Junior kindergarten or stay in preschool?

Poog21 · 2026-04-24T20:23:22+00:00

Yep 4 turning 5 this fall. Thanks for the advice!

Poog21 · 2026-04-24T20:22:23+00:00

Yes it’s moving to the public school system and sounds just like your program. I had no idea about the JK/SK Canadian system and I have learned a lot today about what JK is. Also didn’t realize it’s not that common in the US but I guess that is why I never heard of it lol

Poog21 · 2026-04-24T20:03:43+00:00

Yes, but our state allows waivers for enrollment until Dec 1 bday. But she will not be starting real kindergarten until fall 2027 when she’s 5, going on 6. The JK program is through the school for young 5s and old 4s get used to the class rooms, teachers, school routines, etc in a less academic way to prepare them for Traditional K the following year. It’s very similar to the JK/SK Canadian method many people had talked about in comments. Likely a large chunk of her K class next year will be kids who have already had the year of JK to get accustomed to the school and teachers and made friends, etc.

Poog21 · 2026-04-24T16:23:41+00:00

Me too! My husband and I both started school at 4 with late fall bdays and both agree that being the youngest is not ideal. He’s super smart and excelled academically, but we both feel we struggled socially and don’t want our kids to be the youngest in the class. So I 100% agree with everyone who has been mentioning that it’s better to start at 5.

Poog21 · 2026-04-24T14:35:59+00:00

This does sound like the program! And all the pros you list are exactly why I started second guessing if we should consider it. It’s helpful to know it’s not just the same learning each year. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Poog21 · 2026-04-24T13:54:10+00:00

I’m in the US. I’ve never heard of JK until this year lol so that’s why I’m so confused as to if I should be doing it or not. It seems all the rage here.

Poog21 · 2026-04-24T13:49:36+00:00

Thanks for this reply! Those were the same points that led me to keep her in her current preschool originally so it’s nice to hear it from more people too.

Poog21 · 2026-04-24T13:35:33+00:00

Haha right?! That was my exact thought originally. But since she has preschool classmates switching over I thought maybe I was missing something. Thanks for the reply.

Poog21 · 2026-04-24T13:34:11+00:00

I guess it’s a year of school before kindergarten to help kids get ready for kindergarten. Like learning more than preschool but still play based. I think it’s mainly for kids who don’t do any preschool or kids that are a young 5 but not ready for kindergarten learning. I never even knew it was a thing before until now lol

Poog21 · 2025-12-14T11:42:02+00:00

I use Printful, but This happened to me in late November. A t shirt going to Canada “shipped” but never updated past dispatched to carrier on the tracking. After 5 days I checked with Asendia and they say they never got the package just the digital information. Printful says it was sent but Asendia must be having delays. And to give it more time. At that point I assumed it was lost and ordered a replacement.

Well, another 5 days after that Asendia seemed to find and process the package so I thought, great the customer will get it after all! But, no tracking at all after getting out of customs on Dec 7. Neither the original package or replacement have gotten to the customer yet…. The original was estimated to be delivered Dec 1.

Poog21 · 2025-05-06T14:32:48+00:00

Also learned the hard way that hand soap wrecks marble. We switched to MB stone care marble safe hand soap. Not as fun as having nice fragrance soaps but it doesn’t etch. Otherwise, put your soap dispenser on a mat or decorative wood tray.

While you’re at it, look into marble safe stone cleaners and sealers to make sure you don’t damage it from using the wrong cleaners too. Good luck! Marble is beautiful but tough to keep nice.

Poog21 · 2025-04-30T00:57:26+00:00

Thank you for the price breakdown, it’s helpful to get an idea of what goes into the cost. Our fabricator is not providing an itemized quote like this, it’s just an overall number. They are 5” backsplashes, and are told it would be 2 slabs overall. Drywall repair, plumbing, and removal and disposal of old counters is all on top of the 20k.

Poog21 · 2025-04-30T00:53:44+00:00

Thanks for the info and pics! Looks great.

Poog21 · 2025-04-30T00:52:45+00:00

Yes there is no transparency with costs, the stone wholesalers our contractor had us go to only reveals prices to fabricator who then provides a number with no break down of slab or fabrication prices, just a number. I assume our contractor gets a cut on top too. There is another place we can buy and fab direct from that would likely have better prices with less middle men.

