Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Pre-school pre-K says no K this year :-(

The private school where my DD4 (she turned four in May so she is a young four) did pre-K last year said they will not put her into K this year because she is "still a 4 year old and needs to play with kids her age." They acknowledge that she has "special" needs and is very bright, but kept saying their program is for the average kid. Now she has to do K next year after another year of pre-k when K was too easy last year :-( UGH Do public schools ever let kids skip K if they are five?

The Pre-K she is going to is just a few hours a few days a week and I am getting to the point where I cannot be home with her full time anymore. Her intensity, level of talking and singing, argumentativeness, emotional intensity, and energy level, alongside her two year old sister, is too much for 14 straight hours a day with one person esp. since I am dealing with a health issue that is sapping my energy. I was hoping the five day a week mornings at K might help direct her energy and help her mom catch her breath. My DH travels all the time and I have no help, and there isn't much available for daycare, so this was the easiest option for us even if K level work is still too easy for her. I'm disappointed.

Sorry about k.

i'm sorry it didn't work out....and i totally get needing a little more time for yourself to keep up with her energy level.

Sorry they won't work with you. ***hugs***

I had to quote this because I'm in the exact same boat as you. Every word you typed rings true with me as well (except my small girl is 20 months). At least you are not alone!!

I've been toying with the idea of putting my big girl in PreK but with such harsh winters we have, I'm not sure I want to make the commitment to lug her there.

DS6.5's did, but he was enrolled in K first according to the state's age requirements/birthday rules. Sorry you're having such a difficult time.

Our SD has a policy that allows kids to early-entrance K if they turn 5 by the end of November, and DS skipped K when he was 5.5, but all you can do is ask. I would think you'd want to be armed with quantifiable evidence that your DD does well on both achievement and ability measures, though, since it's usually a knee-jerk reaction to say no to a request like yours. But, if you can show that DD is really, truly, quanitifiably several years ahead and has the abilities to remain so, maybe you could convince them to break the rules. I'm so sorry the school is being so inflexible with you! It's so frustrating!


Is there, perhaps, a homeschooled preteen or teenager or maybe even a college student who might be willing to come "play" with DD several days a week? They could do all kinds of fun things that could take the place of preschool and give you a break. Also, surely it would cost less than a preschool that isn't meeting her needs anyway. Also, what about signing her up for classes that you don't have to be a part of yourself, like gymnastics, dance, martial arts, etc. just to expend her energy, give you a break, expose her to other kids and teachers, and maybe even give her a chance to work on something non-academic that she may not immediately excel at. Or maybe a foreign language class?

Hi, I am going through the same sort of wait right now; hoping for a better outcome, but we'll see.
Just wondering if the private preschool isn't working out so great if a home daycare situation would challenge her more, allow her to interface with some older kids, etc...?

This really depends on your state and sometimes your district. IE. Here in Texas they leave it up to districts and some do while others don't. Best thing you could do is call your district and ask them the protocol.

Also, through other posts of yours I have felt that you were not 100% happy with the school. Have you considered another option? Perhaps Montessori would allow her to interact with older kids (IF they implement it correctly) and give her a chance to learn at her own pace though chances are she already knows everything in that grouping but it would be more of a challenge than straight pre-k curriculum. I don't know your situation or where you live (metro/rural?) but have you searched out all the possibilities besides social preschool?

Chris,

You mean putting her in a home daycare? I think it could *potentially* be beneficial, but I've looked at that possibility here, and it seemed like most of the kids would be dd4s age or younger (b/c older kids would be in school), many of the postings were downright scary regarding their lack of written communication abilities, and NONE of the literally hundreds advertising in my area mentioned "gifted". I'm sure that there would be some people in there who would work out great, but I felt disinclined to sort through all those people (and I'm crossing my finger's that dd's half-time preK will be fun and accomodating). Now, if you found the right person, or if you advertised for a person/people yourself, then you might end up with an ideal home daycare situation. (Oh, one last caveat: if the person is sick or there's a family situation, you are SOL. That has happened to me in pretty significant ways with two out of two home daycare people I've used in the past).

I would ask them for their written policy on early entrance to K and provide them with sample policies from other schools both private and K. I would also ask them for their advancement policy and their hold-back policy.

I would also ask them to cite in the pedagogical literature what their rationale is for holding kids back and provide them with some literature to boost your case as well as your child's scores from the Iowa Acceleration Scale.

I would also hedge your bets by looking for other schools. Or think about in-home daycare with enrichment from a tutor.

Having that test and having a consultant on your side is also very powerful.

A number of private and public schools in North Texas have early entrance programs with objective standards. We are looking at early entrance or private daycare with a tutor for Mr W. All options are on the table and we may change from year to year as to what we do.