So, 2nd grade teacher wasn't at conferences (just K teacher) but we went through his 2nd grade work and 2nd grade teacher had met with K teacher ahead of time to update her. She also gave us her number to call her at home.
By the time of the conferences 2nd grade teacher had basically changed her mind and decided that, while Connor's math isn't as strong as his reading, that he is appropriately placed. So, I called 2nd grade teacher and basically the discussion on her end had turned from "he's overwhelemed." to "Wow! He's doing great!" She told me that she figured out that if, instead of separating him out with the others that were having difficulty with a concept, she let him work through it on his own that almost always figured it out without any intervention. Basically, he was more frustrated over people trying to help him than by the math itself. 2nd grade teacher also said that the EM curriculum that she has been using is not school-wide but that she has used it to frame her lessons because the regular teacher didn't have a set curriculum set for her ahead of time. Knowing that, she has started letting Connor do his math in the way that works best for him.
The conversation that I expected to be a few minutes ended up lasting over a half hour with the teacher repeatedly telling me that she had, in fact, been very leery of having a Kindergartener in not only Reading, but Math as well. She was pretty apologetic and explained that she was not aware of ever having had a K child in her class that was as far advanced across the board as Connor is and therefore couldn't have imagined that it would work. I guess I can't blame her for being surprised- we are constantly surprised by him at home too. She was more surprised when I told her that neither Reading or Math is his strongest suit- that would be Science. Long story not-so-short: I think we got another convert to the idea of believing giftedness, acceleration, and accomodation
