Hi everyone,
Although my daughter is not labeled as gifted, I am hoping to get some other opinions on our situation.
The reason I am writing to all of you is to get your opinion on our situation so that we make the best choice for our daughter for next school year. If you have time (and I am a teacher myself, so I know time is something we all need more of during the day!), I would sincerely appreciate your input.
Our daughter is currently in the Kindergarten program at a private school affiliated with our church. It is a Montessori type school, although doesn't have that accreditation. She entered K as a four-year-old (she turned 5 on January 11th this year). She was in preschool at the same building, and we had noticed that she was getting bored even during the previous school year, so we had her tested for Kindergarten readiness with the Bracken assessment two weeks into this school year. She scored off the charts in every area, so after careful consideration with the teachers and admin, we moved our daughter into Kindergarten. It was difficult at first because our daughter was accustomed to playing more in preschool, but after a couple of weeks she began to thrive. She now knows all of her sight words and can spell all of them on paper and aloud, and she now reads all of the Dr. Seuss books (or at that level) aloud to us. In math she has particularly excelled, counting to 100 by ones, fives, and tens, as well as doing addition, subtraction, and beginning multiplication. (and she is a �pattern queen�, identifying patterns and relationships between numbers). Our daughter is mature for her age, psychologically and socially (and physically, wearing a size 7/8 in clothing and 1 in shoes), but she sometimes �acts her age� (which she is supposed to do!), especially after baby brother was born last April. We do her schoolwork every day, and after that we let her play as much as she wants for the rest of the afternoon and evening so she still gets to be a little kid.
I don�t want to get special treatment for our daughter, but I also don�t want her to get frustrated having to repeat curriculum in Kindergarten, regardless of where she is. She enjoys learning and enjoys being challenged, and she is a highly creative child (always drawing, creating stories and acting them out, singing, etc.). However, this creativity could be a disadvantage for her because other kids don�t always know how to respond to her, especially if she enters 1st grade next year and is already a year behind the other students age-wise. I know that she could be tested for gifted/talented at some point during elementary school, regardless of where she attends.
We are considering these options (and why we would not choose them):
1. Continue attending elementary (K or grade 1) at the private school where she is now (*note that we can barely afford tuition this year, let alone next year...)
Although we like having all three of our children (ages 5, 3, 1) in the same place (school, preschool & daycare in one building), I am concerned that a private church-based school is not the real world, where our daughter would have to learn to work with many others in her classroom. Right now there are only six students in her class, and although in conversations I�ve had with admin there, I don�t think our daughter would be best served by being �insulated� from the rest of the world.
2. Attend local elementary as a Kindergartener in the PM class � daycare in mornings at the same private school she is now.
If our daughter repeats Kindergarten at the local elementary, she would likely be in the PM class and be at the private school for daycare in the mornings. That is right back to where we are now except that she would have to travel during the day. I would prefer that she is in school all day in one location or another, and I think she would get frustrated or confused with expectations at two different schools at the same time.
3. Attend local elementary as a 1st grader.
Our daughter may not be ready for the rigor (and standardized testing) in 1st grade. Although she has learned quite a bit already and is in the �student mode� mentally, my biggest concerns are that she would be a year younger than everyone else in her class and miss out on things down the road (milestones like getting a driver�s license as a 16 year old � she would be a senior at 16 for half the year). I also think that she may be overwhelmed at the difference between Kindergarten and 1st grade expectations.
4. Attend the urban city school district (where I teach HS) as a Kindergartener or 1st grader.
Since I am a teacher in a nearby urban city school district, I can easily enroll our daughter through inter-district enrollment and take her to school (I have first period as a planning period next year). My two biggest concerns: 1) discipline issues resulting from fewer opportunities and lack of reinforcement at home (this would frustrate both me and my daughter) and 2) rigor of the curriculum (1st grade in urban district where I teach may be equivalent to K in our local schools � many of my �A� students would be �B� or �C� students in our local schools, I�m sure). I love where I teach and love my students dearly, but I know the reality of my students� situations.
What are your opinions? Should we move her to 1st grade in our local school, move her to the city district where I teach, or repeat K as part of a 1/2 day program? (her current private K program is full day).
By the way, as good as our local schools are (rated "Excellent with Distinction" in Ohio), they had to cut art, PE, and music for elementary due to budget cuts. I am a music teacher and although not licensed to teach art, I have taken years of art lessons and am confident in my ability to make sure that our daughter gets art education.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and respond to me. I truly appreciate your consideration of our unique situation, and I welcome all of your thoughts and opinions.
