As a parent we have many decisions to make that will affect our children. Our HUGE decision right now is if we should send J to public or private school. We just don’t know what is best for her (and the siblings that are to follow). Here is why we are having a tough time…
1) We don’t know where we are going to be after the 2011-12 school year. We won’t know until December of this year where T’s 3 & 4 year of Medical school will be. Do we want to go through the work of getting her into a private school for only potentially a year here?
2) Private schools are expensive. I am going to look into how expensive they are in our area and see if we could even afford it.
3) Smaller class size with minimal children that would require special attention. I am sure some of you may be shaking your heads right now but hear me out. There are many children that have special needs or behaviors in the regular classroom that require extra time and attention from the teacher. I don’t want to appear mean but I feel that children with special needs are different. They will always be different and there is nothing that will change that. I do realize that it is important for my children to see other children that have special needs but I don’t want it to affect their education.
4) Food allergies. I struggle with this one a lot. There was just a segment on the TODAY show on NBC yesterday about this. There is one child at the school J will be attending that has a peanut allergy so the school is a ‘Nut-Free Zone’. I don’t think it is fair that all the children in the school have to make sure that every item they bring is ‘nut free’. That is a hassle and inconvenience for hundreds of families! If the child is that severely allergic than they should eat in their classroom with a friend or two and wear gloves around the school. We were told that if our child has peanut butter for breakfast they have to thoroughly wash their hands and faces before they come to school in the morning. Now I would not send my kid to school dirty regardless but I don’t think it is fair to put so much pressure on all the other parents.
These are just a few of my concerns. I just don’t know what we are going to do this fall. She will probably end up in a public school somewhere but I am just not sure yet. *sigh*
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