The Zimmer Zoo

Still mulling things over about keeping Burke and Maggie together or separate in Kindergarten next year. (Thanks to everyone who commented!! 🙂 )

There are a few updates. I asked them both what they wanted to do. Maggie’s immediate, no hesitation response was “Separate!” Burke’s was “Together!” then “Separate!” then “Together!” I’m not sure why I’d expect him to know when I don’t have a clue 😉

I asked their preschool teacher what she thought. Her immediate response was “Oh, Kindergarten is tough! You want them together. Plus, that’s better for your sanity.”

Whoo boy.

I chatted with Mrs. Teacher for a while about it and told her all of my conflicting thoughts…and ended up conflicting her as well LOL! She actually told me that the kids are getting more independent … and not eating lunch together as I had thought. And that they almost always do their own thing … unless Burke gets up in Maggie’s face to bug her a bit. (No wonder Maggie wants separate 😛 )

I also had the thought that maybe Burke wouldn’t be so up in Maggie and Logan’s faces if he had his OWN time for a while. That may be wishful thinking since he seems to really enjoy wrestling with them…especially when they don’t want to. (ya, I have my happy hat on about THAT one…we’re working on it.)

Filed under: school, twins | Tagged: kindergarten, school, separate vs together, sparating twins in school | 3 Comments »

Ah, the age-old school-aged question that faces every twin mom. Do I separate my kids in Kindergarten or keep them together? I’ve been back and forth so many times, I’ve lost count. And I have good arguments for both sides. (I have selfish ones as well 😉 )

I was talking with the principal and vice principal of their new school today…asking what they “normally” do with twins. Their initial response was to separate them – not knowing that they’re boy/girl twins…but that didn’t seem to matter. I’m supposed to send a note into school with what we want, so I figured I’d try to work through it here. 🙂

I think if they were both boys or both girls, I’d be inclined to say “Separate!” with no hesitation. (I think.) However, I don’t see that they’ll be compared as much or be in quite the same competition since they’re one of each. (I could be totally wrong about that though.) Plus, I’ve already seen in preschool that they have their own go-to friends, so I don’t have to worry about that. However, I’ve also seen that they most often sit together at lunch and at snack…I don’t know if they’d have that chance if they were in separate classes (something to ask, I guess).

My “selfish” reasons for keeping them together: One teacher to deal with instead of two (because you know I’ll be in there asking questions 😉 ). One homework assignment or project to deal with instead of two (although, this could be a flip argument – more on that later). I can ask Maggie about Burke’s day and Burke about Maggie’s day (even if that’s not entirely fair…). When their birthday comes around, if they ask for a big party, it’s ONE class to invite and not two (or even one party and not two).

Non-selfish reasons: It’s a new school and together might make that transition easier (except, if they weren’t twins, they wouldn’t have that crutch…). They might LIKE to be in the same class (perhaps I should ask them).

Reasons for separating them: They wouldn’t ever be compared and that competition thing wouldn’t be there (although what usually ends up happening is Burke competes and Maggie has no idea he’s doing so…). They’d have separate assignments and projects so there’d be no copying and I’d be able to tell where each has their own strengths and weaknesses (I already have a pretty good idea of those, but I know things change).

Comments? Suggestions? Ideas?

Filed under: school, twins | Tagged: kindergarten, school, separate vs together, sparating twins in school | 5 Comments »