School

It's official. Dorian will be starting school in the fall. Why so young? Because he is a child prodigy of course. Silly readers. How could you forget?

Seriously though, we are so excited for him (not so much for our bank account,* but we've always wanted the best for Dorian and believe education is the best investment there is). He will be attending The Renaissance School, a private Montessori school here in Oakland. It was started by my close family friend. I grew up with her kids, attended the same schools as them and sang in the San Francisco Girls Chorus with them. She was like my second mother. She started the school about 15 years ago and it has grown into quite a large school. It boasts nearly 200 students ages 2 to 14 (pre-school to 8th grade). The school focuses on the Montessori methods, of course, but also places a huge emphasis on language and the arts. We loved the presentation and tour we attended and everything Leslie and her daughters (whom I am still very close to; they're like my sisters) tells us about the school sounds magical. Dorian will be taught 50% in Spanish, 50% in English starting at age 2. The goal is to have the children bilingual by age 5 or so and then they start taking classes in a 3rd language as well (for Dorian, this will be French). And not just language courses. No. Math is taught in all three languages. Science too. History. It is not just hype either. My friend Kate's children are actually bilingual (they're young, so aren't quite trilingual yet). It is amazing.

All of the arts have a place in the curriculum. Of course, the emphasis on music makes James very, very happy. Dorian WILL be a musician. He just has to be! ;) We were blown away by the videos we saw. Children as young as 6 singing in harmony. Children composing music at age 9 for the class to sing. Children of all ages playing piano, guitar, violin and harp. And they are so happy. We obviously don't want Dorian to miss out on his childhood. Of course not. We want him to be a child, to play, to laugh, to have fun. Yes, James and I value education very highly, but not at the sake of his happiness. When we walked around the school and visited the classrooms, the children all seemed delighted to be there. They were very well-behaved, articulate, independent and respectful of their environment and others but laughing and playing around as "normal" (non-prodigal) children do. They were adorable. I actually attended Montessori school (I attended pre-school on the same campus!) from age 4-11 and I thrived in the environment. I firmly believe I have the drive I do, the over-achieving qualities, the organizational skills, the independence and the "I can do anything I put my mind to" attitude from attending Montessori schools. We are confident it will be a great start in life for Dorian.

James and I had not actually planned on putting Dorian into school before age 3 or 4. We always assumed James would stay home with Dorian full-time until then. Leslie and her daughter Nathalie made a point of telling us how children develop so much between the ages of 2-5, before most children even begin attending school full-time. If one has the opportunity to place their child in school (in a GOOD school), they should consider taking it. Children's language explodes early on! Age 2 is the optimal age to start learning a second language (actually, even earlier is better) and not just so the child will be bilingual. Speaking two languages activates areas of the brain that stimulates other kinds of learning. I am not going to go into all of it (mostly because I don't want to show my ignorance - we haven't covered the brain in depth in my courses yet!) Anyway, I could go on and on and on about the wonder that is The Renaissance School but I will leave it for another day.

We are thrilled Dorian was offered a place at the school and can not wait to become a part of the community.

*We will gladly accept in-kind donations for Dorian's School Fund. ;)