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    Joined: Oct 2006
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    I know this may come up a lot, and I am quite early for even being concerned but here goes!

    My son is showing all the signs of being gifted. At 12 months old he understands most of what we say and can respond to probably 50 commands (everything from getting his toothbrush and brushing his teeth when we ask to closing doors and putting toys away). He has a great memory and can see an action once and repeat it on his own, has a long concentration, high level of energy and is going things well beyond his age (turning pages in books - has been since 3 months old; understand the proper uses for things, for instance we just gave him a play golf set 2 days ago - he will hit the golf balls with the golf club even if there are other balls on the floor he will only hit the golf balls even though we never told him to hit only the golf balls). Okay, I'm rambling.
    We have been anxious about school anyway since my son was born in Oct. and the cut off birthdate they use for school in our state is Sept. 1. He has already been advanced in his daycare, so he is used to being around older children (at 9 months old he was promoted a class with 18 months olds and thrived in that atmosphere). Since he is around older children he is of course learning quickly.
    Well, my state will NOT test a child for early entry into kindergarden. But it gets worse, since my child won't turn 5 until Oct, they will not let him test for kindergarden until the following year. And I was told that no matter how well he does on the test, he will HAVE to go to Kindergarden. So, it doesn't matter if he is reading, doing math, or finding new planets with a telescope (being funny here) he HAS to go to Kindergarden and then the next year he will HAVE to go to first grade. They will not consider advancing him until 2nd grade.
    I asked what happens if my son already knows how to read and count when he enters kindergarden - they told me they will find "additional work" for him to do but he will have to stay in the class. I seriously doubt a teacher will want to have a curriculum just for him if that were to happen. In addition, a good friend was a kindergarden teacher here and said she had kids in her class that weren't even potty trained - let alone could identify letters of the alphabet. There is no way she would have been able to give attention to a gifted child.
    Even the private schools around here will not test for early admittance into K programs - is homeschooling our only option? I am concerned because my son can already identify some letters - and not from up trying to "teach" him, he just likes books and phonics toys. I just can't imagine keeping him out of school for an additional year because of his birthdate - then forcing him to sit through kindergarden where the worse case scenario is he will do nothing, and the best case he will be sitting in a corner by himself doing different work from the other kids.

    Am I panicing for no reason?

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    No, you are not panicing for no reason. You have every reason for concern. You're here, so there is no need to panic. If I'm reading this correctly, your son is one year old. That means that you are 6 years ahead of me!

    Advice time -
    I relax and enjoy these preschool years. You have 4 more years to pretend to be a normal family! By the time he's five, you'll know if homeschooling is the only option. LOL - you may have moved to Reno and he might be ready of Davidson Academy (middle school level work) - It a little to early to know.

    What to do now?
    Read Deb Ruf's Loosing our Minds and Document, Document, Document, in a journal or with a cam corder if possible.

    Read Sylvia Rimm - to figure out how to compliment the work and not the inate ability.

    Network - online, as you have, Hoagiesgifted.org also if you haven't already, and
    IRL - State Gifted Organisations, weekend conferences, local universities, homeschooling parents in your area (a large chunck of them are homechooling for the same reason you'll start needing to)

    Avoid the media. A child doesn't need to be in the newspaper because of what they are - only if they actually accomplish something to be proud of.

    Start, quietly, homeschooling now - "Unschooling" style to start with - John Holt has books on it. The whole idea is to follow the childs lead.

    Don't hold back on teaching the child something now for fear that "he'll be bored later." This held me back in my Denial Days.

    Don't hold back on giving him the stimulation he wants for fear of how it will look to other Adults. If they haven't BTDT, they may never understand. This is an intersting challenge for many of us - moral courage. Start where you are and grow from there.

    Most of all Welcome - we want to hear every brag and amasement.

    Sincerely,
    Trinity


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    I have a similar son just a couple of years older. He reads, does addition and subtraction, knows the states and capitals, etc. I found out that in VA I can pay for Kindergarden as long as he was in the same birth year. Since mine has a December birthday I plan to start him in Sept. (he will turn 4 this year). William & Mary has a gifted program that starts at 4 and he will be starting that in Jan. Currently he goes to preschool 2 days a week and he thinks it's boring but likes playing. I find that it takes a lot more work for me then most of the other Moms I have met. He absorbs any kind of learning like he's dehydrated!! I try to keep him active. He has yet to develop fine motor skills so he can't do workbook type things...yet. LOL

    My advise take a deep breath and enjoy this time with him. You will find the path and it's great that you have started the research now. Don't let the "vultures" get you down!

