If this ends up as a double post, I apologize in advance.
(Don't ask! LOL!)
First, thank you CDFox for the link to that article. I finally had the chance to read it today. I could very much relate to much of what was being said, and I know the advice given is something I will need to keep in my mind for many years. I've bookmarked it!
My husband and I have been learning as much as possible about our local school options. We've spoken with teachers, parents, read student manuals and policies online, etc. etc.
In the midst of all of this, I get another reality check from my daughter. She loves books, and can read quite a large number of words. Today she was looking at a book that had some tally marks - thirteen, actually. So I told her it was a way of counting or writing a number. You know how tally marks look - the number 13 had two sets of 5 and one set of 3. So I asked her (really just out of curiosity because she often surprises me) "what is five plus five?" and she said "ten!" Then I asked "what is ten plus three?" and she said "thirteen!" Yeah, that was a serious WTF moment.
We don't "work with her" on math, as you may be thinking. There are no math flash cards or anything like that. Her three year old brother really loves numbers and may have introduced the idea of addition to her, I'm not sure. But, anyway... seriously... WTF was the only thing that came to mind, crass as that sounds.
So I say all of this to illustrate the sort of toddler she is. She is only 17 months as of today, I can't even imagine where she will be when she is 5 and ready to start kindergarten.
What school - private or public, gifted program or not, could have the resources to inspire/excite/motivate a child who is PG. I'm not saying my daughter is PG, of course. I can't know that at this age, I guess. But it wouldn't surprise me if she does eventually get categorized that way. It just made me think - what's the point?? Is there even a such thing as a good school for PG kids?
I spoke with a mom at the neighboring school district I talked about before. It was really just a happy accident that I ran into her and we started talking about local schools. Her son was allowed to skip a grade, and he is also taking math with kids 2 grades ahead of him. So they are flexible and accommodating, not just on paper but in real life. This mom said she never had to ask of any accommodations - everything, including the grade skipping, was the school's idea.
We are still going to go and tour the private gifted school next week. I will post back here and let you all know how that goes. You've all be so helpful.
Sorry to ramble on so long again. It's so nice to have an place to unload all this with people that can understand and not think I am crazy or bragging or both.
