Originally Posted by Kriston
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 - Your comment made me wonder about whether a new Montessori program that will be starting in my small town in the fall (which I thought might solve all our problems) may not be right for DS4. We have suspected that our son is gifted since we read a newspaper article quoting dr. ruf's early signs of giftednes. We read her book Losing Our Minds, and since we're in her area, we are having DS4 tested with her next month. But before we get her recommendations, we were scouting around to see what was available. The new Montessori program will start with mostly 3 year olds this fall, with a few 4 year olds. Those kids will stay in the program through kindergarten, and new kids will start as 3 year olds in the following year(s). I thought that a Montessori would be great, because then DS4 could work at his own pace. Would it be a negative if most of the other kids were 3 year olds?

We have DS4 in a wonderful preschool with agemates right now, but it's only 2 days/week for 3 hours. The teacher told us in the fall at conferences that someday we'd have to think about acceleration for DS4, so she's totally aware of the whole gifted kid deal. she has a 3 day preschool class (2 hours again) next year, which we were going to send DS4 to, but then i heard about the new montessori. So, we don't know what to do. We'll learn more from Dr. Ruf, but we have to sign up for a preschool before we meet with her.

Incidentally, DS4 has been able to read early chapter books (like Frog and Toad) since about 3 1/2 (when he wants to - he prefers to be read to), and if you look at Ruf's estimates, we could answer yes to most of the level 3 and level 4 signs.

[quick question re: abbreviations - i'm working on the assumption that DS4 means darling son - age 4 (rather than 4th child). Someone please correct me if i'm wrong! This is my first post anywhere.]

thanks!