Discouraged

So we have learned in the last 6 months that the public school system here in GA runs VERY different than UT. Princess E has struggled a little bit in K because K here is more like 1st grade everywhere else. It is very advanced. Which is good, but also has caused her, and me, some heart ache and frustration because she wasn't as prepared as she could have been.

Well they have a pre K program that is lottery funded and is open to any GA resident, BUT it is only offered at certain locations, and with limited spaces. Since it is funded by the lottery, that is how they choose who is accepted. Well, after they fill up the slots with the kids who are already paying tuition to these places. Which is fair, but sucks at the same time. Oh and even though it is funded, it is still $20 a week, so $60 a month for lunches. So not really free at all, and it is all day just like K. But it is still the most affordable option on our very tight budget. But we won't know if we made a spot until almost July, when school starts here in Aug.

I have looked into a few private pre school options and they are insane. At one place it is $100 a WEEK for 2 half days. The cheapest I have found is $150 a month for 2 half days a week. Still a lot of money that we don't have.

I think to myself, well she doesn't "have" to go. I never went to pre school and I survived. But she is SO, SO ready to go. And she has been SO patient waiting for her turn to go to school. We have been telling her for 2 years that when she turns 4 that she would get to go just like Princess E did. And, she really, really needs it so she will be ready to take on K and be better prepared than her big sis was.

It is hard to watch your little girl burst into tears after we visit place after place only to be told the same things at each place. "Mommy, I just want to know where my new school is." And, "But I like this School mommy, why can't I go here?"

So yeah, I am a bit discouraged this afternoon and have had a hard time fighting back the tears myself.