Red-shirted Kindergarteners

This is how a 7 year old autistic boy interpetted  the instructions

Our kindergarten class had 3 goals for each student. By the end of the year, we should have been  able to

1. Count to 20
2. Know the alphabet
3. Tie our shoes

If we were able to do more than that, good for us. These days, there is much pressure to make sure ones child is ready for all day kindergarten. They should be able to count before attending, know all their colors and shapes, not only know the alphabet but identify each letter and how it sounds. Then there are the many social issues and physical issues. If a child is red shirted for one year, won't s/he do better relative to the younger kids in the classroom?

In wealthy districts,  up to 27% of ready by the calendar  kids are being red-shirted versus 2% of children in poorer districts. Some school districts, such as Shanna's and ours, have a program for those with late birthdays, usually just for summer babies (need to be 5 by September 1st) called young fives in which the kids go to school for a half day to prepare them for all day kindergarten next year. However, transportation is usually not provided so again, a bigger gap between haves and have-nots. Maya by her birthdate will qualify for Young 5s  next year but if she goes, her Mom would have to delay getting back into the workforce.

Daniel was supposed to be born towards the end of September but instead came out mid-August. He has known all his letters for 2 years now and can count and do simple math. Yet he really has trouble transitioning between activities, a sign of immaturity. I am sure it will be a while before he could tie his shoes. (When I had a bunch of 7 year old boys to coach, not one could tie their own shoes, nor did many of them know the difference between right and left).

This has been a frustrating week. Late Thursday we get a notice that we have to clear vegetation in 72 hours around this bike path, which wasn't there when we bought the house. We got a promise from the mayor that we didn't have to do winter maintenance but didn't get clarification about summer maintenance. None of the vegetation is from our property. Steve worked for 2 hours but it was obvious he needed heavy equipment.Who works on two hours notice? $550 later, it might comply with their code if they indeed have a code for bikepaths. They had cheaply put a thin coat of asphalt over weeds which are now sticking up through the many cracks. We passed some mileage saying the city has to do sidewalk maintenance (the year after we replaced sidewalk squares at OUR expense) but not clear who replaces the bike path. It is too bumpy for bikes.

Then my bike breaking down. It is supposed to be under warranty but they are hinting that somehow I abused the bike. We'll see about that.

And I was supposed to go out and have fun tonight but that didn't happen..
Still have flowers though it might go into the 30s tonight.