I actually feel a bit stupid for falling for the "we spread the abilities out" line I got...and for being naive enough to think they tried to give DD the best placement they could after our kinder eval. I feel a bit like I've been let into a secret club though in reality it will likely be less great than I hope and it is probably not secret at all. We are just new to the school and district and had no one to clue us in. I am so curious if we were already assigned to this class or if we slipped in at the last day due to our testing.
A couple days before kinder started last year they had a gathering to find out your assignment, meet your teacher and meet the other families. That was when I learned of a K/1 class. I was a little disappointed she wasn't assigned there as I had alot of split classes myself in elementary and it helped facilitate working ahead and I thought it would be a good option for her. Before I could even think what to do about it, if anything, I saw another parent in my DD's assigned class sit down next to her teacher and complain that her daughter was advanced and already reading and would probably be bored and she asked if she shouldn't have been put in the K/1 class. The teacher pretty much put her off and said "lets see how she does". That child wasn't even a fluent reader. I certainly didn't want to be "that" mom so I kept quiet. Then I talked to a family friend who is retired but used to be an elementary school principal. She discouraged me from the K/1 class. If I remember right she said the 1st graders are often the lower group and need more help and it might not be the best. Of course that is from her own experience and I hear alot of versions of the K/1 philosophy. In any case, I decided not to pursue it and forgot all about that class as time went on.
The psychologist information is interesting too. My DD just did testing 1.5 week ago and we emailed a few times in the week before that. She indicated she had worked with some kids at my DD school and that the principal had been working to do accomodations for some kids which I thought was encouraging. Several times she mentioned some advanced 2nd graders. Right after our testing she gave us some preliminary scores and info but did not mention anything about class placement or this "track" at our school. She and her partner run a parent group for gifted kids during the school year and she mentioned that a few of them go to our school including her partner's child but unfortunately her partner was away right now so she couldn't get us in touch yet. 2 days later she had the report done and gave me the push to get in that class. I am guessing she learned of it from her partner who is in "the secret club"
Well I hope it goes well. I don't know how different it will really be from the other 1st grade classes but the teacher said alot of good things about differentiation and I would much rather have DD working at her level but with age level gifted peers than working independently or skipping.
