Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Frustrating

Ellie is a smart, inquisitive, interested child. She wants to know. She wants to do. She wants to work. She wants to learn. I would like to place her in a Montessori school, as I am a huge fan of that philosophy for children under 6. Unfortunately, so is every other new arrival in Perth, not to mention the people already living here. Every school I contact has a waiting list a mile long, and some have told me flat out not to bother (and yes, two of them have been quite rude about it). So I've looked at some alternative educational models (not really wanting a standard public school and definitely not standard day care), and I've had no better luck. I want the best for her, and I just can't seem to get it or even get close to it because of the timing of our arrival (about a month too late for next year's intake lists). This is very frustrating! Please keep your fingers crossed that something good will work out. Massive waiting lists for preschools! This is madness.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Jennifer, At what age do kids start school in Australia and when does the school year run?

Dawn

Karly said...

That is frustrating! I hope that it doesn't take long for you to find an alternative that you and Ellie are happy with. In the meantime, I have complete faith that Mama can do a great job!

Sending lots of love...

Anonymous said...

Wow... This is the one thing that I don't envy about people who are parents. The whole education deal! It is entirely frustrating and as you know here in the States, can be entirely inadequate should one decide they want to use public education (for those lucky enough to even have a choice.) As a matter of fact, my brother and sister-in-law had to attend a school fair for kindergarten, and remember MJW is only two. Kindergarten is age 5. So they have attend a school fair now for something that is 3 years away, otherwise they have no shot at all. WHAT? She's two? I don't envy you in this regard, NOT ONE BIT! I hope things work out for Ellie. Keeping my fingers crossed and hoping things work out...

But I'm thinking that you're probably doing just as good of (if not better) a job than what she would be getting in school.
Or maybe I've just overly jaded about the state of public education here in America. Hopefully Australia is much better.
Take care,
azure

Thinking out loud, azure secretly wonders, could Jennifer start her own Montessori since the demand seems to be very high?

Anonymous said...

What about getting the proper license and starting your own Montessori type preschool? You could limit it to just a few other children. Not that you don't have enough to deal with, but if you can't get her into a school you want, maybe the school you want is right there. If Mohammed can't go to the mountain...

Mimi

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry sweetheart! I'm sure something will work itself out :-)

On a lighter note - It's only an hour until your birthday here (I'm late getting to bed!) so that means it's your birthday in Australia!!!! HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!! WOOHOOO!!! YEAH! Yay! Zippa dee doo dah!! HAPPY HAPPPPY BIRTHDAY!

aa said...

It seems that Ellie is hunger for learning. Some times we fed up with our daily this why we get frustration, so my suggestion for you to enjoy the things you do and take some rest and come again for this job.

===================================
Hemant
look4ward

Jennifer said...

Hi Dawn, Welcome back again! It's so nice to see you here! Kid seem to start school at age 4 or 5, depending on when the birthday falls. Most of the private schools have feeder preschool programs, which is why those I'm looking into are so full. Plus, Perth has just exploded with people but the schools haven't expanded to compensate. It's pretty frustrating, especially when some of the replies I get are flat out rude.

Thanks for the support, everyone! I have to admit that this challenge being thrown in our path has made me start to consider homeschooling in a way I haven't before. A standard daycare setting would hold no benefit for Ellie right now, so I have to do some figuring. I do have three applications in play, so we'll see. Meanwhile, I'll keep researching and considering my options.

And thanks for the birthday love, Meghan! :)

Anonymous said...

Oh Fooey, why do I always think your birthday is on the 30th... ARUGH! Well whatever day in September it is, I hope it was great one. ;-)