Step Up Day!

My sweet boy at the start of this school year!

I am home after a busy morning. I'm processing the fact that my sweet little boy will be going to second grade in the fall. After much contemplation we decided that the best fit academically would be for him to skip first grade.

He has an early September birthday and missed the cut-off by just 3 days. We felt good about him being the oldest in his class to help him be a leader and build his confidence. That trend of 'red shirting' wasn't our plan but proponents of that makes sense.

Our son had a great year in kindergarten but was working well above grade level. Luckily he was able to receive math tutoring several times a week at school and this spring was able to go to first grade for his reading block. These accommodations made it possible for him to be challenged academically but moving forward it would be hard for a public school to guarantee those accommodations and the fear is that he would feel isolated being pulled out or moved to another grade throughout the day.

What a huge decision this was, but today was Step Up Day at school and despite his jitters he seems to fit well with his future second grade class. The teacher seems lovely and he already knows at least 3 or 4 of the other students. He doesn't seem short or "littler" compared to his classmates, but will definitely be the youngest in his class.

It may just be me who is having a hard time adjusting to this. Second grade just sounds so grown up and so much closer to high school than 'kindergarten'.

Maybe it's just that there's been so many changes in the last couple of weeks-- my son is now riding without training wheels. He's going to baseball practice without me bribing him to participate. He can play chess amazingly well, and is reading chapter books!
On top of that, my sweet little girl turned 3, started wearing big girl underwear, and then got her first haircut this morning!

Oh my....life is just going by too fast. Luckily summer vacation starts in just a couple of days and I can slow down with my family and savor each and every day.