Not What I Had Planned

Called my school board about Tazzie. They have a reading program that he's eligible for. So, I signed him up, figuring, no biggie. Uh huh.

Til I ask, innocently, "So what do I do next year, sign up for this program again?" (Understand, Tazzie isn't 5 until February)

"Oh no. Next year you'd register him for grade one."

My heart and stomach plummeted. Tazzie? Grade one? Next YEAR?! I thought I had two more years before registering him for grade one! I thought he had to be six in September to be eligible. Nope. As long as he's born before the end of Feb, he's eligible. Holy old crackers! Mama wasn't ready for this. No Sir, No Ma'am!

The upside is, I can register him the first year in 'traditional', and then have him reregistered the next year *the year I thought he would be registered* in blended or aligned. (For those unfamiliar, aligned is following provincial standards. Blended is a 50% minimum provincial standards, the other percentage parent led. Traditional is all parent led)

I can't believe that I'm planning to flunk my son for first grade. Girlfriend K says not to look at it that way, its simply having 12 mths to complete 6 mths of work. *sigh*

On the upside, he is homeschooled, so nobody is going to be teasing him. I just honestly can't see Tazzie having the maturity for grade one. Truly. His birthday is smack in the middle of Feb. Two weeks, and he wouldn't be able to register for anything til next year.

And what whacked out school board has end of Feb for age cut off? Mine, apparently.

What also has my heart thumping and racing is that I could have been unregistered with him for a year, completely unaware that he should be. I can't imagine the fall out potential from THAT, legally speaking. "Hello, Mr. Truant Officer. You're here for WHAT?!"

And here's some irony. Princess, our youngest, whose birthday is in Sept, won't be allowed to register for anything for two more years, despite her and Tazzie being a mere 19 mths 7 days apart. She will have to be five before any registration of any kind is allowed.

Weirdos.

Yes, I'm totally committed (or is that should be totally committed?) to continuing our homeschooling efforts, including Tazzie and Princess.

I seriously believe I'm not only doing whats best for my kids, but also my bank account. There's no doubt in my mind that sending the Littles to public school would result in at least one lawsuit from a teacher for mental cruelty.

Bragging On Tazzie

I bought the beginner level Bob books last night.

This am, he read THREE of them to me!

Woooo hooooo Tazzie!!!

The really funny thing is, Tazzie has been reading here and there for over a year. He won't, however, do it on command He does stuff like know the difference between Ceasar and ranch dressing because he can read the word 'cheese' on the ranch...but wouldn't do it if asked to.

I *think* I figured out why last night. I had said something about him being able to read his own books, and he was unhappy and said he didn't want to. The light finally dawned. He thought if he read, I wouldn't read him bedtime stories anymore, that he'd have to do it all on his own. I reassured him that Mommy would always read him bedtime stories, and when he was reading, we could take turns if he wanted, and move on to bigger and better stories like his big sister, and that he could read whenever he wanted to during the day.

And suddenly today, he's reading the Bob books. Awesome!
For those that don't know what Bob books are, look here.