Fall Birthday Dilemma

My advice to any of my friends who haven't had a baby yet (I don't think I have too many of them left) is make sure the baby is born in the spring. One less parenting dilemma to worry about if your bright child is born in the Spring rather than the fall. I was a fall baby like my daughter but I know I wasn't nearly as bright (anyone who reads this blog and sees my horrific writing skills already knows that). I went to Kindergarten 6 weeks before my 5th birthday - and while I was not the sharpest pencil in the class - I think I've been just fine.

Laws and deadlines seemed to have become more strict since 1974. Setareh's birth date created a dilemma when it came time to think about Kindergarten. In Arizona, I had 2 problems. Sierra Vista Public Schools had a Sept. 1 cut-off and a public school across the street from our house but we were not within the school boundary. I was supposed to send my very bright almost 5 year old to preschool again and wait a year to put her on a 1/2 hour bus ride to attend school on the other side of town. All nothing but a waster of time! To fight the 1st battle we had Setareh tested to see if she could enter Kindergarten as a 4 year old . When the district exam came back with the results that said, she was performing Verbally and Analytically well enough to enter Kindergarten but she wasn't Physically ready we knew we didn't have to fight the 2nd battle. Siamak and I laughed at the results of that test - My 4 year old who could do a one-handed cartwheel and who had all the cognitive skills required, wasn't physically ready to start kindergarten in the Sierra Vista Public Schools??? I think Bullshit was the appropriate rural Arizona terminology.

We sent Setareh to a the Center for Academic Success Charter School (CAS). This was a funny choice for us because we owned and operated a competing Charter School for High School students across town (the politics of the AZ charter school world should be a blog somewhere). CAS was great, I knew the teacher and the principal from several other cirlces and I was pleased with our decision. Setareh finished Kindergarten at a private school in SLC as we didn't have a permanent address and the school was close to my job. All around Kindergarten was a great year for Setareh.

Again, the Fall Birthday Dilemma came to haunt us when we entered 1st Grade in Jordan School District. Again, Setareh was tested- thank goodness the Woodcock Johnson is only culturally bias and we didn't have to worry about our little athletes' physical qualifications. Setareh had a wonderful 1st grade experience in the Jordan School District but I have been feeling anxious about the decision with 2nd grade. You know, I am a parent and I guess I will always wonder if my decisions are the right ones but...When I see the test scores - (because test scores are all that matter in education anyway, right George W?)...I am relieved and reassured about our decision. As a young 1st grader, Setareh scored 100% on the Language Arts UPASS exam and 84% on the Math. On her 1st quarter report card in 2nd grade she is above grade level in reading and scored perfect marks in Language Arts, she scores at grade level in Math. I am such a proud parent! I am proud of our parenting decisions and sooo proud of my daughter! Good Job Setareh!