Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Any others skipping K?

So DS will be skipping K and going to first. I realize what a big thing K is in society and how strange this whole thing is going to be. Everytime someone asks his age, the almost always follow it with "wow, you are going to K this fall!" To which he replies "no, I am going to first grade" Usually people kind of say "oh wow" and then give me a look and drop it. But sometimes people just don't get it. He had a dentist appointment this week and the dental assistant just wouldn't let it go. She kept asking him questions "why are you skipping K?" and "are you in K now?" "so you are in pre-k and going to first...what aobout K?" It was so annoying to me. I just simply said "he is in pre-k and going to first because it's a better fit for him" Then we had a talk about it in the car. I had explained to him before that some kids go to K and some go straight to first. I realized that I had to explain to him that most kids go to K and that is why people are surprised when he is going to first. Anyhow, anyone else going through this? Any other suggestions with talking to others about it or talking to your children about it?

I will be looking at this thread for answers too. At least with skipping K, none of his school peer group will really know him as being in another grade. I imagine once he starts no one will bat an eye at it. He won't even need to tell people he didn't go to K. I would just suggest to him that if the teacher makes any references to K such as write a story about your favorite time in K, he just knows to write about PK. My DD7 is skipping 2nd and moving up in the fall. We have suggested she not tell people she is skipping, but rather when asked what grade she is in to just reply 3rd. We are hoping to keep it pretty low key as I think that will make the transition easier for her.

how common it is for gifted kids to skip K? I have not even approached it with my district, assuming it was not an option, or thought it would have to be fought for tooth and nail.. BUt it does make more sense then skipping later. My HG+ DD5 who will start K this september has already asked "why can't i go right to second grade?" becuase she is so accustomed to doing her brothers first grade homework side by side with him that it just makes sense to her to skip. The only thing she hasn't mastered from the kindergarden curriculum that they gave to us in orientation is "the calender" which she's never had an interest in except for when her birthday is near. The other things like "be able to identify eight colors.", "count to 20", etc. made me just laugh. I really think that is low for even typical/average kids.

The charter school that DD4 will be attending next year has agreed to do the IAS as soon as school starts in August for her to skip K. The principal is completely against the idea, but has agreed to abide by the IAS, so let's hope that works. I've got all my ammunition ready...
And yes, I keep getting unwanted input from everyone. We live in a small town where she has gone to the same preschool with all the kids in town for the last 3 years. So explaining why she isn't going to the local school next year, why we've decided to drive a 5 year old 45 minutes each way for a different school and why she will be in 1st instead of K is a pain. "Let her be a child." "Don't push her." LOL, she's pushing *me*.

I would guess it is pretty uncommon. I don't know if our school district has ever done it before. They did tell me that have had a few kids skip 2nd grade before. DS is a PG kid and I think after meeting him they knew that K would not work for him. I didn't have to push for, I shared his testing results with them (which recommended skipping K and future grade skips as well) and told them I didn't think K would work but that I wanted them to meet him and see what they thought. They met him and spent a little time with him in a couple classes and realized it wouldn't work. He is doing most stuff above a 2nd grade level...we just looked at their curriculum map for 1st grade and he has clearly mastered all that already. But I don't want to push him ahead any further. We will be meeting in the fall to talk about subject acceleration for him. I am positive that this won't be a successful experience unless they do some subject acceleration in reading and math. He will certainly start acting out if he is sitting through them learning to read and through basic addition and subtraction. He is currently into fractions and double digit multiplication.

LOL, I hear you. I wouldn't even know how to push him he has already exceeded my knowledge on many things (sad to say but true). I love the "let them be a kid" comments. I have only had it a couple times from people who had never met him. But what do they think I am doing? He is a kid, a kid who sometimes would prefer math over a bike ride and would always pick math over playing with action figures or something like that. I can't change that about him. I still challenge him, and make him turn off his computer and go outside even if he doesn't feel like it...because he still enjoys doing other things. But I have never kept him from being a kid.

I am glad that others are finding it easier to do this than we did in Florida. I attempted to ask for this last year knowing that my DS5(at the time) would have been bored out of his mind. I taught K in the state for many moons and knew he was well past the requirments. I found out that they do not allow K skipping. You can possibly do a TK-1 class which is a K-1 combo if the county offers it but that is about it. I usually got laughed at in person or on the phone when I asked time and time again about what gifted services were offered to Kindergarten children. So, we were stuck with homeschooling this year until a better option appears.

When I hear this about DD4, I say, "I am letting her be a child. I let her be the child she is."

I'm always tempted to add "...not the child people who don't know her think she should be" but I don't.

Next time I might.

Val

When ds8 was in k, they did a pre-assessment, where they didn't seem to expect kids to know any numbers or letters. He did great of course, knowing numbers/counting/some light adding/taking away, his letters, colors, etc. I mean, he's known his colors since before he was 2.
By first he was bored and isolated and sad, now in 3rd we have a real problem on our hands, but we are handling it and I see some improvement in mood, desire to learn, and even a few older friends and some in his gt program (thank goodness!). And he does not sound nearly as advanced as your dd, or most kids on this board! - and he is one of the youngest for the class, having a summer birthday. Glad I didn't 'hold him back' to develop his maturity.


I am *not* assuming anything with our 2nd, dd3 is already reading a few sight words and getting more under her belt each day. She is not as strong spatially as ds, but still does great on puzzles and such. I called our district, apparently they don't allow early entrance to Kindergarten but will certainly take a child transferring into 1st who was enrolled in kindergarten privately, even if they are young for first grade. I am a little worried that dd will be expecting to get on the bus like everybody else for her first year of school (and I haven't 100% totally decided to go for it yet) but I hope if I explain that it's more like preschool for her and then she will go to the regular school that she will be ok with it. I think I have to sign a waiver that I will be ok with holding her back if she fails to perform in 1st grade.

It's too bad in a lot of ways - if she could just start k early (4.5 by my calculations) she would be on the bus with her brother for his last year of elementary. That would probably drive him crazy, so maybe it's for the best.

Anyway, I guess I would recommend you get information from your school district or even state government website/office as to what are the actual laws.

Our daughter was tested (for academic and social skills) by the school district on the recommendation of her preschool teacher and skipped kindergarten. She is 6 mo younger than the youngest kids in the class, and is now finishing second grade.

So far she is doing fine in school. She is performing at the top of the class in most subjects, and socially has fit in well. Her age is noted at birthdays, etc, but the kids have generally accepted it without much comment.

The issue we've had is with the teachers. We met some resistance with her first grade teacher who seemed to feel she was not 'gifted' and because it was a very unusual circumstance to skip kindergarten in this district, was resistant to it (despite saying from the start that she fit in well academically and socially). We are having the same issue with her second grade teacher. It may be because they are judging her compared to gifted 8-year-olds rather than her true age...or just that they have a narrow view of giftedness. Her IQ test results are more than adequate to put her into the gifted program (tested privately), but we are meeting resistance from her teachers to in-school testing (we are bypassing them and have requested the testing proceed).

Before proceeding I'd check how common it is to do this in the school district, what support may be provide to you and your child after entry, and when they can be tested for the gifted program, which would provide more support to you and your child. We've been rather left alone to assess whether this was successful and have had to be strong advocates for her right to be there, which has been rather disappointing.