It's been a big couple weeks for our family, with the kids transitioning from that which was familiar (daycare/preschool for Mya and Arbor Academy for Mason) to the great unknown (Wattles Park Elementary and riding a bus). Going into this I was mostly concerned about Mya - she seems to be the more reserved one, with Mason seemingly having no trouble finding friends where ever he goes.
Yet as the first week unfolded I realized I had nothing to worry about as far as Mya was concerned. She went into Kindergarten having one other friend in the school. Though they're in different classes, I knew they'd see each other at lunch and recess - the times when it's really important to have a friend. Within her own class, Mya and another little girl bonded right away over their lunchboxes. Why Mya picked a Shopkins lunchbox I have no idea since she doesn't have any, but after her new friend had the same one, I was glad she'd chosen it.
I also quickly realized that as a Kindergartner, Mya would be guided throughout the school. Everyone in the class was in the same new boat as her and care is taken to make sure they don't get lost or overlooked. For Mason, I came to realize this wouldn't be the case but reminded him to ask for help whenever he wasn't certain about something. While we'd told his teacher this would be his first year at WPE, I know others within the school wouldn't know that about him.
A big shock for Mason that I didn't fully anticipate was the teacher-to-student ratio difference between his charter school and the public school. I'm not taking a position either way, but going from a 1:10 ratio to a 1:26 ratio is bound to result in a big difference in the level of personal assistance he's going to receive. On top of that, a lot more is probably expected from third graders as far as personal independence is concerned, so I'm not certain if his initial struggles are related to the ratio or just overall independence expectations for his level. Whatever the reason, I could tell when trying to help him with a homework assignment the other night that he's feeling the pressure. He broke down crying that he wasn't doing it right and that he was a failure - that he wanted to go back to Arbor. I assured him that the third graders at Arbor were probably doing the same homework, but inside my heart was aching.
Mason has never been a fan of formal education. He's liked his teachers and classmates, but the actual learning piece of it all hasn't been fun for him. To not like school in and of itself isn't a big shock to me, but on top of this he seems to be struggling fitting in. Every day we've asked him who he sits with at lunch and plays with at recess. He did have a response one day (though that kid his since been suspended), but every other day he's said he sits by himself at lunch and plays by himself at recess. He doesn't seem the least bit bothered by this, but if you know my outgoing kid you know this isn't normal. Sure he plays fine by himself at home, but anytime we go to a park or any other place with kids, he jumps right in and plays with the kids his age.
I talked to his teacher about my concerns and she was reassuring. He seems to be fitting in fine in class, though she doesn't seem him at lunch or recess. He also seems to be doing fine academically, just struggles to actively listen when instructions are given. I felt better after that conversation, but I still have this nagging sadness about it all. It's clear Mason isn't happy, so I'm not happy.
So many times throughout his education I've worried that we made the wrong choices for Mason. He's so young (a September birthday), so I often worried if we should've waited a year to send him to Kindergarten. Then I wondered if we should have had him repeat Kindergarten. Should we have moved him to WPE after we moved instead of waiting until Mya was ready for school, too? You can go back and read all the written hand-wringing I did on this in previous posts.
I'm in the midst of these worries all over again, yet I also have hope. By the time the year is over at the new school, I'm sure I'll have a post about what a success it was. As a mom who's worried about her son, I have no choice but to cling to this hope right now.
No comments:
Post a Comment