Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Elementary School Kindergarten registration question--how to answer?

I am registering DS for kindergarten next month. There is a part of the form that reads:

Please give any information that would help us to know your child better:

I am not sure how to respond. Should I describe what he knows? Or should I be more genric and describe his interests?

If your child has special needs, allergies, or learning disabilities, you may want to lead with that.

If your child has mastered much of the kindergarten curriculum and/or is reading at a known grade level or lexile level, you may want to mention that.

Mentioning interests is often helpful, too, as it may be used for grouping children, starting conversations, and building rapport.

We also filled this type of forms for both K and grade 1. We were optimistic and put down DD's true abilities, but sadly the teachers did not believed them. This likely affected DD in negative ways, as it took the teachers quite long to reverse their opinions.
For next year, we will probably just keep quiet about DD's abilities in the beginning.

We supplied clues. Like:
DS is really excited about learning new things. Sometimes when he is deep in his thoughts, it takes a few attempts to get his attention. We've been working on helping him see other's interests in play as he can get quite grandiose in his plans. Lately he's been much more interested in reading magazines than chapter books.

Thank you all. My fear has been that something I write may affect DS negatively. I do not believe he is HG or PG, but he has mastered a lot of the kindergarten curriculum. I will probably start off with general interests and mention what he knows at the end. I like the idea of "supplying clues."

Never, ever state a specific reading level. School reading levels almost always assess to a significantly lower level than what many kids can actually read and enjoy. This is because most reading tests level a kid out to their weakest skill, some not always having an impact on silent reading ability (oral readin speed, for instance).

When you state a reading level, and then the teacher assesses your child lower, you lose credibility.

"Reads Ladybug magazines independently"
"Has begun reading by sounding out words."

Other specifics give better information. Besides, it's February and kindergarten won't start for another 6 months. For kids who learn quickly, this can lead to misinterpretation down the line.

ZS's response is good. I also included things like, "we have difficulty understanding DS's speech, while those who he doesn't know as well seem to understand him fine." And, because there was a chance we'd get afternoon kindergarten, I wrote "often rises before 5 am to play or read. 1 pm is not his finest hour." We got morning.

I wouldn't over emphasize it but I would mention it. It just gives them a baseline.

Don't go overly into details or harp on it but say something like
"_____ loves reading, the books he is currently reading are ____, _____, ____"
"___ also loves numbers and enjoys adding them and ___(fill in other math he is doing)" ect.
"He is an eager learner but needs help ___ (fill in: making friends, staying focused, not disrupting ect....)
Then I agree definitely list hobbies too.

I agree with many of the responses, but in my experience, the teacher does also want to know the interests of the children. Then, s/he can design lessons with topics that will interest the class. I filled out forms like this through second grade.

If your child can read (independently, with a little help), then let them know. The reason I feel it's important to list books/series he's read and enjoyed is because then you've created a paper trail. You've informed them of your child's ability in reading and then they can't pretend to not know later.

The kindergarten teacher we had told me straight up that the sole focus of kindergarten was to get everyone reading by the end of the year. Math was not a focus at all, nor any other subjects, really. So... when you have a kid that can read, you kind of are left wondering what they are going to do with them all year from the get-go.

This is all very helpful. DS is not yet reading independently--at least I dont think he is. He knows the letters and sounds and has a lot of words memorized, but I have never seen him blend. He is much more focused on math (and art!) now. He enjoys patterns, addition and is beginning to understand subtraction. I realize I am turning this form in almost five months before school begins, so I dont know where he will be then.