Jennie:

Thank you for your reply on my post about the kids' kindergarten experience. I really appreciate your input.

At church, today, one of my friends told me that I need to go in and demand that they be tested. She used to teach kindergarten and first grade -- not the same friend that I spoke with last week, thank you. Actually, she also laughed when I told her what my son had said, and she told me that it was clear to me that he was bored and that things would likely get worse instead of better. When I told her that the teacher had asked if he had been tested for ADD, her jaw dropped open and she said, "Well, I hope you told her that you hadn't and that you wouldn't be." I knew that Sandy taught school, but I never realized that she taught kindergarten and first grade. Caidan has sat with her in church any number of times and she knows him well.

When I explained to her that there were no other seats within the first grade, she told me that that was not MY problem. She said that it was up to me to demand that the kids be tested and placed where they belong, and the school would just have to deal with it. It has caused me to recognize that I am trying to "be nice" and "get along," and that is precisely the kind of behavior that allowed my doctor to kill one of my triplets.

I've gotten way too wishy-washy on all of this. I am going to storm fort and insist that they be tested at this time. They can just address the issue of desk-space and nose counts after the kids have been tested. I'm sick of rectangle reviews and learning to write numbers 1 through 5. And, if they belong in the first grade, then I will simply address the other issues as they arise. If they belong in kindergarten, then I will also be comfortable with that. But I am not comfortable with the feeling that my kids are in kindergarten marking time as a convenience to the school. That simply sucks.

And, I may wind up doing some variation of home school. It is certain that I am not pleased with what I've been seeing for the past five weeks -- and, that is more than 1/8th of the entire school year.

We'll see what comes of this...

Cat w/3 Kittens
Caidan, Carina and Caeleigh
Born at 31 weeks, 1/8/04.