Back-to-School

I can't believe it's back to school already this week. Usually I'm so ready for the kids to start back, but this year not so much. It just seems too early.

And every year, when you have twins, it's a dilemma of weather or not to separate them or keep them together. In Kindergarten my girls were together, When they are with each other every moment from before birth, to separate them from each other for the first time at the same time they are separating from their mom can be very traumatic. My plan was to keep them together for Kindergarten and in separate classes after that.

Kindergarten went very well. Their teacher let me know that they were not overly dependent on each other, and that they did very well socially (I wonder where they get that from?!) and academically they were pretty even with each other. Basically getting all the same grades. She and I both thought they would do fine when separated. So, for First and Second grades they were in separate classes.

Socially they did great. They loved having double the friends, they knew their whole class and their sisters class as well! But both years, it seemed to me that one of them had the better teacher than the other. And maybe it wasn't that the teacher was actually better, but maybe it was just a better teaching style for them. I don't know, but I do know that the other ones grades started to slip. I had no way of really knowing if one was just going to struggle more in school, and that was something we were just gonna have to deal with, or if they had continue to have the same teachers would they have stayed the same, and kept the same grades. So, I decide to put them back in the same class to find out. I love that about our school district, that they let the parents decide. They don't just set a rule that has to apply to everyone, no matter what.

So, in third grade I put them together. They weren't real happy about it at first. They had a great teacher, and by the very first Parent-Teacher conference their grades were right back up there together. I don't know if it's because they are doing the same homework at the same time, or that one helps the other one, or if it's a competition thing between the two of them. But it worked.

It's also much easier for me having them in one class. Then I only have one class to volunteer in instead of two. And it's much easier on their Birthday to bring in treats for just one class rather than two whole classes. And there is no way we can fit two class rooms of kids in our house for a Birthday Party! (I shutter at the thought! And I love to plan and throw party's!)

So, they were together in third and forth grades. Again doing fine both socially and academically. Which brings me to now. . . They really want to be in their own classes again. And they do tend to argue a little more when they are together 24/7. So, after talking with their teachers, I decided to once again try them in separate classes for fifth grade. (Yikes, I can't believe my baby girls are in fifth grade this year!) So, like all parents, I'm praying that my girls BOTH get great teachers, and that they continue to do well, even without their sister in the same class room.

I'll keep you posted as to how they are doing, and I would love to hear your advice on school issues as well. Just leave a comment on this post, that way you, I, and other moms, can all learn from each other. Next year my girls will be in sixth grade, which means lots of big projects, so once again I'll have to decide weather or not to separate. And in the words of William Shakespeare "Parting is such sweet sorrow." Well, we'll see just how much sorrow this separation causes me! ; )