Our district does an ability test for people who want to enroll kindergartners early, but I think there is a small charge. They only give the option to those who have a birthday within a few months of the cut-off. DD had an appropriate birthday to enter early, and I knew she was advanced (she could read fluently in preschool) but I didn't want to be one of "those" parents who makes wild over-assumptions about their child's ability. I also was talking to other parents on message boards and they made it sound like half the kids go to K reading already. That turned out to not be the case (no one else in DD's class of 18 was reading). So at that point, when we realized what a terrible fit it was, we accelerated her from K to 1 a few months after school started and the school got their act and paperwork together. I wish I had just enrolled her early because it would have been so much easier, plus I would have rather that she did a year of full-day kindergarten than an extra year of half-day preschool 3 times per week. Even though the district has this option of enrolling early, I don't know of anyone else who has actually used it. The only girl in DD's grade who was her age moved in from another state with a later cut-off.
