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We talked to the surgeon and the surgery she would need to do was so over the top we couldn't consider putting him through it. The tumor is literally all of the right side of his head. He would need to lose all of his jaw from that side, part of his sinus cavity and his eye. Plus he would probably need radiation after the surgery. We also had to consider our other dog who would have to be separated from him for 2 weeks and that is almost impossible. DD said it best yesterday. "They are so connected Mommy. They are like magnets." When we got the news and knew that it wasn't an option for us we decided to spend as much time as possible with him so we pulled DD out of school for a few days. Thank goodness the weather has been great. We took them to their favorite dog park and then took them out on the boat yesterday.

As for DD, I told her on Wednesday which was really hard on her but now it is almost matter of fact. She thinks she needs to tell every stranger she meets and she clearly comprehends all of it but is showing no emotions. DH thinks it will really hit her when he is gone but I think she is bottling it all up. We have had some major mood swings to contend with and I know it is related to her dog.

So glad to see the school choice might be a good one. As for speaking in the second language, give her time. DD was slow to speak it too but comprehended it by the first week. It took her teacher saying sorry I don't understand you for her to speak. Of course DD tried another option before giving in which was to have her classmates translate for her. LOL But by a month she was speaking with no problems. I suspect the teachers will give her a little time before they expect her to talk to them and through that she will become comfortable with it all.

newmom21c - The school sounds awesome! I wish I lived in a dual language area.

Katelyn'sMom - So sorry about your dog! With my kids I have helped them make a "goodbye celebration" mostly of their creation. So when my oldest was really young we used the cremated remains to fertilize the garden. She also helped to get the cat ready for the cremation. Both parts of the "celebration" helped to unbottle some of the emotions by having it connected to a specific project that had a beginning and an end. My kids have been present at the passings of the animals. One was a natural passing and we sung "Its a small world" as it happened. The other one we had the vet come to our house. Still brings tears to my eyes as I remember going through it all. Good luck!

Katelyn'sMom

So sorry about your dog! I love flower's idea of having a ceremony for your daughter to remember her dog by.

Katelyn'sMom/flower

Thankfully the other kids translating for her won't be a problem. We don't live in a bilingual area at all! Actually, it's very much monolingual but that language just doesn't include English so you'd think DD would be more interested in learning that language, right? The inlaws don't speak any English with her at all and understand nothing (although I think MIL is actually learning a few words thanks to DD!) yet DD still insists on speaking English with them.

It's funny DH and I were gone a few days this past week to set up everything with the move and DD stayed with the inlaws. We thought when we came back she would be speaking more in the local language but instead her English was so much clearer and she was speaking even more than before!

Hi there,

I am new to this forum, but have been following this thread with interest for a while now.

My son Aiden is now 4 years and 2 months. School years here run from Jan to Dec, so we are just getting into the school year. He attends one of two schools for "high potential" kids in the entire country and is in what we call Grade 00 (Pre K). Thank goodness they differentiate in the class and allow each child to (mostly) work at their own pace. He is loving it and is really happy to go to school every day - even asking to go on weekends.

He is the second youngest in his class (there is one girl younger who will repeat this grade next year as she has just turned 4 this past week) but is very confident and relaxed around all the kids there. The school goes up to grade 7 and he gets to meet and interact with kids across all grades at various times.

They do general music classes, language classes and computer classes once a week. They go to the school library once a week as well. They do a lot of stuff that DS4 already knows, but since it's theme based he will do it just to learn about the themes. This semester the theme is animals and each day he brings home facts to share with us. He also takes facts back to school nearly every week as he has always loved animals (esp endangered ones).

Last year he was ahead of every child in his class in every "subject" except for the drawing ability in pictures. From what I can see this year - it's pretty much the same so far. Right now he is allowed to bring "work books" from home to do in his spare time, and he switches them weekly between maths and writing/spelling and puzzles books (mazes, word searches etc)

Next year DS2 will start there as well in the 3 year class. He will also be one of the youngest in his class, but again I don't see a problem with this. He is learning things that DS4 teaches him and so is "ahead" of even where DS4 was at the same age.

Just wanted to say hi and let you all know a bit about us.

Hi! New here too. My son is 4 years 3 months, and currently in Montessori school. Not sure how it's going to pay out next year, he has a November birthday, so I sort of want to send him to K at a gifted school, but he has fine motor problems, so I sort of want to keep him where he is. Just wanted to say hi!

Hello to Amber and Madoosa. Welcome.

Welcome to Amber and Madoosa.

Madoosa, loved reading your post.

Amber, does your son go to an OT for his fine motor problems or are they slight? A lot of my friends with boys voice the same thing about their fine motor skills and a lot of those have had their boys in OT.

Thanks Flower and Katelyn's mom

Welcome Amber! Fine motor skills are generally an issue for all boys - as gross motor skills are generally weaker in girls. There are a lot of really fun activities to strengthen the fine motor skills that work really well for busy boys like ours

I would imagine that a montessori school should be assisting with this though?

We just signed our Kindergarten enrollment paperwork for DD at her Spanish Immersion school. I'm still a little uneasy about it all. The school isn't very old and is dealing with some growing pains, plus they are working on IB certification which makes the growing pains more apparent. But after turning the paperwork in I stopped to talk to one of the moms whose child is in Kindergarten. She has been thrilled with the teacher and told me that one of the boys in the class is gifted in math so the teacher works with him at his level. I was overjoyed to hear it. He has his a separate math book and lessons.

As for DD's class of now: there is such a wide ability in there from kids who don't know their ABCs to those that can read and her teacher is having a hard time providing for the ones at the top of the class since she needs to focus her attention on the lower end. So the school is bringing in a part-time teacher to help her out. On the days that the other teacher is there DD's teacher will be able to work exclusively with the 5 or so kids that are reading which means DD will get the needed attention. She has also tried to spend some one on one time with DD when she can. She will hold her back from recess for 5 minutes or so to work on some reading. She asked me if we were okay with this but I have no problem with it since DD already misses some recess time on the day that she has piano lessons. BTW: they also get PE so I know DD is getting the needed exercise while at school.

On a side note, DD's piano lessons are going well. Her teacher is floored with her abilities and is shocked that DD already reads notes from the sheet music. Last two notes home to us was about how amazing she is and is now playing by herself.