I don�t envy anyone with highly advanced children starting out in K or 1st grade in an inflexible school environment. I also resent our personal situation where we are forced to pay for our children�s education because our public district mucked things up so badly for our daughter. I am extremely sympathetic to parents who are unable to pay for a more appropriate education and empathetic With parents who are unable to pay $20,000 for an elementary level education.
Cathy and Zia,
You are beginning a long hard road. It would be great if your children become Davidson Young Scholars, but that is not the �end all� solution to your children�s needs. IMO, your most pressing issue is appropriate school placement right now. Fall B-days are certainly a problem for gifted kids. Establishing appropriate grade placement from the beginning will greatly minimize any corrections that may be needed in the future. If I understand correctly, each of your children are offered one grade early entrance with out the �fight�. If you can imagine, that is already better than some other districts.
I would suggest having your children tested RIGHT NOW on the SB-5 (may be lower than current scores(or not), but possibly more meaningful) and an individual achievement test by a psychologist experienced with gifted children. If the results support your current position, do anything you can to place them where they need to be, even if it means moving them after the first three weeks. If the SB-5 doesn�t meet the Davidson threshold, re-test later on the WISC-IV to see if they qualify for the Young Scholars program.
High I.Q. at a very young age demonstrates potential and achievement. Whether right or wrong, the mainstream idea of intelligence becomes more correlated to achievement only as the child becomes older. Academic challenge commensurate to that early I.Q. will help ensure development of their potential better than affiliation with any group. Hopefully, your children get both!
http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/highly_profoundly.htm
