What timing! I was at a kindergarten preview event for YDS this week, which was our first actual public school event. ODS (our identified PG kid) has been at three private schools so far. The last time I called the public school to explore possible attendance, it didn't seem that they were very flexible nor knowledgeable about higher levels of gifted.
I was sitting in the kindergarten event feeling like an odd duck, indeed. We are looking at it because it's close, free and YDS has decided he wants to go there (!). We also have not done well in meeting friends for the family or boys in our area, largely because we travel to take the boys where they are now and our closest neighbors don't have kids.
Was fully prepared to be turned off, and instead, I was surprised by the way they run things and believe it could be a good fit for him. He is our more easy-going child, also very smart but more likely to fit in because of his personality, if that makes sense. They talked about how they move each child along throughout the year from where they start, with the goal being academic growth. Even gave good examples. Lots of small group and individual work. (I was turned off a bit by the comment that they never have parents say they wish their kids had started earlier, rather than go through the transitional/pre-K, but am trying to be fair and think the parents who feel that way probably don't bother to say it. At any rate, he's going at 5, so does not apply. lol)
ODS was already so far advanced at 4 that public k wasn't even an option for him at that point. So I was also feeling sad and thinking about how much I wish he could be in a local environment with some of the public school amenities and friends nearby. But it doesn't work for him, unless we really want to have him wait a lot for others to catch up. I just feel like we are the weird family, no matter where we go.
