Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment how to approach kindergarten year?

Five year old enters kindergarten in the fall. He's never been tested for giftedness but is reading far ahead of grade level. I don't know exactly how far; only that he's well beyond what his brother was doing and his brother entered k at the beginning of 1st grade level in our county. He's also about done with k math and will write a few short sentences with me sitting with him.

So, how do I approach this? Given what I saw with first son, I'm worried that he'll be alone in his class in what he's already doing. Have you found that that matters with your kids at this stage? Is it worth having him tested or should I wait for the PS to test him? They don't officially do gifted testing until 3rd grade as far as I can tell.

I've tried contacting the lead K teacher at the school to talk about how they'll approach this, but haven't gotten anywhere. And I've been documenting some of what he's been doing at home to help with assessing what he's going to need. Would love advice.

Thanks in advance.

Look for the advance academic department in your son's school district and find out when they will be testing students for their GT program. I've noticed many will test during the summer months for parent requests and you may need to reserve a spot.

Start collecting some of his artwork and have him explain what it is.

Hi mom2twoboys, welcome!

In my experience, K is a very important year. This year, kids adjust to the new 5 full day school, learn how to sit well, learn to socialize with other kids etc. There is more to learn than just academic.

My ds7 was reading at 2/3 grade level and doing double digit math with carrying and borrowing when he entered KG. However, he did not like to write due to asynchronous development, would not draw or color and he would interrupt when the teacher was talking. It took him a little more than a year to catch up.

He was the highest level in class. However, there were kids that read at 1st/2nd grade level that the teacher paired him up with. In math, the teacher challenged him by plugging in bigger numbers in the same word problem for him. He learned to add and subtract double digits in his mind and explained his answer using words. Academically, he was somewhat challenged, but he caught up quite a bit in his fine motor skills and learned to behave in a group setting. He had a good teacher. I really appreciate her effort in keeping him challenged.

I have always known ds is advanced. I did not test him until he just turned 7. I have known a lot of people here tested their kids very early. IQ test score are not very stable until they are 6/7 years old. We paid a private psychologist to test him.

I personally would wait until your ds gets into KG and see how he is doing, then talk to his teacher. If he has a good teacher, she would have figured out he is advanced and would differentiate in class. She might even bring up the issue of testing him before 3rd grade.

I was nervous like you when ds entered KG. I totally understand how you are feeling right now.

I would talk to the principal at the school to find out if they are willing to test prior to 3rd if the need presents itself. Our district has the same policy, but DS was tested almost immediately. I agree that there are valid reasons for spending at least a portion of the day in K. If for no other reason that to spend time with age mates and learn how to "do school". My son is differentiated through several different grade levels throughout his day but he still does lunch and recess with the K class.
It should be clear fairly quickly if your child needs more than K can offer. It also is determined in large part by the teacher he's given. Speaking to the principal early may give him a teacher chosen with his needs in mind rather than just a random pick.

We had the same thing with DD6 at the beginning of the year. She started kinder and went to 1st grade for reading with in 2 weeks. About a month later she went up for math as well. Then in the beginning of March she was moved up to 1st grade fulltime. She really only needed about a month of getting to know how to "do school" and then was pretty bored. She, however, is not the type to complain or act out - at least not at school. We saw a growing frustration level at home though and she got a real attitude at homw after especially slow days at school. Each time we would see something like this happening we asked for mor modification for her. Luckily, our school has been great in doing everything we've asked. In fact, they are also arranging for the district to do an IQ test at the end of this school year.
I think it depends on the child, but just watch to begin with and see how things play out. I would have another meeting with the kinder teacher though, and the principal to explain your fears/concerns before the end of this school year so they know what to watch for.

I'd Try him and see how it goes. At ds6's public K, they were able to differentiate pretty well in class for kids reading up to second-ish grade level. They may be able to work with him, and there may be another child or two in his class who are working at that level.

How was your older ds's experience? That should tell you a lot about how they differentiate.

Good luck!

