Monday, June 13, 2011

Decisions, decisions

Summer has officially started, and we're officially in "countdown mode" with regard to Esther-Faith's kindergarten. Oh, we're not counting down the days until she goes to school, we're counting down the days until we have to make a final decision.

To make a long story short: Private school close to me with no services (PT, OT, Speech, adapted recreation, etc...) that is all day, every day and close enough that I could get to her every three hours to assist with cathing.

OR

Public school with services that only meets Monday, Wednesday, and every other Friday to which we would have to transport her but where she would have a nurse to help with cathing and then we have to find childcare for the other days of the week.

It is a HARD decision. And we can't seem to make up our minds. We've got our pros and cons for each. We've made our lists of "what-ifs." We've agonized over the whats and wherefores. And STILL, we can't decide.

I know, it's kindergarten. Except for our kids, it's more than just classes. The decisions go beyond what they'll learn to how they will learn it. Where will they have the least restrictive environment? Where will there be someone who knows the signs of shunt failure?

How do we decide?

If you've walked in these shoes, ANY advice you can give would be appreciated!

3 comments:

CristyLynn said...

Hello! Thanks for stopping by my blog; I'm sorry it's taken me a while to come by. I'm not on the computer very much these days.
We are in the process of making this decision for our little man as well, but we have a little more time because we plan on holding him back a year for various reasons. I would love to know your thoughts about this further. You are absolutely right about this being so much more than "which kindergarten is best for my child" on an academic level!

Oh, and you have a beautiful blog, but an even more beautiful family!

Gretchen said...

Karin....

It's been a LONG time since we did Kinder.. I know that... BUT as a SB mom I would vote for public. So many of our SB kids learn... uniquely!.. and private have no obligation to help yur figure it all out. I have seen MANY special kids fall really far behind because private schools did not have the resources or knowledge on HOW to best serve our kids...

Just my 2 cents. I would be more than happy to discuss this at length with you and tel you some of the little things I noticed at that age which pointed to much bigger things latter... You know how to reach me :)

Colleen said...

I'm always a proponent of public schools, but I see your dilemma. My only advice: Pray! God will make it clear to you.