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Hi. Our son (first born) started Kindergarten in the fall after my expressing to the counselor I was concerned he would be bored since he learned to read at age 3 1/2. They assured me they would work with him and the teacher would place him in a classroom group based on ability. I still had my doubts, but we gave it a shot. After the first quarter, I met with his teacher who had recently had his reading level assessed. It was end of 2nd grade at that time (tested a few months later & it was mid 3rd grade). Anyhow, we discussed math as well, and how he was ready and asking to learn more addition. She said in a nice way that she didn't know what to do with him. This was on a Thursday. On Monday, she came to me and said she wanted us to consider moving him to first grade. In Kindy, he was very reserved. He would hardly even speak to his teacher. After a week of researching and having his IQ tested, we had a meeting and decided it would be in his best interest to move him to first grade with a slow transition (kindy was half day).

He transitioned more easily and more quickly than we thought he would. We were able to place him in a class where his good friend was. That helped, I am sure. His first grade teacher says she has never seen the social "problems" his kindy teacher told her about. He participates, comes to her with questions, etc. I think this has been good for him.

My concern comes with how they do 2nd and 3rd grade in his school. They are combined and referred to as "primary." They have a homeroom where they will focus on themes and writing but are grouped together on ability level for reading and math and will learn with similarly abled primary students. This may be good for 2nd grade, as he will be with 3rd graders. But what about in 3rd grade when he is back with chronoligically aged peers as well? We have a year to figure this out, but with his moving to 2nd grade soon, it has been on my mind, so I thought I would start my research sooner.

I apologize for any lack of info or any rambling. I have difficulty conveying things how I would like them without including every little detail, which is what I tried to do here. Thanks in advance for any help and advice!

Welcome NicosMom! Wow, it sounds like you have a very responsive and flexible school. Your kiddo got what a lot of us have only hoped for, or else we've had to do a ton of advocating to do it. It's nice to hear such good news in a first post.

As for the combined 2/3 class, it sounds like it will be perfect for your kiddo for next year. Based on what you've said with how quickly your son adjusted in the transition, it's possible that you may have a kiddo who will continue to progress quickly. It's a little too early to predict what will happen next year, but I understand your concern. I think the combo class will be good, Your child we be placed with others of his ability, which could be 3rd graders, if I'm understanding the set up correctly. So if he progresses well in the 3rd grade materials, the teacher/school may recommend a second acceleration (or it may be something you want to consider then).

Another issue you may encounter is with pace, a common problem for some GT kids who pick things up so quickly. If the school is not accelerated or a GT program, things may get a little slow for your kiddo. However, there are positive signs based on how the school has responded so far, and maybe you could ask them about curriculum compacting if pacing turns out to be a problem. There may be kids he can be grouped with as well.

You could also do a little research on any GT programs in the area, just in case. We ended up moving our DS to a school for HG kids to avoid a second skip in our local school, and this turned out well since the program is accelerated (one year advanced plus faster paced.

These are just my random thoughts. I do think it's early to really figure things out, but you can think about possible options. I would also recommend getting in touch with the school regularly about any and all concerns. They sound really wonderful, and I'm sure they will come up with some great ideas too.