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Hi,
I'm in Canada, too (BC), and we have the same learning outcomes for Kindergarten: know letter names and sounds, count to 30, be able to write your own name, know basic shapes and colours. So yes, that is what the 6 year-olds are required to know. My niece is 6 years and 9 months (grade 1) and she is just starting to blend words - and it doesn't sound like the teachers consider her behind.
You should be able to find the provincial learning outcomes for each grade online. I printed them out and went through them noting down what DS already knew and be what age he had mastered it - it was eye opening! That is when I knew that I wouldn't enroll him in a bm school (we are learning at home through a public distributed learning program).

Great strategy!

Would it really be any better if the learning outcomes for kindergarten were to be able to read at a level J (first grade level: Little Bear) at the end of kindergarten? That would be something I would run away from as a parent of an early reader, because that means a lot of time is going to be spent on reading, something my DD does not need help with.

It sounds like she is still in "preschool". We chose a preschool for DD that was only a few hours each week and completely play-based. We did not want the emphasis to be on reading. Instead DD learned about dinosaurs and science through art and songs. The pre-literacy skills that she had obviously picked up on her own were cemented through finger plays, story telling, and rhyming games.

For Kindergarten we chose a reggio emilio school because in our area they offered the most differentiation and evidence-based approaches for early childhood (which Kindergarten still falls under.) Again, there is actually little emphasis on reading--there is very little group instruction about it other than story elements which is awesome for any level reader. Reading is intertwined in other themes and areas of instruction, which allows for differentiation and exploration of things like fractions and division. What little 1:1 DD is getting in language arts is at her level.

I'm going to assume you're in Ontario (sorry if this is wrong). My first recommendation is to find out what your school board has in terms of gifted programs and what age they start. If you're open to changing school boards I'd also check out what they have for options (I'm in Ottawa so we have 4 school boards to compare). I'm not aware of any that start in JK or SK but there are a few boards that start in grade 1. You might want to check out the forum at http://www.abcontario.ca/ which might have more info about your specific school board.

I have a gifted DS7 who is in grade 2 and a non-tested DD5 in SK. I spent a lot of time in both of their classes so I'm reasonably familiar with the Ontario Full Day Kindergarten program. The expectations are set across the province and in many cases are far exceeded. Most of the reading was done 1:1 with a parent volunteer out in the hall so it was very easy to differentiate and have kids reading at their level. DD had 29 kids in her class so her teacher and ECE generally had stations for most of the day and worked with small groups which again lends itself well to being able to differentiate. The new program is very play based and at first glance looks like a bunch of kids just playing but it was surprising just how much they did manage to learn. TBH the kindergarten program is easier to differentiate than grade 1 when they generally start doing more worksheets that are explained as a group and then done at their desk while the teacher walks around.

IMHO differentiation is HIGHLY teacher dependent. We've had some teachers that are fantastic and were able to keep all of the kids engaged. Others weren't and the class was wild. It also highly depends on the kid's personality. My DS is 2e and can be highly disruptive if he isn't kept appropriately busy. He is far more challenging in a class since he often refuses to do work that is "boring". DD on the other hand is much more of a people pleaser and loves the social part of school. Neither of them is learning much academically at the moment but we finally have DS not acting out and reasonably happy and DD is happy. They are both learning a lot of soft skills and for DS he's learning ways to cope and work around his LD which for now is what we're focusing on. We will likely have to change stuff in the future but for this year we're ok with that. We do a lot of learning after school.

My advice would be to go in with an open mind and see what they say. You might want to take some examples of her work/ability in case they haven't noticed and see what they can do for her. You might also want to inquire about testing. Our school won't test until grade 3 so we did it privately. Having concrete results went a long way with our DS's situation. We were no longer pushy parents that thought their kid was super smart. In his case the 2e hid a lot of his abilities in a school setting so they were a bit stunned by just how high his scores were. They still aren't able to fully meet his needs but at least they're trying and are working with us to try to improve things.

Yes, we are in Ontario - Peel Region. I'm surprized to learn that parent volunteers were invited to help with reading in the your DCs K classes. As of yet, I haven't been informed of such a program at our school. That is something I will definitely ask about. I'm happy to hear there is room for differentiation within the system. Her teacher and ECE are approachable but I wasn't sure if asking to modify activities for DD would be something that was feasible. It's good to know it can be done.

Our board also doesn't test until grade three. It is something we are thinking of getting done on our own. My DD sounds a lot like your description of your DD. She is enjoying the social aspect of school but as I mentioned, isn't learning a lot academically. As a funny aside her teacher told me that DD came up to her and said, "I am exhausted because I've played too much today. I would like to go home now." Good to hear that your son's school situation is improving.

Thanks to everyone for their advice so far. I have a lot of research to do and info to collate for the meeting. Now at least I feel I will be prepared.

Every teacher implements the program slightly different so your school might approach things differently. Even in our school they don't have the volunteers start until mid-Oct or early-Nov so they can get the classes into a routine before kids start getting pulled out.

There is definitely room for differentiation but as I said before it is highly teacher related. Some teachers are fantastic at it, others not so much. Some teachers are also mostly focused on the bottom of the class especially when the top ones are well behaved and coasting along so it might take some advocacy to give her some more challenging work. Other teachers are fascinated to dig deeper and challenge the top.

There are also some things that are easier than others to differentiate. DS does wonderful in science which is much more open ended and he can go more in depth but we still don't have a solution for math class since he isn't the type to do all of the grade 2 work and then sit and teach himself more advanced math with extra worksheets so for now it is a work in progress.

If you do have a chance to volunteer in the class I'd highly recommend it. It has been invaluable in seeing exactly what is going on and getting beyond the "nothing" answer to "what did you do/learn at school today?". It has also helped me better understand what is and isn't possible for them to do. Last year DD's class had 29 kids which included 3 special needs and 3 ESL. Some days I was amazed the teachers were still standing at the end of the day never mind that any learning occurred Lastly, it has made for a better teacher/parent relationship and greatly increased communication. We are far from a perfect school situation but at least we're slowing moving in the right direction.

Good luck!

Some families find good results by asking about the best thing that happened in school today... and the worst thing that happened in school today.

one tip for the parent-teacher meeting, based purely on a horrible personal experience...

they're likely going to focus on social adjustment at this first meeting. if you want to talk about academic concerns (and it sounds like that's appropriate!), you may need to couch it in the feelings your kid is reporting around not learning anything. the teacher may be less likely to instantly label you as a pushy/rushy parent (not that you are!) and actually focus on the problems at hand.

all the best!

Another version (which I learned here), is "tell me a question that you asked at school today."

This is a good point. DD's weak area is fine motor skills. She has a hard time with things like cutting with scissors and zipping up her coat. The teacher has mentioned it to me once. She will probably make it one of her main talking points at the meeting.