    (Thanks Trinity for more ideas I hadn't discovered smile )

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    Stbmom,
    Really, I don't think starting K one year early is going to solve your challenge. When he does start school, try to get him placed in the most appropriate setting possible, but there is no rush to get started. School Love to tell you what they will and won't do, but once your child hits the system, then may suddenly agree with you. I think this is more likely if ds hasn't spent "years and years" misplaced academically. Your son sounds like he may be one of the "wildly PG" (I count my son as a "mildly PG") were you get less roadblocks from schools because it's just SO obvious. Keep concentrating on character development, which will mean meeting his academic needs and perhaps pushing on the gross and fine motor stuff if he's anything like many of the PG boys I've met.

    When he was 6 months old, did he "con" you into keeping him off his stomach, or did you dodge that one? I blew it there.

    ((Warm Smile))
    Trin


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    Welcome -- and don't panic. It's great that you're aware of this when he's so young.

    I second what Trinity said about documenting everything. Pay attention to the times you're out in public with your son, and he does things that make other parents look at you and say "Umm, HOW OLD is he?" That's always a clue that something's different with his development!

    The Deborah Ruf book (Losing Our Minds) really is excellent, you must get that one ASAP. I wish I had had that one from the start.

    What state are you in? And where are you getting your information about what your state will and won't do? If you're getting it from the school district, I would double-check all of that information from other sources.

    Look up your state's Department of Education website and do some research there. Actually call the state Dept. of Education and ask questions.

    Find out the state law about how old a child has to be when they start school. (In some states it's as late as 8 years old.)

    Verify what the law is about transfers from a private school to public school (for example, if your son does K at a private school, does the public school legally have to accept him into first grade?) Your school district might not be aware of the law in this area.

    Call all the private schools in your area and specifically ask each one what they would do with an advanced child who is ready for K but misses the age cutoff by a month. You might find one that's open to the idea of early entry.

    Keep asking questions, keep pushing, and don't give up. Call your state reps/congresspersons and ask how they support gifted education. Get involved in any advocacy group you can find in your state. Since your son is only 12 months old, you have the gift of time. If you start now, things may change before he's ready for school.

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    When I look back on the development of my children as babies and infants, I see so many signs. Two Thanksgiving examples;

    My daughter was a newborn (6 weeks) and we were at a large gathering for the couples and singles in my husband�s training class. My daughter had a wet diaper and I asked the women if they would mind my changing her in the gathering area where we sat. No one objected but many watched as my newborn held her gaze on me and raised her legs to assist my changing her as soon as I laid her on her back. Their reaction was my first indication that this was unusual. It wasn�t the first time and I hadn�t thought anything of it previously.

    The second example was when my son had just turned 14 months. We were at a large formal table with ~12 adults (mostly strangers to my kids). My mother-in-law asked who would like to say Grace and my son spontaneously recited the Lords Prayer.

    stbmom,

    You certainly have a very gifted baby! My caution is in contacting the superintendent while your child is still a baby. WE KNOW that a gifted baby will turn into a gifted child, however, I can only imagine what the school superintendent is thinking when he/she receives a call out of the blue with a mommy stating that her baby will need special accommodations in the future.

    My advice is to get an I.Q. test in a couple of years. I would advise the Stanford-Binet (IV if you can get it) because you can�t get a WISC until age 6 except for the Pre-School version which in my experience isn�t accepted at all by schools. I tend to consider it a �screening� myself so I wish I had saved that expense.

    And like the wise moms above, document the development!

    If you happen to live in IL, I can give you the research that we prepared several years ago and inform you of some of the caveats in the law.

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    Just my own opinion - but personally, I wouldn't worry about early entrance to kindergarten. Enjoy that year at home having fun together and if he learns, so be it. I wouldn't homeschool kindergarten either.

    Instead, make sure he gets lots of social interaction and physical exercise. Keep him well rounded (to the extent that you can).

    Read and learn now. And pat yourself on the back. So many of us had kids like that at that age and didn't even begin to recognize that something not quite normal was going on. Just today I had lunch with someone who asked when we knew with my son.... so embarassing to answer that question.

    Mary


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    Thanks so much everyone!

    We will definitely document more. We started a little, mainly for the grandparents who didn't believe what we told them. They couldn't argue with the video of him playing the harmonica at 11 months though smile

    We really try to keep his "learning" just in the area of play and follow his lead. He showed us his interest in books pretty early on. I almost fell out the pew one day at church when he was 3 or 4 months old. He was looking at the Bible and my dh said, "oh, it looks like he is reading". As soon as those words came out his mouth, ds reached over and turned the page!! We don't really think he was reading of course - but it did show he knew how books worked.

