To stay or not pre-k, that is the question

Last week was filled with anxiety and dread about a meeting the wife and I had about our middle son. He attends a special school for kids with disabilities. He's been going there for almost a year and we have yet to get any information on his progress. Next year he will be old enough to go to kindergarten but the big question is "will he be ready?"

The wife and I really have mixed feelings about this decision. If we hold him back, he will be labeled as a 'special needs' kid and never looked at as 'normal again'. If we pushed him forward to fast he might be teased and have his confidence shattered when he realizes he can't keep up.

The meeting included four teachers from his current school and the pre-k. We discussed his progress since he was placed in the program, how he measured up to kids his age, if he was ready to advance and what he would be expected to do if we did allow him to go to kindergarten.

To be honest, the wife and I weren't expecting good news. We have definitely seen improvements in him but didn't feel he was anywhere near his peers. Also, he had reverted to baby talking in the last month and starting to crawl more than a four year old should. Needless to say we've lost a lot of sleep lately.

Well the meeting couldn't have gone better. We found out that he had made huge progress since beginning the program. He is up to par with his age group in nine out of twelve categories. Only behind in his communication skills. His current teacher said she felt the special program he was currently in didn't have anything left to offer him. She strongly recommended he move on. After the pre-k teachers heard all that our son had accomplished they agreed he was ready and said he sounded like he would fit right in with kids his age. So it looks like he will start school with all the other four year olds in our community. We couldn't be happier.

The baby talk and crawling turned out to be something he was copying from another kid in his class. Another good reason to move him out of the there. As soon as we stopped accepting the baby talk, he stopped doing it. Just normal parenting stuff, key word being normal.