Thank you Dottie, Grinity, and Kimck!
I would love to better understand your husbands assessments! When he says "mid 2nd grade", does he mean where your average 2nd grader is? Or does he mean she would be doing quite well in mid-2nd grade! Most parents of young bright kids really mean the latter, but a teacher???? I'm not sure!
Dottie, I think he means based on CogAT scores, but I will ask him for further clarification. I know he tested her with something, and I know she scored a 2.6 (second grade, sixth month) on whatever test he gave her. She's stronger academically than a good number of his students (based on his subjective observations), but she wouldn't be the strongest in his class if she were in it. He said he'd be very happy with her work if she was one of his students, but she wouldn't be one of the ones he'd need to challenge further. But then again, he teaches second grade, and she's only 5.
She does have two classmates who are in a reading group with her. I think they are both at a similar reading level, but I don't know for sure. They don't actually read together, they are just "grouped" together, whatever that means. One of the two children in her group is the daughter of a former Kindergarten teacher at their school. We aren't allowed to request certain teachers for next year, but we are allowed to request that our child be placed with other specific children, so I plan to request that she stay with this other little girl. My hope is that this other little girl will wind up in classes that are best equipped to meet her needs, because her mom was a teacher there and has a good relationship with all of the other teachers.
I was so sad that she said she's bored. And she was very specific about why. When they are given worksheets, the teacher wants them all to sit and listen as she reads the directions to them. My daughter can read them herself, and wants to start working, and it is frustrating that she has to sit there and have something explained to her that she already understands. I think that, once left alone to do the work, she does a pretty good job of entertaining herself. But she struggles when she has to sit and listen to instructions she's already read. The teacher basically said that she needs to learn to sit and listen, and while that's true to an extent, I really don't like seeing her getting bored and frustrated with school already.
I have not heard of the Iowa Scale of Acceleration, but I will look into that. I would LOVE to have her tested, and I asked the school about that. They said to ask her doctor. And the doctor, in turn, said to ask the school. Soooo... that didn't get me very far. Are there private testers out there? If so, where would I start to look for a good one?
If we do try to skip her, it will be an uphill battle with the school, and I will need to really have my ducks in a row before I approach them about it. The principal is very anti-skipping...
