Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Big problems w/ kindergarten teacher

Sorry in advance if long- looking for thoughts--

My 5 yo son just started Kindergarten the beginning of August at a public school. I let his teacher know that he was reading and we were on the 1st grade Hooked on Phonics, although he can ready some higher level words as well. He can also add, subtract been exposed to multiplication and division and has worked with negative numbers since he asked what came before zero. He is interested in lots of science material like planets, weather, the body and so we we learn about these things at home.

The school newspaper indicated that progress reports were going out on Friday. No progress report. A few moms I know w/ children in K said that the school had had problems getting them ready and described what their child had gotten. Come Wednesday no status report so I call his teacher and she says that progress reports aren't mandatory so she didn't do one but she wanted us to get together at some point to talk about what I was doing, show me what she was doing so we could be on the same page, and that she didn't have time to work with my child, but she would have to get back with me to set up a time since she had to set up meetings with other children' parents, counselors, psychologists, etc.

The following week, the school has a curriculum night and I attended and on the way out I was chit chatting with her and we get into a conversation about something my child is interested in and she makes the comment that I need to keep my child at grade level and tells me about how he was talking to the other kids about something (reading between the lines--above grade level) that was confusing to the other children.

I'm beyond shocked and sick at my stomach over this. Conference week is still a couple of weeks away, I've left two messages that have gone unreturned to the assistant principal. I asked specifically about differentiation before I enrolled him and know I have been lied to. I am seriously considering pulling him out homeschooling this year just so he won't be dumbed down althought he will greatly miss the socialization, gym , music, art. Im, really at a loss.

It's a shame, a bright kid like my son get the education and challenge he deserves.

Homeschooling can be great! Have you looked into homeschool enrichment programs in your area? Where I live there are tons of choices for both public and private programs- anywhere from a half day a week to 3 full days a week. Some of them cover core subjects and some do the arts or classes like brainstorming. You could handle the subjects he needs the most acceleration with at home, and all the things you'd be worried about him missing could be covered through an enrichment program.

And if you look into it and your area doesn't have options like these... why not get the ball rolling to start one yourself? Homeschooling is gaining popularity, and chances are there's more than one family nearby who's in your shoes.

I'm sorry to hear about your experience. Some states/school districts allow partial homeschooling, and if yours does, maybe you could take your kid out to homeschool for academics.

You could also look to see if your district has any formal policies on acceleration and request acceleration to 1st in math and reading. Also, check to see if the school has a gifted coordinator and ask her for advice.

Good luck!

ARRGH... I'm sorry she said that to you (that is SUCH nonsense). I had a teacher once say to my DD "please don't show that (math problem) to the other children - you'll confuse them" but she never, ever once told me to stifle my DD.

Home schooling can be great. If you're torn and think that public school has benefits that you don't want to give up, remember that your DS has this teacher for only one year and the next one may be better. Meanwhile you can ignore her ridiculous comment and enrich your DS after school.

Meanwhile be very, very careful not to make enemies of the staff. Watch your tone with the assistant principal - be amicable rather than aggressive, which can put him on the defensive. Unless he has a problem with this teacher, he will likely side with her, so tactful in your approach.

Good luck

The simplest thing (if the school will let you do it) might be to change kindergarten teachers - you have good reasons to ask for a change. I'll echo CCN's advice to go about it very politely and tactfully though in order to not make the staff feel defensive - as CNN mentions, the principal will likely side with the teacher. We had to request a teacher change at the end of 2nd grade, and it was a bit intimidating to do because we were asking to move our ds out of a very well respected teacher's class. I put our request in writing and complemented the teacher and mentioned how much I respected her as a teacher, then pointed out that her classroom situation didn't work well for my ds (and mentioned specifically why it didn't work), even though she was amazing teacher.

We're also one of those school districts that someone else mentioned above that allows partial homeschooling - I had a friend who did this with her dd in kindergarten-1st grade. It was a great way to let her get the benefits of school she was interested in and still allow her to keep her challenged at home in math/reading. The only downside was that the school loses partial funding from the state by having that child's space in the school changed to half-time, so once she was in 2nd grade the school pushed her to choose either full-time school or full-time homeschool. But it's definitely an option that I'd consider if I was caught in a situation like you are at the moment.

Best wishes,

polarbear

It is an awkward situation since I'm on the PTA board. One of the other PTA moms has already moved her DC from out of a different K class since the teacher was yelling at the children.

I did finally speak to the asst. principal and he listened to me and told me that that is not the position of the school and would have a discussion with her. He told me to continue on with what I am doing since my emphasis at home is on reading, math, science topics my son is interested in and developing logical and critical thinking skills in him.

Conference week is still three weeks out and I doubt we will have a chance to sit down and talk before then based on what I already mentioned in that she may have her hands full with a couple of children with emotional, physical or neurological issues. I told the asst. principal I can understand she must have her hands full but I want to ensure that DS is getting what he needs through differentiation, if needed. He was supposed to be discussing this with her. We'll see. We're on fall break this coming week and I had the conversation Friday with the asst. principal.

In our district, it is really difficult to have children tested before grade two for the gifted program when all children are given the Cogat. Kids have to get a 99% on Cogat prior to grade 2 for consideration for the gifted program. At grade 2 its 96%. The other part of the admittance process appears to be a subjective Gifted Evaluation Scale with rankings completed by teachers.

I've looked at k-12 and a private school. I'm just waiting until after I meet with her to determine my next course of action.