Friday, March 13, 2009

An exciting update to an earlier post!

Okay, so the earlier post was a long time ago last year, but still, those of you who've been reading this blog a while, you'll remember! I had been going back and forth about whether or not to send Amelia to Kindergarten in the fall (in Michigan, you have to be 5 by December 1st). Bryan and I had reached the decision that we'd wait a year since she'd be one of the youngest in her class, and we'd keep sending her to preschool (Pre-K) like we've been doing this year, but instead of sending her three days a week we'd send her every day, for a half-day. We were both happy with this situation (although the monthly cost would be substantially higher, not happy), and then....

...my friend Michelle told me that she'd been to the Kindergarten Roundup (for parents of incoming kindergarteners) for our local district and they were very excited about a new program they're starting up this fall: Early K! Basically, it's a program designed specifically for kids who turn 5 close to the kindergarten cutoff date (between July 1 and December 1). You "commit" to the program for two years; the first year, your child goes every day, for a half day, and the next year, your child's classmates and teacher "loop" (stay together) and go up to full-day kindergarten. The teachers can adapt the curriculum to provide extra help or more challenging material, based on the needs of the individual kids. Michelle knew our dilemma with kindergarten next year, and thought of me!

I am SO glad about this program! I immediately contacted the school for more information and spoke to the principal (who is very nice) and got Amelia set up for an appointment to register. Yay! So now Amelia will technically be going to Kindergarten, but it's a much better situation, and we'll basically be getting the same (actually a little better) thing we would've been getting at TBDC (Amelia's current school)...but for FREE!!! When I went by the school to pick up the information packet, Amelia went with me, and she was SO excited to see the new school (especially the playground). Every day since she's been saying "I'm a big girl and I get to go to Kindergarten soon!" We can't wait to hear more about this new deveopment and we'll give updates as we know them. I love it when things work out!