Well, Wren...Boys are usually harder to potty-train than girls. It's not necessarily about "biting the bullet." It's just different for boys. Physical capability, maybe? Emotional maturity? I don't know, but I know that most boys take longer than most girls, and the average age for boys is 33 months, if memory serves me correctly, which is about 3 months later than for girls. Neither one of my boys was anywhere nearly ready for potty training before they were two!

Also, a *non-academic* age-based preschool can work quite nicely for an HG+ kid, depending upon their social skills. In fact, this would be near the top of my list of pre-Ks. It gives your child the chance to get some social experience with same-age kids without feeling like "the brain" because there's no school stuff, only play and exploration (which they also need!). Bonus points for a half-day program so that the child can pursue the academics on his/her own time.

I would agree with you, Wren, that highly academic pre-K programs can work well for HG+ kids *if* the child is in the *low* end of the mixed age range and *if* they are allowed to skip the "baby stuff." Many Montessori programs--even mixed age classrooms--do NOT allow this skipping, so shop wisely. We thought we found one, but they pulled a bait-and-switch on us, and DS was bored silly for the first half of the year because he wasn't interested in the work they allowed him to do. It was too easy for him, and he just wouldn't do it. It wasn't until the mid-year conference that we saw how serious the problem was, and then we had to jump up and down to get them to let him past the easy stuff. It was very frustrating for us (we still call the dumb hoops you've already mastered but have to get through "sound boxes" in honor of the Montessori experience we had!), so please be SURE you're getting what they promise you!

Also, I'd argue that being one of the older kids in a mixed-age classroom is about the worst case scenario for an HG+ kid. So if you go this route, just know that your child may not be able to stay in that school the full 2 or 3 years of the program. A same-age program is better than being an HG+ 5yo in room full of ND 3yos!


Kriston