I'm still here

It's been almost two months since I posted. Wow, I didn't realize that. I thought it was only a few weeks.

For a long while, I was very reluctant to continue this blog. Something happened at work that made me reconsider sharing much about my personal life.

But I'm here.

And for now, I'm going to be writing a lot about schools because I'm kind of obsessed with finding the perfect kindergarten.

I didn't go to public elementary school. And what's more, I loved the place where I went so much that I think I'm holding it up to a ridiculous standard that no school will ever meet.

My third through sixth grade experience was magical. It was a small, start-up school a few blocks away from Balboa Park. The airplanes would roar above us during quiet time; we'd take our snacks to the suspension bridge; art class was on the sidewalk outside the Britt House; we'd have P.E. in the park and have to move the homeless out of the way, which was a weird lesson in appreciating what we had and gave us an early sense of compassion.

Unfortunately that school is gone. Well, sort of gone. (More on that another day.) And we can't afford to do private education for two girls. So I've been really stressed about finding a place that will give them even a tiny bit of what I had.

So I'm on a mission, I'm touring schools. And today I visited my first one: Longfellow.

Longfellow is a Spanish immersion school in Clairemont that's designed for English speakers. They teach the required curriculum only in Spanish from K through 3rd grade and then bring in English bit by bit after that. Because I don't speak Spanish to the girls, or at least not enough, I thought sending them to a place where they'll just be around it would be ideal. I still think that.

I really liked the idea of the school and I also like how it goes up to 8th grade; like if you go there from K-8 you'll be part of a community. But I didn't love it.

I don't know, that part of Clairemont really confuses me, I can't get a read on it. Like why do so many people there own boats? And why is there one mansion next door to three creepy rickety houses? That's just me being weird though.

The kindergarten classes were really, really chaotic. The kids seemed to be running around doing their own thing with only one or two teachers to watch. Again, this is probably due to the California budget more than anything else. I was on a tour with another mom who is also a teacher and she asked to see a first grade class. It was a good call as those classes felt much more structured.

Granted, the kindergarten class has only been in session for a month and the recruiter said that most kids have a really hard time their first few weeks. They're around a new language at a new school and their brains just get worked.

So as of now, I'm not going to rule out Longfellow but it probably won't be our first choice, either.

Next tour: Benchley Weinberger - a communications magnet in our general neighborhood - on Thursday.