School

The X-Man will start kindergarten next year. So this means we have some decisions to make: public vs. private, one private vs. another. It feels like a part-time job researching schools, setting up appointments for tours, filling out applications, networking.

Of course, we've done this before--when we chose a preschool--only the stakes didn't feel quite so high. And we sort of screwed that up before we righted the ship and found the right spot for him (lesson being, I suppose, that there can be do overs, or at least corrections). We started him off in a nice program run through our local parks & rec dept. It's one that has worked really well for a lot of our friends' kids. Not so for the X-Man. He started there in the 2 y.o. program for a few hours a week. It seemed alright, although he didn't talk much and when he came home he would reenact the teacher admonishing them to sit quietly for stories. But when it came time for him to return for the 3 y.o. program, we ran into the problem of potty training. More exactly, the fact that at that point he wasn't. And there was also the little matter of his behavior at the back to school visit before the year started--clutching my hand, begging to leave, telling me he didn't like it there. So in desperation we started frantically searching for a school that would take him. And that's how we came across Gazelle--got the last spot available at that point really because all the boys next door had gone there. I knew something was right for X when we went to visit and he seemed immediately comfortable--his body, his voice, all of him seemed to relax there. It's been a good fit for him--although he's still awfully quiet at school. So one thing I'm taking away from that is to watch HIM when we go to look at schools. What does his body tell me? Does he seem relaxed and comfortable, or afraid and uptight? That seems like as good an indicator as any.

So obviously we're not being that systematic here. We went to an open house this weekend at a school we had heard of--X's preschool teachers actually recommended it for him. It's pretty darn alternative, or as the Mr. says "gorpy" (he went around the tour muttering "gorpy" sotto voce). But (and here's a big shout out to the Mr. and one of the things I love about him) as the Mr. said "it doesn't matter if I'm comfortable, what really matters is if X likes it." Well, the X-Man looked to be right at home there. Oh, I expect if he gets in and we start him there, he probably won't talk much for a good long time. But in his body, his excitement, his eyes, he looked very comfortable. It looked like a place we could picture him being happy. I'm sure there's other things we need to consider: test scores, safety, teacher qualifications. But the idea of my little boy with the light shining in his eyes goes a long way for me.