i geek me

I want Xander to go to preschool and learn amazing things. I want him to be challenged in learning, even from a young age. Xander knows most of his ABC’s though not always in order, all of his numbers from 1-25 in order and how to count on his fingers. If you ask Xander how many people are sitting at the table with us he can count everyone and then ask him how many would be there if two leave.

But he can’t go to preschool if he wears a diaper.

However Xander is stubborn. He can go potty and have dry pants all day but it’s a constant battle. You have to take him to the potty and go with him at least once an hour and everywhere you stop if you go out or he’ll just go in his pants then say look mom go change me. He doesn’t want to put his shoes on or his coat and he won’t help getting dressed in the morning. These are all things he should be doing by now.

So I have to pull up my mommy pants and stop having a fit about this thing and just toss out all the Xander diapers for underpants. Today I’m drawing the line.

How do you get your kids excited about stopping play to go to the potty? I need all the help I can get.

Ok back to the preschool thing. I was at a birthday party the other day and was chatting to a friend, when she mentions to me have a I thought about where I’m going to wait list Xander. I of course thought she was talking about preschool, I mean he isn’t 3 yet, but no she was talking about Kindergarten. Apparently with all of the advance degree professionals in our awesome university town we live in everyone is about having 3 year olds who can read full chapter books and do algebra. So apparently I am WAY behind on doing the best I can for Xander and my hopes of him being a University of Michigan graduate are flying right out the window already. AGH!

So I brush this off as she must be crazy(if this is you please see last paragraph of this post).

Then it eats at my brain like some slow paced zombie until that’s all I can think about is how out of touch I must be when it come to educating my children. And Oliver really isn’t even signing yet, so he’ll be a whole other issue. So I send her an email on facebook.

Hey NAME HERE,

I know we talked a little bit about schools at Sweet little girl’s birthday party, but it was kind of crazy in there. Could you share with me some information about schools in our area?

Xander is really smart and I have a fear he will get lost in the school system and become board.

Thanks

Harmony

Her reply:

You may want to start by considering Montessori School or a structured pre-school. The teacher’s won’t brag, but most kids in A2 are reading by age 3 1/2. They come into Kindergarten knowing how to write their ABCs and Numbers. In the second semester they are writing sentences and adding. In December the new MEAP scores will be out. You’ll notice that most schools finish in the 90th percentile.

I’d love to talk about the area schools, I know something about that …and there are many choices in town. Moreover, if you ask anyone in A2 they’ll tell you that their kids are highly intelligent and they are! Last time I looked, over 50% of the the population has either a Master’s Degree or a PhD. People with Bachelor’s are in the minority. And that statistic does not include the transient students. Therefore, Xander will be in great company. Our city parents have high expectations just like your family

Most schools are challenging and competitive. The difficult part is finding the school that will cater to what you and your husband expect for your child, and finding the most effective academic environment for his learning style. Most parents in town also invest in other enrichment activities beyond school. I spend thousands annually on my kids extra activities.

Be sure to note that all local schools will be good, but some will be better and others you will find more suitable to your family’s expectations. And the learning environment that will be best for your children will evolve and you will have choices here during that evolution!

The most exciting thing to note is that you already know he is smart and will be up for the challenge. The other exciting thing to note is that he is adorable and his teacher’s will fall in love instantly

I’d love to have an opportunity for you to spend time with people I know who have experienced the different schools first hand. If you have a chance to hang out with me on occasion I will be sure to match you up with people who can tell you about their first hand knowledge.

I can also tell you that the public school reports are kept at Balas. Google “Balas Ann Arbor”, it’s the local school administration building. We can talk about the other academic choices over a computer and a note pad sometime : )

What seriously! Did you catch that part about spending thousands annually on my kids extra yes extra activities. Is this true, do I have to go into mass amounts of debt or cut back on things our family does now to have a child who excels?

I should add that the mom who emailed me back, has an older child which is probably where the most of that thousands of dollars is coming from.  And I am in huge thank to this mom who is helping me to navigate the waters of this very intense, as noted in the above panic attack blog post, subject.  So if your reading this, THANK YOU!!!!