I just wanted to share a very positive experience we've had with DS's school, because we've struggled like many here to find a good fit with a school that understands.
We moved DS from a private "gifted" school last year (total disaster!!!), to a public charter school this year. He's 6 1/2 and in 1st grade. The switch moved him from being one of the youngest in the class to one of the oldest and really out of whack with peers, due to an August 1st vs. December 1st cutoff for schools.
The nuts and bolts are that he started 1st grade working 2-3 grade levels above. His teacher recognized this immediately and tried to do what she could in the space and time given. However, she was also the designated teacher for all the low performing kids and was forced to dedicate a LOT of time to them. DS had become the class helper, was reading sometimes a book a day in class in his free time and at least 80% of his day was wasting time.
At our parent teacher conference in Nov, his teacher said she'd done all she really could do and we needed to take it to the administration to see about subject acceleration. We had a meeting a week and a half ago to see about moving him up for math.
Surprisingly enough, I asked for the subject acceleration and hinted at a grade skip in the long run. His teacher jumped all over the idea and recommended an immediate move to 2nd grade AND into the GATE cluster so that he'd be even closer to finding peers. We were stunned. I had copies of so much acceleration research to show them, expecting a fight. The principal even agreed, on the spot, that if they could resolve some financial issues due to class-size funding and if the school psych gave it a green light, it was a good idea.
One week post meeting, DS will be moving to 2nd grade full-time in January after break. He is ecstatic, eager to do his vacation homework and to get going on "real math".
Sometimes, all that really matters is a teacher who sees the whole picture, knows it's not an insult to her teaching and really and truly advocates for your child. We couldn't be happier and we're delighted that the public school jumped at the opportunity to accommodate!
Just wanted to throw out some warm fuzzies because it's been a long road of frustration to get to this point and I know others are sitting there wondering if they'll ever find the right place with the right people to make it work.
