We are about to embark on another educational adventure with the boys. Last year, one of the boys attended a private school specifically for children with dyslexia and the other attended a charter school. Our original plan was to send them both to the charter school this year, but we have changed our minds. It wasn't an easy decision and of course there was drama. At least for now, I think it is the right decision and here's some of the reasons why.
1. School Grades. The newspaper recently had an article on school grades and we learned that the charter school had a "C" and the public school we are zoned for had an "A". Although we thought the charter school, was a good transition, we saw our son's frustration in having three new teachers in the first three months of school. Unfortunately, private schools don't get school grades so it is hard to compare them. One of the frustrations with the private school was that our son did the same work over and over. After five years, we expect that we would have seen more progress and some different experiences. Even though the public school got an "A" it doesn't mean that it will be perfect for our sons' needs, but we are willing to give it a chance.
2. Experience with the school. The boys attended a summer camp at the public school and really enjoyed the experience. The staff was great and many of them are teachers and coaches at the school. The activities were engaging and fun. The boys are comfortable with the environment and they made some friends while they were at camp. They also connected with other friends from scouts and from a school they previously attended.
3. The staff. The front office staff at the public school was amazing. I stopped by the office to ask some questions. The receptionist came out from behind the desk, shook my hand and introduced herself. She was so nice and patiently answered all of my questions. The book keeper came out of her office and provided information about some resources we needed to purchase. She was also very nice and helpful. This is a significant difference from some of the other schools and it's important to feel like the staff members care about our children and want to help out. These are also the examples I want my children to see.
4. Tutoring support. We realize that academically this may not be an easy transition at least for one of the boys. So, we have been working with tutors in math and reading at Love2Read here in Tallahassee, FL. The reading tutor uses the Wilson Language Program. We will continue to work with them to provide the support the boys need.
Now for the drama...
When we told our youngest son about attending the public school, he was fine with the transition, but the older son was rather upset. This is where the drama came in. The timing was way off in telling him about this, but we made the choice to tell him when we did so that he would hear it from us and not from his brother or someone else at camp. We told him the night he came home from Super Camp which was an academic week long camp. He was tired, sick, and we were remodeling the house so life was pretty chaotic. His first response was, "I'm gonna die!" and then he started crying. He was so upset but we gave him time to process and explained why we made this choice and how we plan to support him. On the day that summer camp at the public school ended, he told me that he was okay with going to school there. That was an emotional roller coaster ride! I'm sure there will be more, but we will do our best to communicate and support him.
My husband also reminded me that this isn't a permanent decision. We can always go back to one of the other schools or look other options to support the boys in their educational journeys.
I'd love to hear feedback from you and others on how and why you make educational decisions. I think this is one of the most important decisions we can make for our children!
