Hang in there�this is only the beginning of the school frustration factor. However, please realize that there are options for your child in Pre-K programs as well.
I sent my DD to a Montessori school at 3 and she was bumped the Intermediate class the first day. When I investigated sending her to Montessori Kindergarten, I found that she had already mastered most of their curriculum, so we changed to another private preschool/kindergarten at 4.
In the private preschool and kindergarten we chose, there was a computer class pullout every week where a teacher would come in with laptops with different educational software every week. The teacher was able to adjust levels in the software, so kids could be sitting side by side and not realize that they were working on something different. On the work sheets in class, we encouraged our child to label all the pictures instead of the first, middle, or last sounds. We had a unique preschool where the kids rotated every 30 minutes in Pre K and Kindergarten was the entire morning in one class and then they rotated classes in the afternoon. Classes included Spanish every day, art, phonics, math, life science, PE, and Chapel. It was a Christian based school, so there was a lot of singing and value reinforcement as well. DD learned the 50 states (in alphabetical order), the continents, etc. She knew parts of a bird, stages of a butterfly metamorphosis and learned all about foods and flowers. They would study a different country or continent every week and totally immerse the kids in the culture and environment (including food, customs, monuments, flags, languages, etc.) and the kids would put on performances including things they had learned. We have some truly amazing videos!
With the private school settings, there were many options that the public schools do not have. What we found is that once my DD was in the school (both public and private) and the teachers saw what she could already do, they would provide additional challenges, and in our DD�s case they had no problem moving her into Kindergarten in the private school setting. Our thought was that even if she had to do two years of Kindergarten she would at least be in a stronger learning environment. (After all, everything you need to know you learn in Kindergarten, right?)
When DD went to public school, she tested out of Kindergarten at 5 and went directly into 1st Grade, but this process was not easy. Grade skipping is not prevalent in the area and most schools do everything they can to keep it from happening. I can tell you that we were highly discouraged from trying to grade skip, but the school could not deny testing based on their school handbook procedures. My DD (then 5) went through 6 hours of testing in one day for language arts, math, science and social studies that required a 90% or above score in all subjects. Out of all kids that took the test last year in all grades, there was only one student who was accelerated. I can tell you that between 60 and 80 kids were tested, so the pass rate was slim and there were many parents and students who were disappointed.
You are not alone and I would encourage you to keep being proactive. You may be able to request a teacher conference after the first week of school and once your child�s ability is known, they may be more open to acceleration. Good luck!
