Her essential message was that in K they start all kids in the same place. It doesn't matter to her that he reads at a 2nd grade level, self-taught addition and subtraction and met all the K standards 2 years ago. He must have "gaps in there somewhere" and it's "her job to fill them in."
If this school touts itself as being for gifted students, the principal at a minimum should understand the needs of this group. That said, not all schools making this claim really
are aimed at gifted kids.
I'm not convinced about this "filling the gaps" argument. If your son mastered K level stuff by the time he was 4, it seems very likely that he'll auto-fill any "gaps" himself by osmosis. Puh-lease!
A teacher in my DS8's kindergarten asked about ADHD. I casually asked where she got her medical degree and she never brought up the subject again.
My suggestion: write a letter to the principal and the K teacher (don't talk, WRITE). Enclose a copy of your son's SB-V results and a BRIEF bullet-pointed list of his current skill set (I've learned that too much information can hurt your case).
* Reads Grade 2-level chapter books ("Title," "Title")
* Self-taught addition (attach brief examples of work already done)
* Self-taught subtraction (attach brief examples of work already done)
Then ask what they're going to do. ("We're so happy we found a school for gifted children, and we know you'll be able to help DS6 do challenging work ...").
I'm an advocate of writing a letter because it forces the school to deal with exactly the issues you raise. They can easily sidestep your questions (as the K teacher seems to have done) when you communicate verbally. And verbal communication doesn't leave a record like paper does.
Val
