My hot button topic for this week! I am 100% undecided about where I sit on this issue...I have been reading about this, and thinking about it throughout the week.
At present, I am looking at schools for W. His teachers thus far are telling me that he is "smarter than the average bear" (he don't get that from me, that's for sure, must be his Asian genes!), and the Monty teachers have suggested getting him tested prior to him starting school, so that we have a better idea of where we are at.
I am so torn on this issue. As a teacher, I look at some of the things he does, and think "meh, that's a little special, but you aren't the next Einstein",but as a mum, I look at him and think "You are the most splendiferous scholar who ever drew breath! Huzzah for you, my little prodigy."
I live in perpetual fear of being one of "those" parents...The ones who turn up on the first day and demand a diversified program, which will stimulate and challenge little Tarquin's every need, fearing that he may *gasp* spend more than 2 seconds un-occupied.
The flip side is the very real parental fear that he won't get the attention he needs, that he wont be challenged, and that he will become bored and switch off from school.
I literally lie awake at night, tossing and turning over this, projecting into the future...What if I make a poor choice for him? He'll never learn to read, he'll drop out at 15, and take up an apprenticeship in a mechanics workshop in *insert undesirable suburb here* ... from there he'll get involved in a car re-birthing racket, and then he'll go to jail and turn to other men for comfort ! He'll get tattoos and the needle will be infected, and he'll catch HIV and die young and alone, AND IT"S ALL MY FAULT! If only I had chosen school A, where all the children go on to work with the UN, and make significant contributions to society!
OK, so that may be a touch dramatic, but who among us isn't nursing some scar from childhood...body image, friendships, school issues...ARGH! This is what they meant when they said once the kids are here, you never stop worrying.
I found this article/blog entry, which really made me think...There is a college down the road, where children can start tuition at 4 1/2. Are those parents pushy? Are they trying too hard to give their child an "artificial edge"? Or are those of us who aren't enrolling our kids not giving them every chance they could have?
At the moment, my thinking is this; W hangs out at Montessori, which he adores, and would be going to in any case. We sign him up to *school down the road*, which runs the IB program, which I like, because it teaches kids HOW to think, not WHAT to think, as well as offering a great deal of extra curricular stuff, and the uniform colours look nice on W (a huge factor in any school choice). So he goes there and if all isn't wonderful, I start looking again. Simple huh? URGH!
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3 comments:
Go the school with the good uniform and the easy access. (isn't that what we all did?) You can always change school and you can't predict the future. You never know, you guys may not stay in Adelaide forever.
God will look after Will, Frey! You can trust Him.
I enjoyed reading your post.
First of all, I'm not going to give to any advice on parenting... because not having kids, I am, of course, the keeper of all the perfect theoretical knowledge to be a perfect parent... all of which is bogus to an actual parent with actual kids.
So all I can comment is my short experience of W. "Smart" is such a nebulous term, but I think in our limited English vocabulary it's the best we have. I think W is smart. I haven't seen him pass tests, answer hard questions, or recite memorized information. I say he's smart because because I find him unusually aware of his surroundings and his place within them. Most kids that I observe (even ones that I like!) are basically selfish. Which is fine... kids are supposed to be selfish; Their world hasn't yet grown beyond them. But with W it's different. He seems to be a "contributor" to a situation, not just an object of attention. It may have been just good behavior, but when Kate and I were visiting, he seemed to understand that he was part of the scene, and not the main focus. He wanted to be "involved" in what was going on, like it mattered what we thought. I see that as being more advanced than any other kid I know.
I guess my point is that it appears his world is growing very fast, and intelligence and then maturity are the next steps of that.
I think kids enjoy doing what they are good at and already interested in... but they need to get nudged out there so they know what oppertunities exist.
Thanks guys...your comments really spoke to me, and Andrew, what you said was so sweet. As a mummy I amimmensley proud of him and all he does, and often wonder if what I see in him is clouded by that. It's both a relief and a blessing to know that other see it too.
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