The Second Question

(The beginning of this post was written in the Fall. Please read it with a note of judgement in your voice. The second part should read with a note of defeat, acceptance, and uncertainty. I'll tell you when to switch.)

When I meet new people, the first question they ask me might be where I'm from or how old Josiah is. It's possible they will ask my name or Josiah's name.

But the second question they always ask is, "Where does he go to school?"

"He" being Josiah, unless their first question happened to be his name, then they might have asked, "Where does Josiah go to school?"

I have gotten used to what I initially perceived to be the stupidest question ever. (Clearly I needed some more practice at missionary training on the concept "it's not weird, just different".) And I am growing more confident with my answer. Especially now that the school year has started and my 2-year-9-month-old child should be in school. But he isn't.

See, in Hong Kong, the birthday cut-off for the school year starting in September is the end of the calendar year. So as long as Josiah will turn 3 by the end of this year, he is eligible to start K1, the first level of Kindergarten. There are 3 levels of Kindergarten, all voluntary. Primary school (elementary) starts at first grade when the child is 6. Or in Josiah's case, with a December birthday, when he is 5.

Which means that he will be 17 for his whole first semester of college.

Why? Why do I want to do that? When so many college students don't know what in the world they want to do with their lives anyway and end up majoring in things that they wish they didn't. When typically boys mature slower than girls and he will be the very youngest in his class. When it just doesn't make sense to me to rush his little life just because I can.

Anyway, I might change my mind. I can always start him in K2 next year (even without having done K1) or just start him in P1 (First Grade) at 5 years old. Of course, all of this is made more complicated by the fact that there are multiple education systems in Hong Kong. I am referring to the local Cantonese system, which is where we would like our boys to attend for a few years. If I was to put him in an ESF (English Schools Foundation) school (which is much more expensive!) he would start P1 (Kindergarten) at 4 years old, but then he would attend until Year 13, so it all evens out.

The thing is, I'm not worried about Josiah academically. And so of course part of me wants him to be the youngest in his class. But clearly social and emotional factors play a role in this decision.

When I told some local moms at church on Sunday that he wasn't in school yet and that I didn't see any reason to send him so soon, they looked at me dumbfounded. The culture in Hong Kong is to send your child to playgroup/Kindergarten/any school as soon as they are old enough. All the education systems (local, ESF, international) are quite competitive and so everyone desires to start their kids young and in the best school they can.

So our plan is to start Josiah in K1 in Fall 2012 at the local, (primarily) Cantonese speaking Kindergarten. He will likely be the oldest in his class, but since he will be learning a new language, that seems appropriate.

Ok, switch from judgment to uncertainty.

Josiah started K1 this past Thursday.

See, back in December we went to his Kindergarten interview. (This was not really an interview of him, more an interview of us as parents, but yes, most schools have interviews of the children.) The principal was already familiar with Josiah because I had taken him to playgroup at the Kindergarten a few times. She told us she thought he was very clever. And she said that the K1 teacher would not really want him in K1 next Fall. She said he should start K1 at the second term (after Chinese New Year) so that he could be in K2 in the Fall. Because he was so clever.

It's always nice to have a principal tell you repeatedly that your child is clever. Even if she is only trying to get an open spot at the Kindergarten filled half way through the school year.

Nathan and I had previously considered trying to have him start at the second term. But we didn't know if there would be an opening, so we didn't actually make a decision. At the interview in December, the principal said there would likely be an opening and she would give it to Josiah.

As I was in labor, walking to the ferry pier on January 9, the principal called to say there was an opening for Josiah starting February 2. So we accepted. Maybe we shouldn't have made that decision in the middle of labor.

For the past several weeks we have been preparing Josiah to start school. And at the same time, completely rocking his world by bringing a new baby home. Excellent parenting decision, I'm sure.

This post is too long to tell you about his first 2 days of school, so that will have to wait for another day. Just so you know, though, he only goes for 3 hours in the afternoon. Some K1 programs are full day, but most seem to be half day. I became less judgmental about the whole thing when I realized that. Anyway, I will leave you with a picture of the school and a report on his first few days will come soon!