Upstart Graduation

This morning Wyatt had his graduation from Upstart.  It is a free online pre-school.  You have to commit to your child using it for fifteen minutes a day, five days a week.  Sometimes, that can be challenging, but overall Wyatt seemed to enjoy it. 

They do an assessment at the beginning and at the end of the course to measure their progress.  I am amazed at what Wyatt has learned.  He has started reading, can do math, knows a ton of sight words and has learned a lot of cute songs.  

These are the mascots for the pre-school, Rusty and Rosie.  Wyatt was hoping they would be there today, but he settled for the picture of them.

Wyatt was proud of himself today and very excited to show everyone his diploma and hat!  So what is next for Wyatt?  After a year of worrying and wondering we have decided to hold Wyatt out of Kindergarten for the coming year.  He makes the deadline by a month, but we don't feel like he is ready.

I have worried as I have watched Wyatt decline in self-control and social situations since December.  He won't let me leave him without tears.  They had to bring him out of the testing today because he was crying.  He won't go to primary without tears and most weeks we have to sit with him.  Wyatt has started throwing fits and he is so stubborn.  This causes me a lot of stress and embarrassment as a mother.  It is so hard to be the mom with the screaming kid who won't cooperate while you wonder what everyone is thinking.  For the most part I am moving past this.  I try to do what is best for Wyatt in the situation and it isn't always what other people might think is best.    

Wyatt is very intelligent and loves to learn so it is really hard for me to hold him back.  I have been so worried about his regression that I called the school district to see if we could have him tested.  I wondered if he would fall on the Autism spectrum.  He has some traits that definitely fall under there, but they won't test him unless I put him in Kindergarten and I am positive that he is not ready.  I have received a lot of advice, most of it telling me to keep him back, but a few people said some things that really made me second guess myself.  At the end of the day though I think holding him back is what is right for Wyatt. 

We are proud of this kid for working so hard this year.  He learned a lot and it wasn't always easy!  If I had to guess right now I would guess that Wyatt has some severe anxiety.  He is starting a neighborhood pre-school in the fall and I think that will help him.  I was reassured in our decision last week.  I was talking to Rockwell, my nephew, and I could just see how ready he was for Kindergarten.  I have watched him mature and grow over the past year and it reminded me of my older kids. There comes a point where you can just see that they are ready for school and I could see that in Rockwell, but I do not see that in Wyatt. I think that will come this year as he goes to pre-school and has time to mature and work through his fears. 

Keith and I took Wyatt to McDonalds after the graduation to celebrate his hard work.  I love one-on-one time with the kids.  He was a crack up!  I'm sure proud of this kid!  He is a handful sometimes, but I think he will get it all figured out.  He is a great kid!