeschooling. I may leave that open as an option anyway. My in-laws aren’t particularly happy that we’re even considering homeschooling, especially considering that the FIL is a retired teacher. But we have to do what’s best for Connor, not what others would be happy with. If the public school won’t cut it, then we move to plan B.

Keep your fingers crossed for us!