Just back from our tour of the parish school. Alex chanted all the way home, "PLEASE don't make me go there. PLEASE don't make me go there." Joe chanted, "PLEASE can I go there? PLEASE can I go there?"
I'm leaning toward Catholic school but still uncertain. They have no gifted program, but the public school gifted program is kind of a joke. (I had that experience myself with gifted programs: too many poorly-thought-out units, dragging on for weeks until something designed to be enriching became something to dread.) There standardized testing is a once-a-year thing, and classroom time is (reportedly) not dedicated to test prep. Standardized tests are given twice yearly in my kids' school, and getting ready for the tests has been the primary focus of their days recently.
There was a mental hurdle for me to overcome in regard to paying tuition for grade school. Why shell out that much money for something you can get for free? But I love the idea of faith integrated with education -- loved seeing the images of the Sacred Heart and the little holy water fonts in every classroom, and the posters with quotes from the Bible next to the posters of the multiplication tables. The classrooms are spacious and full of books. I can see them there.
But Alex does NOT want to go. I could tell that we wouldn't be able to have a productive conversation about it right then, so I just listened. "I shouldn't jump in and argue," I told myself. "I'll just treat the feelings respectfully until the intensity dies down." I said aloud, "So you really feel like public school is the best choice."
In a Faber & Mazlish cartoon, he would have said, "Yeah, that's exactly what I think," or even, "Yes. But I guess we could talk about other possibilities." Instead he said "DUH!"
So much for active listening. I'll keep you posted.