This morning, with seconds to go before we were supposed to leave for school, Colter decided it was time to cut out a few of his star words. Star words (or sight words) are words that don't follow the sounding out rules. They are words you just have to know; said, was, like, have, this... Every week in Kindergarten the kids get a word or two to bring home, cut out, and work on learning. When Lorien and Wyatt were in Kindergarten they had to learn 26 sight words by the end of the year. Clare and Adell had to learn more than the older kids. Colter is expected to learn 44 and in Kindergarten next year, kids will learn 50!
Do you know what I remember learning in Kindergarten? How to tie my shoes. That's it. No numbers, no letters, nothing. Maybe we learned colors and I know we learned how to sit still and listen while a story was being read or another kid was sharing. I remember bringing in a doll for show and tell--really, I brought my baby blankets in. All day at Kindergarten I missed my baby blankets. I just wanted to snuggle them and smell them and be comforted by having them with me. One day I got the brilliant idea: I could bring my blankets in if I wrapped a dolly in them. It was babyish to have baby blankets but NOT to have a doll! Perfect. My plan worked amazingly. I got to keep my doll and blankets in my cubbie. I got to show "the doll" at show and tell AND I got to go back and touch my blankets every time we had to put stuff in our cubbies or if I passed anywhere close to the cubbies. It was my favorite day in Kindergarten. Anyway, kids these days have much higher expectations than what were on me.
So...right off the bat at Colter's first conference his teacher said he was a little behind. Nothing crazy just that he was young, immature and an extra year of Kindergarten might be in his future. I was upset. I had wanted him to do TK but the class filled up and he didn't make the cut off. I could have tried at another school but I was too lazy. I wanted Adell and Colter at the same school this year. And as the year has progressed, every conference has been the same: he is behind.
Here we are at the end of the year (almost) and we get to choose what to do next. The teacher says he isn't failing so he can move up but he is struggling. So what do we do? Destroy him socially to improve his academics or possibly destroy his confidence by always having him be behind his peers in his grade and risk repeating later?
It is stressful and I don't know what to do. I imagine all of the worst outcomes for each option. We've been having reading lessons since his second conference. He is doing OK but not advancing at school.
Will is a June birthday (just one month younger than Colter) and his parents kept him home the first year. We kept Lorien and Wyatt home their first year too. But now Colter has had a Kindergarten year and will be sad to not be with his friends. No one can give us good advice. Honestly, when we think about it we know neither will be terrible and everything will be fine either way...but we sure do want to do what will be best in the long run. Sigh.
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