    We did call around and found one private school that would consider early entry. They have a K3 and a K4 program in addition to Kindergarden. They said they would consider him for K4 at age 3, but would not let him enter the K3 at age 2. We actually wouldn't want him to enter that early - so we do have an option in a couple years. They said they would test him and if he could do the work at age 3, they would just advance him to K4. The preschool he is in now is actually great. In his class they have curriculum in the morning - but its fun. They do art, have music (a music teacher comes in twice a week), have Spanish class (a Spanish language teacher comes in twice a week and reads books and tells stories in Spanish), plus they read to the kids every day. They also have lots of play time and go outside to the playground every day. I pick ds up after nap time (I work from home part of the day). So, he is in a great situation right now. The preschool really took initiative and moved him up to the toddler room when he was 8 months old (he had only been there 4 days). So, we are very happy that we found a place that really is intune to doing what kids instead of sticking to a calendar. We just didn't know what to do after the preschool years.
    I continue to be amazed at how fast he learns things though. We went to an NFL game and had pretty good seats so we could see the field very well. My son watched the game and the crowd. We got home and my dh said "touchdown" and ds put his hands up the way the refs do when they rule a kick as good or rule a touchdown on the field. We were shocked he had picked up this "sign" with no read prodding from us.
    We have been making it a point to let him lead the learning process now though - so no following him around with flash cards and such! We just provide opportunity to him to figure out interest (having lots of books around, musically instrument type toys, sports, etc.). So far - he likes everything and will let us know when he wants which experiences. I just couldn't believe the education system was so "messed up" for lack of a better word. We are supposed to be in one of the best counties in our state and just found out they when to reverse grading in elementary school.
    Here is a write up about it:
    Every single week Gwinnett teachers in grades K through 5 send home something called the "Weekly Folder" with each student. This document is supposed to grade the student's behavior in class for every day of the week. Each student is graded for each day with either an A, B, C or D. Sounds normal so far, doesn't it. But ... oh you're just going to love this ... here's the good part. D is the best grade you can get! A? Well, an A is the absolute worst grade! Right there at the bottom of the grading sheet you will find "D=Exceeds Standards C=Meets Standards B=Does Not Meet Standards A=Significantly Does Not Meet Standards

    A parent writes that the school excuses this grading system by assigning words to the letters. Hold your breath ... here we go:

    * A = Anarchy
    * B = Bothers
    * C= Cooperative
    * D = Democracy

    So - needless to say my dh has said my ds will not step foot in the public elementary schools!

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    Oh yea, I didn't tell the school how old my son was - I asked the question as if he was school age now. So, they didn't realize I was speaking about a 12 month old!
    I'm sure they would have laughed me out the park if I had told them that. The biggest reason I called was because we were trying to figure out what to do as far as private school. He is in a great daycare/preschool and we didn't want to move him. But, many of the private schools have very small elementary classes and favor kids for entrace that have been there for preschool. I was trying to see if public school would even be an option if there were not spots at the private schools in our area. We would hate to pull him from his preschool. Luckily I "think" we have found a place that will at least be an option we can consider.

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    WHAT!!??

    THat is scary!

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    Regarding the Pre-Schools, our experience was that they were very accommodating regarding giftedness. In fact, if it weren't for the Pre-school teachers our kids had informing us that our children were gifted, we may still be clueless!!

    I'm always sad when pre-school teachers are excluded from the category of teaching professionals deserving better pay and more respect.

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    I couldn't agree with you more delbows - our preschool teachers are absolutely wonderful - especially ds head teacher. Nurturing and loving, yet still teaching - its a combination most "teaching professionals" should try to employ. They understand that toddlers are toddlers and still need a pacifier every now and them - but they can still learn letters, numbers, and other exciting things!

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    SBTMom,
    Sounds like you've got a wonderful pre-school there. I know it's scary, but the big rule is - meet todays needs today, and let the future take care of itself (exception for folks who are depending on College Scholarships)

    It's hard not to cave into the "get your foot in the door" pressure to compete for spots, but let me assure you, with a child like yours, either the school with "get" him and be desperate for him, or won't "get" him and wouldn't be useful to you anyway.

    The private school DS10 is in now was said to be full, and not taking any more kids, until I got on the phone with them in Mid August! He was in in 2 weeks, Grade skiped 4 weeks later. Whatever else happens, I am convinced that they can "see" my child.

    The bottom line, talk to a lot of people, and take whatever they say with a grain of salt. Enjoy every moment. You're eyes are so much more open than mine - LOL, I knew my child was a bit different, but I figured it was because I was doing such a splendid job! Afterall I was doing what all the books had said to do. (And I had read all the books) But beyond MG? Me? Him? Naaaah.

    Trin


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    Thanks so much everyone - I really do appreciate the help. My dh and I really do just want to do what is best for ds. We are real advocates of education (six degrees between the two of us) and know that learning is such an important part of life. We really do thank God that He trusts us with such a special little boy. However, we remind ourselves every day that he is still just a toddler and some days all he wants is to cuddle and snuggle and those days are wonderful too!
    I am honored to be in such great company with all of you wonderful parents of great kids and look forward to learning all that I can (and sharing information too!). Thank you again for the kind welcome and the great advice!

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