I don't remember if I updated but I responded elsewhere so you might have seen parts of this post in the not advocating Kindergarten post.

It was difficult to ask to accommodate for dd's advanced reading ability because she was selectively mute. Because of the selective mutism, we didn't rush to accommodate for that because if she couldn't speak in school, there would be no use in pushing her forward academically. Even though she was a self-taught reader, and even though she was tested through different kinds of testing that showed her to be 2-3 years above her age level, pushing for her to go to K last year might have been a really bad idea.

We focused instead on the mutism and the anxiety at school. She actually has an IEP for that. I worked on emotion coaching her at home using social stories.

But, we prepared her so well for this year, that she's made a huge breakthrough and spoke on the first day of classes and actually made some friends.

She did so well that when it came time to do initial reading assessments for her last week in kindergarten, she tested at a second grade reading level. She will be placed in a higher reading group and given challenging books to read for her take home books (if you are familiar with the DRA reading levels, she will be given books at a level 20 to start with).

The wait and see approach has turned out better than I'd hoped it would.

She has a really warm teacher who seems to really encourage dd and since she is only in half day K, she isn't wiped out like she would be otherwise (she tends towards reactive hypoglycemia).

Last edited by Sciencemama; 09/14/09 07:15 AM.