- Alex was babbling yizzzzz, yizzzzzz, yizzzzz, and Mason said, "Alex is saying a word with y and z." (so smart!)
- Mason, holding a hot wheels car, "When we get rid of our gold van, can we get this one?"
- Mason informed me that his teacher always says, "this is not the Mason show." That doesn't surprise me one bit.
Now on to the real post...
I continue to be obsessed with preschools. However, Bright Horizons is growing on me. Mason really seems to love it there, so I have made one decision: He will stay right where he is through summer. I toured Montessori (twice) and decided against it. This is the school that is on Rancho and Charleston, and really that is the main reason that we won't be going there. It might be safe, but it doesn't feel safe to me, and I don't want to worry about him all day. There is a bus stop literally right outside the door and right in the view of the playground, and I can just see some crazy who happens to have the bus route at the same time as recess everyday...I just can't do it.
I still like the Montessori philosophy, so I will tour one more school and see if I fall in love with it. This school isn't convenient for me, but I just want to weigh all my options. I just love how they can continue to excel in topics that they are advanced in and not have to stay in their grade level.
We also toured Merryhill and I loved the teacher that I talked too. It seemed great for preschool. My only hesitation is that it isn't advanced enough for Mason. He already knows a lot of the things she told me that they learn. She said they would teach to his level and I trusted her on that. He is not advanced in everything; he needs lots of help with fine motor control, but as far as reading and any kind of memorization, he picks it up in one setting. It's amazing.
One problem I am going to have with any school is the hours. I have to assume Steve will not be able to do drop off or pick up at all if he gets his fire job. ALL preschools are open a maximum of 7 am to 6 pm, which believe me, should be adequate, but even with my reduced schedule, that will be hard to do. Oh, and your child can only attend for 10 hours per day within those hours. Can someone please inform my work of this???? I talked to someone today that gave me the possibility of hiring a morning nanny. I don't think that would fly with Steve, but that would be ideal for me. They could come in at 5:30, I could go to work at 6, get the kids dressed and fed and at school at a more respectable 8:30 am. But paying for a nanny would probably equate to me taking another hour off work and I can just work 4 - 8's. I don't really want to do that, because I don't think I could get my work done, and I certainly wouldn't be able to ever be promoted on that schedule, but it is an option.
Anyway, next on the agenda is Challenger school, the second Montessori, and Alexander Dawson. Just for comparison sake. I can't see paying that much money for preschool or kindergarten, but I want to see why they think they can charge that much money. Maybe it is worth it? They do give financial aid. We'll see. The teacher I spoke with at Merryhill said that the first 3-4 years of school are the most important. She said if she only had a limited income she would do the best private school up until third grade and then transfer to public. I agree with her.
But, Bright Horizons, where he is now, seems more and more acceptable. Their philosophy is actually much like Merryhill with the "centers." The main difference is student to teacher ratio. If their weren't so many kids at this school I think it would be just fine for Preschool and Kindergarten. Oh well, blah blah. I am getting tried of talking about this. A couple more weeks and I should have it all figured out.
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