Party's Over and the Week Begins

It's 8:30 p.m. and the weekly Sunday gathering is over for another week. I'm tired but was sad to see everyone pulling out of the driveway. Summer, I did make the gravy and your suggestion was a winner. The gravy boat is empty. Not to mention names but the 4 year old was wiping the electric skillet with a biscuit when he thought no one was looking. I pretended to see nothing.

I had an interesting conversation with the 5 year old this evening. He came to me and asked me - very quietly and seriously - if I could take time to come to the game table and play with him. We went to the screed porch where we play when weather permits. He wanted me to show him how to make something other than 'stamp outs' with play dough. We made mushrooms, frogs, snakes, and lily pads. I knew he wanted to talk about something but was hesitating. I finally told him that he can talk to me about anything and if I could help him solve a problem I would. He asked what his teacher was expected to do in the classroom. My answer was she should teach you things appropriate to your age like to read, print letters, his name, etc. (The list went on for at least five minutes.) I asked why he wanted to know and he said his teacher only taught play dough and puzzles. He looked really sad and said,"Nana, It's just my luck to have a teacher who can't teach me to read. I thought I'd learn to read for real when I went to school."

I have to break here and explain that his 5th birthday was Oct 4 and he had to be 5 before Sep 30 to start kindergarten. His parents made the decision to send him to a private preschool this year because he was disappointed about kindergarten. He and one other child in his class have the same situation. It's awkward to deal with this because he is so interested in learning.

We were in our Sunday visiting mode this evening so I didn't talk to his parents about our conversation. I will do so privately tomorrow. This is going to take some thinking to arrive at a solution. My inclination is to buy a Dick and Jane book and teach him to read simple stories. It would be a simple task but mommy and daddy have to make the decision. My gut reaction is to home school both boys to the 5th grade and then have them placed at the proper grade level based on standard testing. Oh the joys of raising children.

Now that I've gotten that off my chest - so to speak - I think I'll have a nice calm cruise through blog land and be in bed by 10 p.m. Hope everyone has a peaceful night and rises to a calm and manageable Monday.