Our DS5 also starts kindy in the fall. We had him tested on SB-V when he was 4, because we were thinking of early entrance. He turned out to be PG. We took this report to the school district's gifted coordinator, even though gifted programming doesn't officially start until 3rd grade. She acted as a liaison for us, and set up a meeting with the school psychologists and the principal. They wanted to test him for achievement on the WJ-III, which they did a couple months ago. They also hand-picked a teacher for him who wants to have such a kid in her class and is flexible in style. They plan to give him something different when the other kids are learning how to read and early math (still haven't figured out what that will be, but we're meeting again before school starts).

For us, it was very important to talk with the school before kindergarten. I think it's important to have everyone on board in really understanding how far ahead your child is and that he'll need something different, whether differentiation in class or going to another class for part of the day. The other nice thing is that the principal agreed to meet with us on an ongoing basis to make sure things are working out.

There are lots of variables of course - how willing your school district is to work with you, what your state laws require, the personality of your child, the particular teacher you get. But advanced notice to the school will assist them in finding the right teacher and programming for your child, I think.

Also, it's good to have the principal on board, since your child will likely need something different throughout school, not just kindy.

(And of course we don't know if any of this will work - but i'm still glad we contacted the school early, because they seem so willing to try to help us. And we got a free WJ-III out of the deal.)

Good points from everyone else. I am also wondering if your school does a K screening. Our DS4 is supposed to start K in the fall and has a screening coming up in May. Part of their screening by law has to entail testing for giftedness. Although funny thing about living in NY, they don't have to do anything about it...they just have to inform the parents if the child is suspected to be gifted and inform the superintendent within 15 days of testing. Quite sad that is where it would end for us. But maybe where you are at they would do something with that info.

For us we had testing just completed only because of our previous suspicions of just how advanced he was. Our testing supported that he was PG and everyone who knows him(especially the psych who tested him and us) doesn't think K would ever work for him. So we are planning to meet with the school officials in a couple weeks to come up with some ideas since they have already reviewed his evaluation. Like a previous poster mentioned, most parents think their child is bright...so just telling schools that your child is makes them smile and nod, and do nothing else. So it's best if they can see it for themselves (or see testing if you feel that is needed). I am not a fan of early testing for everyone, but feel like we needed it and have no regrets.

I would definitely contact the school principal and talk about what they would do with a child if they noticed early signs of things, and how they would support your child's needs, etc. There are bunch of questions I would ask to make sure that he doesn't get bored and shut down or act out. Also I would talk with them about a teacher that would be a good fit as well. Good luck!

Hmm...I'd be careful about phrasing a question this way. It could give the teachers an excuse to say "We don't accelerate and the kids are all fine."

Unless the school abuts a major university, it's highly unlikely that they have a lot of HG+ kids, and the K teachers may never have encountered even one.

I've heard that many teachers hear "my child is gifted" from lots of parents when the child isn't necessarily gifted. The teachers might put you into this category. You don't want to hand them an opportunity to dismiss you.

I don't know how many parents actually make this statement, only that it's claimed to be made often Sometimes I wonder if it's 3 parts urban legend and 1 part truth, or some such lopsided mixture.

(I definitely think the idea to have her tested is really, really good).

Just my 2c!

Val

So much depends on the teacher. I would make some efforts to bring to the schools attention exactly what level of math and reading your boy is doing before school starts.

Much depends on personality of the child, but I don't see the need for any particular experience unless it mets that child's needs. Social needs, Academic needs, all are important, but sometimes one is lucky enough to a solution that benifits all the needs. sometimes that isn't going to happen.

If your older boy was isolated in K, then you are worried for a reason. If most kids learned best by themselves, we probably wouldn't even have schools, kids would just be left alone with a bunch of books or online classes until they were ready for job training, yes?

One thing for sure, these things aren't easy.
BTW - there is never any guarentee that an IQ test will fully show what a child is capable of learning, but by age 5 the test work well a great majority of the time. Davidson YSP allows kids to enter based on test done at age 5, so that tells me they are pretty confident of these tests worth for 5 year olds.

I like the idea of jotting down a few notes that show concretely what DS is doing, and requesting, in writing, (not an email) that the principle start placement testing now. Include one of those writing samples.

Love and More Love,
Grinity

Love and More Love,
Grinity