Hello,
I have a daughter who just turned three. When she was a baby she did everything early. She crawled at 5 months and walked and talked by 8 months. She was potty trained by 16 months. We live in a pretty rural area and it has been hard to find resources for very young children. Our local library has a program for children to visit museums and we can get up to one pass a week, so I was doing that for awhile and still try to on days that she is not at school. Around 16 months she started asking us why peers of her same age would not talk to her or play with her and was getting very upset about it. At this point she was a very young toddler and the peers her age could not talk much yet. I asked our local school district if she could attend a preschool program with older three year old children because she seemed to be drawn to children that age at the time. They said she was way to young and that they required children to be potty trained. When I told them that she was they just said no. So my husband and I found a private school near our home that agreed to admit her at 2 years old. My daughter was very excited and started this program last fall. She seemed to do well for the first couple months and was learning alot socially and has made alot of friends. Then around December she started complaining that she was bored, and that she did not want to go any more. I had a conference with the teacher and was very shocked when I saw her work. It was much less advanced that what she dose at home. At home she draws people with a head, body, arms, legs, fingers, toes, eyelashes, eyebrows, hands, feet, and sometimes internal organs like intestines, a heart, or brain. Her people at school were just a head with a line out of it. The teacher also told me she needs to work on writing her name which she also dose at home, she also writes other words like mom, dad, foot, and I love you. So I was very surprised. The teacher said she is very intense and needs to learn to take turns letting other people talk. Before this when ever I asked how she was doing the teachers said, oh she is doing great. I am pretty sure she is advanced and she relates much better to older peers or adults. The school dose not seem to be the best fit for her. I am trying to decide what to do next fall. At the current school she will be able to start the four year old program in the fall with the same teacher. The public school would have her do a three year old program again, or I could keep her home with me. I also have a son who just turned one and a baby due this fall so I don't know how much time I will be able to devote to the constant questions, and she is very intense and high energy. When I ask her why she dose'nt like to draw or write at school she says it takes to long and she likes to do it her own way. The public school says I need to have her screened and tested to see if she can start kindergarden when she is four, but she just turned three and I don't know if testing would be a good idea at such a young age. The public school has also told us that they strongly discourage children starting school early and that this is our first child and we should'nt make her grow up so fast. I don't feel like I am trying to make her grow up. I am just trying to keep up. Any one out there with advice.
