Third Year Priority Preschool

My son started his third and final year of preschool a couple of weeks ago.  He fit right back in to his classroom and teachers that he has had for the last two years.  This year is a little different for him, however, he is no longer in the morning session but will be attending class in the afternoon.  His class is also mostly comprised of students, who like my son, will be in kindergarten next year.  This is considered a transitional class by his teacher so hopefully there will be more of a focus on kindergarten readiness.  My son, thankfully has made the switch from morning to noon with no problem and is participating and getting to know the other students in his class with ease.  In fact, on the first day back to school, my son just waltzed back into his classroom and began moving around from one activity to another like the seasoned preschooler that he is.  I have no doubt that my son will have his most successful year yet.

For me, I entered this school year excited for my son but also anxious.  I am excited because his teacher has already told me about how much progress he has made by the end of May when school let out and I know that my son will continue to learn and grow and achieve the goals the teacher and the various school therapists have set for him.

My anxiety stems from the fact that we have been provided unclear information about what this year means to my son in terms of where he will be placed for kindergarten.  This is not the fault of the teachers or school therapists but rather just the nature of the way the system is set up.  The teacher and the therapists cannot make any determination as to my son's placement until the end of the school year.  Logically this makes sense, we want to see how my son continues to develop before making such an important decision.  However, emotionally, it is a little stressful.

I tend to worry about things, events, people, etc.  I can worry about things well in advance of when they take place, if at all.  Not the best trait to have but it's still there.  I can go into super overdrive where my kids are concerned.  I actually went through a similar phase when we were trying to determine what school would be the best option for my daughter.  Of course, my stress level was a little lower because I toured all the schools that we applied to and ultimately we made our decision to send our daughter to a school that we thought would best fit her and help her to do her best.

Here, with my son, we are essentially operating in the dark.  Although,  I can also apply to other charter schools or traditional programs available through the public schools, I have no information about what regular public school will be open next year for my son if we ultimately decide to stay with the regular public school education.  This is a problem because the charter and traditional programs require that applications be submitted by the end of this calendar year and most decisions to accept an offer into one of those programs must be made by the spring of next year.  Ultimately, I have no choice but to accept the fact that I will not know until the end of this school year where my son will be for kindergarten.  I may not like it but I have to be patient and know that my husband and I can still advocate for the bests interest of our son.