She did it! Preschool has officially been conquered.
There is a big ceremony for all of the kids and their families tonight. They have been practicing for the past week and MadHatter has been telling me all about it. But I keep reminding her that we will not be there to see it, or participate. We are leaving tonight for the U.S. and we have to be at the airport at about the same time the ceremony starts. I was disappointed at first. For her and for me. I wanted her to be able to walk across the stage (patio) and get her very first diploma. I wanted her to be recognized for all of the hard work she put in this year. I wanted the family to be there, to cheer her on and so she could feel how much we supported her. I wanted to take pictures and memorialize the day. She wanted to be there because all of her friends were going to be there. She doesn't really know what graduation means other than she knows she now gets summer vacation (we are out of school for the summer as of today).
And it is a bit hard to explain to her. In normal circumstances, we would just tell her that the next time she started the school year, she would be going to her new school and would be in kindergarten. But that is, and isn't, the case. She has officially completed the entire preschool program. She is ready to head into Kindergarten. But living south of the equator has complicated the situation.
The school year here in Chile runs early March through December. Our seasons are backwards so it really does make sense. And if we were sending MadHatter to a Chilean school she would be in Kindergarten in March. But we aren't sending her to a Chilean school. And it was not a decision we made lightly.
The school right here (within walking distance of our house) is highly rated. One of the best, if not the best, in the city. It is bilingual and it is private. All the right things going for it. We were pretty sure that this was where we were going to send her. Until we found out that when we re-entered the U.S. (or almost any country that is above the equator) she would be held back a year; more accurately it's two-thirds of a year. Doesn't sound horrible but when you consider the fact that the schools here already teach at an accelerated rate, she would be well ahead. And then completely stopped in her progress and learning while waiting for the other kids to catch up. I speak from experience on this one, she would be bored to death. Not a great way to start your school career.
And she would also be one of the youngest in her class. If not the youngest. From everything I have read in the past year while we were making this decision, that is not ideal.
Strike two for Chilean schools.
But it wasn't that easy to just scratch them off of our list. She already has experience with leaving her friends and her friends moving away. Sending her to the International School would keep that a very large part of her life as friends entered her class and moved at regular intervals. Also, it makes it much harder to assimilate into the society you live in. There are Chilean's at the International School but they tend to stick to themselves. We always said we wanted the girls to become as native as they could. Singling them out at an "expat" school doesn't further that purpose.
In the end, we went International. It will keep her on the schedule that almost any school north of the equator uses. She will also have a bit more time to mature before going head long into her official school curriculum.
So, yes. MadHatter has graduated. And will then go back to do it all over again for a couple of months. We didn't want to just keep her out of school completely until July. So we are sending her back to her preschool. She will be a bit bored, having already done the whole thing once, but at least she will be bored while painting and coloring and in a place she loves.
But really, the most important part of this post : I can't believe she is in Kindergarten!
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