Montreal wasn't so bad (!!!) because I really liked the summers. Really really. But it was part of why I left. And then, Michigan...there were no good months to make up the bad. There was nowhere to hang, no cool (safe) jams to go to, no social structure, but safe (horrible) job, and family.

But, yeah--misery was a big amount of my day.

When I went back to NY January before last...and there was snow...it shocked me in a place I thought I'd hidden well.

Yeah, Montreal does winter well, all things considered.

Yeah, Montreal does winter well, all things considered.

Plus you get bagels.

truth be told, when I have been to Montreal (and it has always been in April, when it is still fucking cold up there), I have utilized the downtown underground passageways.

I find that quite civilized in cold climates.

I have kinda mixed feelings about the redshirting. Franny is on the young side, and there are times I wish I had held her back for her sake and times when I think it's really been a bad thing for the school system as a whole to have 6 year olds enrolling in kindergarten with 5 year olds. I think it would be better for all kids in the long run if kindergarten were more like developmental kinder classes and hard academics were delayed until first grade. But as it was there were 6 year olds in Franny's kinder class who could already read chapter books, and they basically got no value from their kinder year, while the kids who couldn't read at all were able to slip into the background and didn't get the attention they needed because it was easy enough for the teacher to miss them amidst all the high achieving 6 year olds.

Franny did fine, I should add, but we were the kinds of parents who were in the classroom a lot and made sure she got what she needed. Plus, you know, we like to read books with our kids.

I should add that I do think there are legitimate reasons to hold a kid back. I think it can be a big boon and I know several friends who have and don't begrudge the choice, I'd have done the same in their shoes. It's just I have also seen it done by some for reasons that weren't as clear to me.

I've read that the differences start to balance out by 3rd grade and that seems true to me. Franny has been way more on top of things this year, more mature. She no longer seems "young" to me, but she did seem very young in K and 1st grade.

Wisconsin has state-paid, voluntary 1/2 day four year old Kindergarten followed by all day Kindergarten. I'm interested to see what the long term results will be from it. It's been in place three or four years now.

Kids are going into K at 6? Doesn't that make them 19 when they graduate from high school? That just seems bonkers to me.

Holy fuck, that was a big one.

I have had at least 4 kids in the past two years who have been 19 when they graduate, but they had started in school systems outside of the US. Two of these students have been top of the class graduates.