Caroline's Preschool Graduation...and some thoughts on kindergarten

Well, it's official now. Our big girl is moving up to KINDERGARTEN at the end of this summer! We've always planned that she'd go to elementary school at our church's school. As public school educators, it's been a conflicting decision to make. But we are thinking primarily of her spiritual growth, as well as her academic growth, and we know without a doubt that parochial school is the best place for that.

Anyway, it turns out that it's a good thing this was in our plans. Caroline's 5th birthday falls 4 days after the state's cutoff for kindergarten, which is August 1. But the diocese has set the cutoff for Catholic schools at September 1. So....she gets to go to kindergarten this year!! And she is SO ready for it. I've had a few people question my decision to send her to school just a couple weeks after she turns 5, but I know that if her preschool teacher feels she's ready, then she's ready. She is also our "mature" child. Aside from being academically prepared, she is just a "school" kid. She loves the structure and routine of the classroom. She takes instruction from adults well. She is the ultimate people pleaser. In a nutshell, she is me. :) (Maggie, on the other hand...well, she's pretty focused on pleasing herself.)

I know that many parents today are choosing to hold their kids back from kindergarten a little longer, but my heart is telling me to send her. While Darren is totally behind this decision with me, he did once mention that if we held her, she'd be bigger than her classmates...which he sees as an advantage in athletics. (You can see where his mind is!) That sounds like a good strategy if she was a BOY, but I had to explain to him that it's not always the best thing to be the biggest GIRL in the class. I was always one of the youngest in my class (September birthday), but I was also always one of the biggest girls. First, for many years, I was the chubby...later, after a serious vertical growth spurt, I was the tallest. Either way, it's not always easy for a girl to stand out because of her size. Caroline is currently in the 100th percentile for height and close to that for weight. She's already taller than almost any girl (or boy) her age, so I don't want her to stand out any more by being in a class where she's the oldest.

So, it feels like I'm rambling a bit here. Guess I should just get on to posting the pictures from her sweet little graduation program and ceremony. She was so proud...and, of course, we were too!!

This is Caroline's Grammy (on the right) and Aunt Reg ("Grammy 2"). Can you tell they're identical twins?? ;)

With her 2 teachers. :)