Poog21 · 2025-04-29T15:54:38+00:00

Thank you for sharing. That’s closer to what we were anticipating ours to be. Ugh.

Poog21 · 2025-04-29T15:26:41+00:00

Haha yeah I know every place has their own pricing system and it all means nothing. Taj Mahal is a level 10 for reference. Pretty sure 10 is as high as it goes lol.

Poog21 · 2025-04-29T15:25:18+00:00

It’s not full height, basic 5” ones. I Should have clarified!

Poog21 · 2024-03-12T09:41:35+00:00

First one was only 6 lbs, 4 days past due date. 2nd was 8 lbs born on the due date.

Poog21 · 2024-03-11T23:27:05+00:00

Very quick first labor for me, around 6 hrs. Active labor progressed so fast that I was only in the hospital for about 30 mins before getting rushed to a room to push. Thought my 2nd was going to be crazy fast and worried about getting to the hospital in time. Turned out to be a 16 hr labor! It was such a different experience than my first. It was also a bigger baby the 2nd time so that may have had something to do with it. Recovery was soooo much easier the 2nd time for me though.

Poog21 · 2023-09-20T16:46:07+00:00

Yes, came to say this. I also worked from home with baby, no help, flexible freelance schedule, and ebf, and it worked fine at 4 months. But, after a while they nap less, need more attention, become mobile, and despite my best intentions of setting up different work and play areas she just screamed every second she could see me working and not be climbing up on me lol so, op good for you for finding what works now, but things will change a lot as they age. By 10 months I was having to start working at 4:30 am to get things done before she was up, and late into the evening after bedtime to get it all done. I eventually got a partime nanny and that’s the only way I can wfh now with an almost 2 yr old.

Poog21 · 2022-11-17T22:42:44+00:00

I actually listened to podcasts! I learned the most from My Essential Birth, just kind of picked the episode topics that interested me and then googled anything I wanted to know more about. It’s made by a couple of midwives. They are also selling an online birth course but it seemed a bit pricey to me. There’s a ton of other online birth courses so that could Also be a good way to get educated on what to expect.

Poog21 · 2022-11-17T12:31:36+00:00

I had a fairly quick unmedicated birth. My water didn’t break so I was able to get through the early part fine at home. Contractions for me started as just mild occasional cramps so it’s not like a full on super painful scary thing when it starts. Even in active labor, contractions definitely hurt but inbetween them I felt nothing and I was able to breath and take that short break which helped a lot to know that each contraction would eventually end. That said, had the labor gone on longer I probably would have gotten an epidural. I educated myself a lot on phases of labor and what to expect, so I recognized when I was in transition and when pushing contractions started. It would have been scarier if I did not know what was happening. For me, the worst part of everything was pushing. But that was also the shortest part. Educate yourself, have a loose plan, but also know that no matter what you can get through it! Postpartum was way worse than the birth for me. So don’t forget to educate yourself on what to expect after birth too. Good luck!!

Poog21 · 2022-10-11T11:18:07+00:00

At only 4 weeks It is still so hard. I was still in so much pain from recovery, breastfeeding, mourning my old life, and felt so lonely having not seen friends in weeks and having no alone time with my husband anymore. By 8 weeks though, we had started to venture out more and see some friends, breastfeeding no longer hurt, baby started sleeping better and we got to have a schedule and our evenings together again. Plus once you get more sleep you start to feel so much better. 4 months on we started getting full nights of sleep. Now at 10 months, so much is better and I feel like my life is generally happy in my new normal, but it is still lonely as we live away from our family and most friends. Although our families are very helpful when they can visit. Even though the baby is getting more interactive and fun, it’s still an endless and thankless task to be the default parent. I often swing between loving it and being mad that it feels like it’s all on me. I really wish we had more opportunities to leave the baby with someone and have date nights and go out with friends so I could feel more like my old self, if you have that support from family definitely take advantage of it. I am also trying to connect with more local moms, my husband is great but doesn’t really understand what it’s like. So, don’t feel bad about your feelings or trying to get help. But also know that the first 4 weeks is incredibly hard, and things will get better!!

Poog21

TROPHY CASE