Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Starting school

Lately I've been struggling with the idea of signing Woogy up for kindergarten this fall. I recently enrolled him in a Preschool and I had to decide if I wanted him in the 4-5 yr class or the 3-4 class. It was a tough decision because Wah-Wah and I have spent a lot of time thinking about what would be best for Woogy. I decided to put him in the 3-4 class. Deep down I just don't feel that Woogy is ready for kindergarten. So far his teachers disagree and say that he is doing fine, but I don't want what happened to me to happen to Woogy.
I had a pretty rough start in school. When I went to preschool, my mom told me I came home crying once because I didn't want to be nailed to a cross like Jesus was. According to my mom, my preschool teachers gave a rather graphic account of Jesus's death. I don't remember a whole lot more. Then there was my kindergarten teacher who use to slap my left hand for writing with it and have me sit in the corner if I still did it. I also remember being locked in the bathroom when I was misbehaved. A few years later, I witnessed this really heavy kid push her down in the hall and break her arm. I was so happy. A few years later, my kindergarten teacher was fired on child abuse charges. Too late for me.
I remember my first grade teacher was a witch too. She used to tear up my pictures when I was trying to draw in class. I hated her for that. By the time I hit second grade, my teacher referred me to therapy. I struggled in school for a while and began to hate it. It wasn't until we moved to California where I was held back in the 6th grade that I began to make passing grades. My experiences make me pretty uneasy about starting Woogy in school. He has made a lot of progress since moving to Portland, but I feel I want him to have every edge possible. In my experience working with kids, it's the older ones in the class which do the best. I guess I feel that I don't want to hold him back later.

3 comments:

GoldenSunrise said...

It's easier psychologically for him and you guys to be moved up to the 4-5 pre-school if needed, rather than being demoted to the 3-4 class.

Sorry you had a rough start.

shakedust said...

That would leave a mark. I don't think most teachers are like that, though.

I'm not sure what specifically we are going to do when it is NJ's turn. He's going to be near the cutoff point between grades since his birthday is in July.

f o r r e s t said...

Wow, that was a rough start.