Zoe begins pre-K in the fall, and since we do not meet the qualifications for public pre-K in our district, we have enrolled her in a private school. We did this with Olivia, but didn't with Isabelle. We regretted that we didn't put Isabelle in pre-K, because her preschool teacher didn't work with them at all and she was behind before she ever got started. Zoe knows things now that Isabelle didn't going into Kindergarten.
Chuck E. Cheese takes a much more flattering picture of me than I do...
I'm coming to realize that this gives us a bit of a dilemma. When I really sat down and crunched the numbers, once our tuition payments begin in June (which are about 30% more than we currently pay for MDO), our extra cash pretty much flies out the window. I'm not used to paying any sort of childcare in the summer, so we have had extra money in the past for me to use to do things with the girls to alleviate their boredom. We won't have it this year. After figuring in gas and the increase in groceries due to having them home all day.... we are running a much tighter budget that I am comfortable with.
Part of me thinks maybe we should take Zoe out of pre-K and find another MDO program with a 4 year old program. Our current MDO is a part of the private school, so they've eliminated their 4 year old program.... to boost pre-K enrollment, which only makes sense. Since Zoe has gotten more education from her teachers than Isabelle did, I'm not as concerned with pre-K.... but I know it would be a tough argument to win with my husband. Olivia has excelled so much in school and Isabelle has had a bumpy year.
Bumpy, but definitely not all bad...
How much is the pre-K factor and how much is just the individual child? Am I being selfish or practical? It's definitely a big discussion we need to have, but unfortunately one that we won't get to have for a few more days because of our schedules.
In the meantime, I've been thinking about ways to maybe bring in some extra cash. I have been revisiting the idea of having a booth at The Memphis Flea Market (in Little Rock). I'm debating going this weekend to scope it out again... see what kind of stuff they have already and if I would be able to bring something different to the table. I think... no, I know... I have a confidence issue here. I just keep thinking, "Would I even be able to sell enough to cover the fees?" Then I wonder if I'd even have time to make enough. And what if I don't sell anything? But there is a part of me that says, "So what? If you suck, at least you'd know you suck." I have to make some kind of leap sometime, right? I know my work isn't horrible... I was asked just today if I could make something for Zoe's MDO director.... I get compliments all the time on the things Zoe wears to school that I make.
The worst that can happen is that I lose a little bit of money, right? And who knows... maybe it would be the push to get me moving in the right direction. Away from working at a soul-sucking desk job and into doing something I truly enjoy.
I definitely need to just go check it out, see what's out there selling and then make a plan. I actually have a friend who helps run the place, so at least I wouldn't be flying blind in that department... she'd definitely walk me through it.
Can I do this? Should I do this? Should I keep Zoe in pre-K? Give me some opinions, points of view.... =)
Go sell some stuff! Even if you just sell one thing it's such a good feeling when it happens. It's knowing someone would PAY to own a piece of your work! I know you would sell stuff! I like your work. As for Zoe and pre-k, you know your daughters better than anyone, looking back now had you realized would you have put Isabelle in pre-k too? Is Zoe in the same situation that Isabelle was in? There's also the abcmouse.com you could do, my friend says it's $8 a month and it has learning plans for children of all ages. You do what you think would be best for Zoe, though it never hurts to be a little better prepared [for school]. And if it helps, my parents put me in school early and I was actually in advanced reading classes but something happened along the way and I actually needed extra help in reading later on (it was really just lack of parental involvement regarding school an I slacked off because of it). So more prepared isn't always best if you don't use it right. Good luck, whatever decision you make will be a good one and you'll make it work whatever that is.
ReplyDeleteI'm late in the game here...but SELL YOUR STUFF! You do awesome work! And I agree with Tabby...even if you only sell one thing it would be such a confidence boost! I don't have much advice in the pre-K department. We had to make a decision this year with our second...he's an August birthday and was set for Kindergarten, but Nebraska moved the cut off date back to July. He's already had two years of pre-school, but we had to decide if we wanted him screened for kindergarten (he might not have passed the screening) or just automatically do another year of pre-school. We went the pre-school again route, since (if he would have passed he'd end up being a year younger than some of his classmates). Who Knows?!?!
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