Mms of school aged kids. Am I being dumb?

N&V0514

Ok, first of all. Half day Kindergarten sucks ass.  My aftercare situation in town is a bit annoying but doable so it is an option.  However,  the easiest thing for me would be to keep him at his current pre-school which is until 2:30 and my mom picks him up.  This is what we've been doing and is about 5 minutes from her house.  It's a catholic school that goes up to 8th grade I could do this for another year, but I feel that I don't want him to be the new kid starting first grade in town when all of these kids have been together since K and even some since pre-school.  I changed schools 3 times as a kid and I may just be projecting my own feelings about starting new schools and how much it sucks at first when you feel left out.  I keep on telling myself that it's just 1st grade so not like he's going ot a new high school. What would you do?  Go the easy route and keep him in his current school or get him integrated into our public school now?  

ddelo23

for my own sanity, I would keep him where he is. 1st grade is a pretty easy time to make new friend/easily get along. I think he'll be fine!

Chatty76

I agree - I'd keep him where he is.  I moved to a new school in 2nd grade and it was fine.  1st grade would be even easier. 

AmyRob04

Integrating in first grade will really not be a big deal, trust me. RP's (public) school has three kindergartens and he rarely socializes with kids from the other two classes unless they're kids who are also in before- and after-care. They just kind of stick among themselves from within the classroom. I imagine that pretty much every other school is going to be the same, so it's not like when he moves in first grade he's going to be odd man out and all of the other kids will have 100 friends.

Bottom line: Save your sanity and keep him in the private school for kindergarten. I know a lot of people who have done/are doing the same thing if they live in towns with half-day programs.

tpquinn72

I used to teach first grade in a district with half-day kindergarten.  I can tell you that lots of kids went to private all-day kindergarten and then to public school for first grade.  He will not be alone!!  Don't worry.  Plus, the first grade will be a mixture of kids from the am and the pm kindergarten, so it's really like everyone is starting new.

jennysap

We are in a similar situation. We have 3 options and are waiting to see the schools to decide. One thing is for sure, he will not be going to our town's public 1/2 day kindergarten program.

Option 1 - catholic school near our house (not in same town). He would go there for K and most likely continue on in that school.

Option 2 - Private school about 25 minutes away from our house. He would go there for K and through 8th grade. (this route is the most expensive for us, but its an amazing school, we also have to see if he is accepted to the school)

Option 3 - Goes to the K program in his DC and then we figure out if he will go to our town's public school or to the catholic school near our house (option 1 school) for 1st grade and after.

Its not an easy decision to make, but alot of kids who go to K at my son's DC say the transition to 1st grade in their new school wasn't bad.

kellyann1972

Reilly is going to Catholic Full fay kindergarten and then to the public school in first grade. many parents I know here chose that option. First grade isnt hard to make friends. I would say 30% of the first graders in our pubblic school go this route and are new.

laurenpetro

don't sweat him going into a new school in 1st grade.  grace's class is 75% kids from other classes that she didn't know until this year.  they all could have been new kids as far as she (and i) knew.

avoliss

We're in a very similar situation. Our K is full day but, the school she goes to now offers much more and her little bro and sis will still be in the current school next year. The reason I'm so stressed is that our public school is K-8 and each grade is only 1 class (for the lower grades, anyhow). I hate the thought of her being the odd one out....but I'm not sure that's enough for me to sign her up for the public school.

Shoegal23

My DD went to pre-school at a Catholic school and only about 20% of the kids went to K. I actually moved her to a different catholic school for a different program. In our town, there are like 5,000 pre-schools/elementary schools, so I wouldn't worry about him fitting in come first grade. I think at that age so many kids are sifting around still. I would keep him where he is now to make your life easier. My friend purposely enrolled her kids in Catholic school just for the full-day K and then took them out for first grade so she didn't have to figure out aftercare.

I think we live in the same town, if I remember correctly- I could be wrong.