DD has been tested >99.9% with a very even profile. She is 3 months past the K cutoff and eligible for early entry. She would start K at 4y3m if we went that way. School starts in January but we need to decide in the next 2 months in order to get our application in.
Some background: She is currently in daycare 4 days a week and 1 day with grandparents. She isn't an outgoing girl but is not shy either. She warms quickly to people and likes attention. She has a long attention span for her age, can follow directions and sit still. At home, she likes to play board games and video games, run/jump around, and sometimes some basic pretend play (eg putting dolls to bed, shopping).
There are my rambling thoughts - some might not be as 'valid' as others
Any advice would be appreciated
Reasons against early entry
- she is very happy at daycare and hasn't expressed any negative opinions
- apart from one girl 6months older (who I suspect is gifted), she tends to play with the younger children. She says the older girls do not like her
- she loves playing with other kids and would be heartbroken if no one would play with her
- she does not invent complicated games and is quite happy with basic physical activities (eg playing chasing games)
- she is a follower, not a leader, and I worry about her being led astray
- 45% of the children in K would be more than a year older than her (based on previous enrolment history)
- she is not yet reading, however I think she will be by the end of the year as she is starting to write 'sentences' with the 1st letter of words
- by the time the school starts I suspect she will know all 1st grade math concepts (she already knows all of K math). So she would need differentiation regardless of whether she enters early or on time
- being the correct age for her grade would give her a greater chance of getting into the only decent high school in our area (entry test)
- she doesn't care whether she goes to daycare or school next year (she only wants to do what her friend does)
- I think her test result is 'too high'. I haven't seen her display any extraordinary abilities. To me she seems MG
- if early entry doesn't work out, we have no care to fall back on as daycare/preschools here have long waiting lists
Reasons for early entry
- the psych recommended it
- if her test result is accurate, then research shows early entry/acceleration to be a good option and a grade skip now would probably be easier than one later
- I can't find any local schools who have a composite K-1 class (to possibly skip year 1)
- daycare do not believe she is gifted (fine at the moment while she is enjoying herself, but next year she may actually need a teacher who understands her)
- her one good friend from daycare is unlikely to be there next year, which could lead to boredom as she would be among the oldest
