they're afraid I'll actually TEACH her something? It doesn't make sense at all.
Oh, but it does make sense. You see, if you teach her some math she'll finish even faster.
You are assuming that the purpose of school is to instruct the children in certain academic subjects. That is simply not the case! Why, only just this morning I was told by DS' principal that her main concern regarding his gradeskip is how he will handle recess with the first graders. She will not commit to a skip until she has observed him at recess. She declared herself to be unconcerned about his ability to handle the academics of first grade.
Then, too, his Kindergarten teacher expressed her concern that DS has not "mastered" coloring inside the lines. She is sure he can do first grade work, but the coloring issue makes her strongly hesitate when it comes to acceleration.
I went home, my mind still boggling...you see, like you I thought that learning the curriculum was the point of education. If everyone agreed that first grade was an appropriate
academic placement then DS should be placed there and any coloring and recess issues could be dealt with as needed.
I am now awaiting the results of DS' recess assessment... I sure hope he passed muster with the principal. I observed him (unseen) myself and saw him run over to the playset with a little girl and later run over to the hula hoops and start hula hooping with another girl. I hope it's ok that he plays with girls...
Cathy
