Leilani was bored to death and unhappy at home. She didn’t have her stuff, and the parents were running around, trying to work, direct the remodeling, and clean the filthy apartment. Tutu and Me was full. I tried a very anti-authoritarian playgroup, and was pretty surprised Leilani was the only kid joining the opening circle. I watched a bit more and couldn’t get over how the teacher tried in vein to get the nature-pod-kids to stop stripping leaves of very young tree, and how Leilani started to join the fun by ripping up plants (I made her feel guilty enough at home that she tried to re-plant some of them).
We really lucked out and through intervention of a new acquaintance she got tested for Island School the next day, and started the following Monday. Not in Preschool, but in Kindergarten. I’m still not sure that was the best choice, but as teachers – and Leilani – assured me she’d be bored in pre-K I went with the flow to try it out.
Leilani reads really well in German and English, is much better with numbers and beginning math. She has made lots of friends in her class, and seems to be enjoying school and genuinely happy to be a “big kid” and 100% sure, beyond any doubt that she’ll be in first grade next year.
