Here it comes. Tomorrow is our first IEP meeting with the school since taking Aiden out, back in January. They have stopped pressuring me to bring him back immidiately once they did some testing and saw how much he had improved at home. I think they look at me and think "young, impetuous, pierced up mom. probly ignorant too." So I have actually made some efforts to dispell those negative assumptions. We're getting there.
So here is the part where I'm really torn. To keep Aiden home full time or put him back as a kindergardener. He tested well above all the kindergarden expectations, which sets him up for accademic success next year as a first grader. He is also closer to the maturity level of kindergarden. It would be good practice and help him get "into the swing" of things again. BUT there is a part of me that will never entirely trust the schools with the education of any of my children. I will always want it to be to my specs, or not at all. Aiden would benefit from the professional help, and social time of being in school at least part-time. BUT he is doing pretty well for now with the learning style he gets at home. I also appreciate that he isn't being exposed to outside influences and bullying. BUT there is a chance that being one of the older and mare advanced kids in the class would minimalize some of this.
I could go on. The debate in my mind is seemingly endless. No perfect solution. And the truth, when I'm being open and honest, it that I can't go on with full time homeschool forever. I have drained all of my personal time and energy to benefit ONE of my three children. There are days when I think about the quality of "preschool" education the babies are getting and I feel so frustrated. They deserve the same advantages Aiden had when he was little. They still REALLY need me.
So there it is. Where love and compassion meet the limits of energy and the physical body.