My DD started K on Wednesday. So far, it's a disaster! She's going to a beautiful Montessori charter school, where each child gets an individualized learning plan. Her teacher is so nice and talented. However, my DD really does NOT want to be there. She's tried to run away several times, and she's having meltdowns. Fortuntately, the teachers have also seen her positive side, and they say that there have also been times when she's been very good. Overall, however, I fear it's going to be a rough road ahead.

A little bit about my daughter. She has major overexcitabilities, sensory issues, and asynchronies. She was reading before she was potty trained, now she's an avid reader and also interested in math and science. She loves adults, but doesn't click with kids her own age and never made a friend in preschool. She did well and enjoyed preschool from ages 2.5-3.5, but the next year things started going downhill. In February, I pulled her out of preschool because I discovered that there were 9 mean boys who where calling her names and bullying her, and I felt that this situation was untenable for her and that it was causing her meltdowns. At the teacher's recommendation, I had her evaluated by a developmental psychologist who emphatically said that she does not have any kind of developmental disorder like asperger's, just exceptional giftedness. She did very well with no behavior problems from February until June when she wasn't in PS, but then the problems really started when she started attending summer camps. Some of the camps were better than others, and I think she made progress socially. However she was often in trouble, and worst of all her ANGER! started coming out. She gets so angry over little things, and has no frustration tolerance at all. In May, she had huge self-esteem, but this summer started saying things like, "I want the universe to go away!" "I hate myself", "I want to get killed!" (We have an appointment with a child psychiatrist, but it's not until Sept 2). By the end of summer, she'd had enough of the camps, even though she also had a lot of fun there. We took a trip to Chicago where we went to 4 hands-on museums, and she was so happy and really in her element.
Two days after we got home, it was time to start Kindergarten. The first day was horrible, but the second 2 days were better, though she still hates it. They're learning how do things like stand in line, which she hates -- she's so independent and non-conformist; she just wants to do her own thing. The children were supposed to line up at the end of recess, and she wouldn't do it so all the children started chanting her name for her to climb down from the play structure. I asked her if that name-chanting bothered her, and she said, "No, it sounded like music, so I just started dancing." She's so outside of the box and so different from the other children that I don't know if she can adapt... homeschooling would devastate us financially, plus we don't have any kids in our neighborhood, cousins, or good social connections, and she's an only child. We have a meeting with the teacher and principal on Monday. I'm supposed to bring a list of strategies... I hope we can make this work. I realize Montessori can be problematic for some gifted kids, but it's our only viable option as they don't have a gifted school or self-contained gifted classes in our area.

I feel horrible, ashamed, and embarrassed ... For the past 5 years, I've tried to nurture her giftedness while allowing her to just be a kid. I feel terrible that it's come to this...We have a loving and supportive home, and I love her unconditionally and so does her dad... She has so many wonderful qualities also.
Thank you for reading. I wish you all the best with your child's Kindergarten experiences.