Well, we’ve officially come to the end of our trial year at school. I must say, it was NOT what I was expecting! We had a lot of down’s though we also had some ups.
So let’s start with the positive things. My son made some great friends who accepted him for who he is. Infact, whenever we went to weekend events he was “attacked” and greeted with big smiles by all his classmates. If he wasn’t around right away they always asked us where he was! It melts any parents heart to know their child is accepted by society even with “flaws”. The other positive thing was all the Judaics that he got. He REALLY wants to be a Rabbi. He takes that seriously and really paid attention to all the beautiful Torah stories for parsha, Halacha (laws/rules) for the holidays as well as his Davening (praying). Infact, I think he is more advanced in some areas then his older brother! I hope that everything he has soaked up this last year he will keep with him and only grow.
Now, for some negative things. We had a REALLY tough time with the fact that he is “special needs”. I tried to talk with the teachers at various times in the year. We would come up with plans but nothing ever came of it. They just weren’t set up to deal with any child who needed more attention than other students. I sent in aids for the classroom for him to use to find out they sat in his cubby the entire year. I was and still am disappointed that they couldn’t stick to simple plans that would make EVERYONES life simpler. The other issue I am encountering is that he is behind in his secular studies. Part of this is due to the fact that he has been attending a montessouri style school. There is no standard and therefore nothing stating what the minimum standards are for the year. And should I get started on carpool? What an INSANE thing! We carpooled with 2 other families and even though I only ended up with 1 full carpool trip (I did one pick up for just my child on Mondays, for Karate’s sake!), that 1 trip was dreaded EVERY SINGLE WEEK!!!! A full van of kids and me. I had the privilage of dragging my 4 other kids with me to pick up 3 more kids and then battle the freeway praying I beat the beginning of rush hour. (I wont bore you with the trouble I had with some of the kids…..)
So what is our final decision on our school trial for our “special” child? Our very special son is going to be returning to “Mommy’s School” and we are going to ADD his younger brother to the mix this coming year. I am very excited to be able to get rid of 3rd party people and just beable to focus on my children alone. Its going to be an interesting year forsure. And I am sure that once I finally get used to it, their younger sister will be done Pre-K and ready to start “Mommy’s School” as well!