Pre-K or Kindergarten?

Well, I checked at McGaughey School last week to see if we could get Grace scheduled for preschool screening and found out that she doesn't qualify because she is too old...The grant will only allow children who turned 5 after September 1 to be in pre-K next year even though she is considered English Second Language eligible. Now what? She can go to Kindergarten two years in a row or we have to find a private pre-K for her for the fall. I called Kids N Fitness, Little People's Prep School, and Pershing Early Learning Center to find out about programs and realized that only a few spots are open at each one for children in their 4 year old pre-K programs. In fact, registration is open now or will be open within the next couple of weeks, so we have to make a decision. I spent two days running around to visit and get information. Each program has its benefits, so it is going to be a difficult decision.

After visiting all three programs, we decided to enroll Grace into Little People's Prep School. I like the fact that this is the closest program to our house, the students have a daily devotion time, it is less expensive by $40 a week, and I know the assistant director from church. To save a place for her in the class, I will pay the registration fee and the first week's fee when registration opens on February 15. Then we went ahead and signed Grace up for Kindergarten screening on February 24. Although I don't think she will be ready for Kindergarten, this will give us a way to narrow down the skills she needs to work on and will provide information for the Domains Meeting we will have at the school on February 26. This meeting will get the ball rolling on supplemental speech and language therapy, occupational and physical therapy through our school district. While I was talking to the speech therapist in preparation for the meeting, she mentioned that Grace could attend 1/2 day Kindergarten next year or summer pre-K for 3 hours a day during the month of June. She suggested that I consider 2 years of K instead of pre-school. It would be much more convenient for us, but I am not convinced it would be best for her. I am really concerned about Cumulative Cognitive Deficit. Wouldn't it be better to let Grace be a child, pretend, play, experiment, and interact with children who were at her developmental level than to push her into an academic setting as her first school experience? I don't want her to feel frustrated and overwhelmed...I feel better knowing that regardless of the outcome of these meetings, Grace has a space reserved in a full-time preschool next year. If we change our minds, all we have lost is a registration fee and one week's tuition.