Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Elementary School What should we do?? RE: Kindergarten

Do you have other children? With just one, for me, it would be feasible. But I've got four and a part time job so it wouldn't be an option here.

I hear you there. We crossed out public schools and some of private schools off our list too for that reason, for now anyway.

There is a private GT school about 30 minutes drive from us (more like an hour because of the traffic) and I crossed that off too because for us, that's too far from where we live and from where we work.

When I was looking for a new string teacher for DD4, I came to a realization that while I value her education, her schedule has to work for her parents too. Maybe I'm not the most supportive parent for thinking this but at some point, there has to be a balance within the family.

We can't find the right school for DD either although the new micro school does sound very promising. Our current plan for Kindergarten next year is to keep DD at her outdoor program part-time so she can play with friends. We'll add science lab once a week and homeschool her for math just so that she doesn't stagnate. I don't feel the need for formal language art curriculum until she is a little older. Maybe I'm getting too relaxed about things but I want DD to have another year of outdoor free play and enjoy being 5.

ETA: I do realize that is easier for me to say since DD's main passion these days is music and her needs in that area is being met by 3 private teachers. Still, if I thought I'd have to drive 2 hours to get her to the right teacher...I don't think I have it in me to do that, even on a weekly basis.

ETA2: If you are truly certain that this school is the best fit for your DS and other alternatives are not acceptable, then, I'd move closer to the school so the commute for the little one isn't so taxing.

Maybe you could luck into a car pool, but from what I recall, there aren't that many NJ kids in even the established private schools in suburban Philadelphia.

I understand that it is frustrating, but if you are in a high SES area in south NJ, I think there will be peers for him in the local schools. Not lots, but they are there. Some kids you can spot right away, then others, like my middle kid (HG type), don't even look like college material when they are five. Even at 17, folks are surprised when they find out the academic awards middle kid has won, or her SAT/ACT scores (which are available for all to see due to her travel team/college showcases).

My older two know kids who are globally ahead/gifted. These kids were bored in school, at least in elementary and middle school, some in HS as well. The kids who thrived on academics pursued stuff outside of school. The kids like my middle kid, who don't want to pursue any extra academics, turn out just fine too.

At this point it is confusing and frustrating, and you don't want to make the "wrong" choice. Keep exploring your options, but realize that there can be more than one "right" choice. I know I was really worked up about my youngest kid's medical issues when she was an infant/toddler. Her issues are still not completely solved, but now that things are in better place and we are almost a decade removed from the initial panic and fear, things don't seem so bleak.

How about a local school with a grade skip for a year while the school gets going and then you have a better basis of comparison as you will know if the local school is workable and you can see how the new school is being established.

I agree with the others that it looks great but four hours a day in the car is too much in the long term. If the Grayson school looks good maybe a move halfway there would be workable if not even closer.

Wow.

Grayson looks good.

Obviously, there are not more gifted schools because there aren't enough gifties in a given area typically. What would scare me would be the potential that the school starting off well and then hitting either/or accusations of elitism or enrollments difficulties later resulting in a diluted standards.

I think that to have something that good only to have it removed would be damaging.

I go back and forth like a see-saw on this because while on the one hand I want my DD to have intellectual stimulation from peers and schoolmates I also recognize that simple fact that the majority of the World's population is NT.

Pragmatically, she is going to have to deal with ordinary people even in extraordinary jobs working for (and God willing, leading) top shelf corporations. The correlation between Intelligence and income drops off after USD 200k or so. A 'normal' school is where my DD can learn these social skills - I say to myself when I have rocked to this end of the see-saw. LOL

Honestly, I would try the most convenient and cheapest option first, the one with the best education focused on the whole child.
Then from there I would be constantly assessing how things are going for the child, how my relationship with the teacher and with the staff was going, and how the situation was working for my family life.
I have the firm belief that kindergarten should be a time filled with wonderful memory makers for my children. I wanted them to plant marigold seeds, to color, to paste, to cut, to build with blocks, to learn whatever they were interested in.
As long as my kiddos were happy at that age in their classrooms, we were satisfied. The years worth of growth they both did was more social and interpersonal. They both went into kindy having learned the curriculum at least a year in advance.
Make it easy on yourself and reassess the situation as time goes on.