Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Elementary School Is anyone 'not' advocating re Kindergarten?

I've posted this question here as I know a lot of people's little ones have just started K.

I'm wondering if anyone has chosen the 'regular' path i.e. child starts K at the appropriate time, according to the relevant birthday cut-off; Teacher assignment takes place without parent intervention; School is otherwise unaware how 'special' your child is (until they see them in action, of course!)?

In our situation, DS will be able to start regular fulltime Kindergarten aged 4.75. His WPPSI score was in the MG range but he wasn't even 2.5 years old when that was done, so it's pretty much irrelevant. (For those wondering, the IQ testing was an unexpected result of DS's appointment with the psych for behavior issues, and she does want to retest prior to school). I guess what DH and I are trying to determine at this stage is whether there'll be any point in discussing DS with the school, prior to him attending? We've had no need to 'do' anything with his preschool so far - they've noticed, and they just try to increase the intellectual stimulation for him where they can. Is it possible it will work that way for Kindergarten, too? Or am I being way too optimistic?

It's possible things could go well for him without intervention from you. I had sort of hoped the same, although it did not work out perfectly. K was good, he had only a 1/2 day, and the teacher was sweet and emphasized play and learn techniques.

I suspected my ds was gifted, but figured we'd go the regular route and see what happened. His teachers noticed his creativity and strong desire to draw pretty much everything he was learning. Certainly he did have stuff to learn, frog life cycle, more math, reading as he was not reading before school. He started to really dislike school in 1st however, and by second grade I was trying to get it sorted out. He was getting excellent grades and behaving but homework was a bear ("boring!!") and I think the level of repetition in his classes was just too much for him to stay engaged. He doodled a LOT.
Anyway, since going round the bend getting him assessed by the school for a 2nd grade gt program, and again for a 4th grade program, he has tested as at least mg. I think if he needs more challenge later to stay excited about school, we will cross that bridge when we come to it.

In short, I guess I'd recommend keeping an eye and ear on him and it sounds like you will be doing that. Also, weigh whether he already knows much of k material, or much greater than that...?

I'm one of The Advocators (can I get that on a superhero-type costume for Halloween?). Here are my thoughts on your situation. Most kindergartens have about twice as many students as preschools. Teachers are thus less likely to "just notice." Some teachers, like your preschool teachers, will be good at noticing and providing something extra. Some teachers treat all kids the same and do not notice differences. Some teachers talk down to kindergartners, which may be insulting to gifted kids. So, handpicking of a teacher is nice. Teachers certainly might notice behavioral problems, and without advanced notice, they will not associate those problems with a need to be challenged.

ETA: Disclaimer. DS5 is my first child, and he has yet to start kindergarten, so I have no idea if my advocacy will pay off...

I think it is very questionable whether a teacher will notice when your child is one of many.

We had a great K experience with my daughter. Her teacher gave my daughter the narrator part with many big words to read like Bethlehem in the Xmas play. I thought she was crazy how could my daughter do this. Well, she did this and quiet well. Not only could she read it, but she memorized the narrator part and knew everyone else's part. She exceeded my expectations. After this I felt like she would look out for her best's interest.

With my gifted son, After 2 months in 2nd grade he told me he was doing readers that he did in K in his other school. How does this happen? Isn't reading level the easy to figure out. He had just scored 99% on his IOWA in 1st Grade. Does this make you wonder? hello!! is anyone paying attention? In first Grade I sent in math and reading papers from K to show what he could do?

My suggestion would be find out all you can about learning options. Read alot about gifted. Volunteer at your school so you can begin to understand what happens. I would make them aware of your child's abilities. You may need to tell them several times. I hope the best for you. There is lots of help here from very nice people.

We didn't tell the school anything about DS when he started K. Partly because we didn't think we had anything to tell and partly because we weren't sure that DS would want to share what he could do. He could read and we had some ideas that he might be bright and even thought that he might be able to bypass K, although we never would have thought to suggest it. We never thought to have DS tested because we just thought he was like most other kids.

I guess we were fortunate, because the teacher contacted us shortly after school began to ask if we were aware that DS could read. She could hear someone reading what she was writing on the board as she was writing it. That began the process for gifted testing (through the school) and his entrance into a gifted program and subject acceleration. At the time, that seemed to be enough for DS and things were OK. DS was happy in school, and while probably not challenged *enough*, his teachers were all great and differentiated what they could for him. Bottom line for us is that DS was happy and learning and liked school.

I have more knowledge and test results now about DS and his 'abilities' and I'm torn when I think "would I have done it differently?" He probably could have easily skipped K and I sometimes wish he could have done that instead of skipping 4th, but at the same time, he had a great school experience from the beginning with the way we did it.

All this to say, that there are great teachers out there who'll notice, but there's no guarantee you'll get one. Had DSs teacher not noticed, we did plan to mention it to her later in the year to see if it was an oversight or DS not sharing. If DS just didn't want to stand out, we weren't going to out him.

Good luck to you.

I guess it all depends on the situation. My DS5 is starting first, skipping K. He is a PG kid and he definitely needed advocating for, and when he gets bored he acts out sometimes so I wanted to give them some info on him. But in 2 of his preschool settings (one at 3yo and one at 4yo) I didn't tell them barely anything, just that he was really doing a lot of things early. Both placements were quite unsuccessful and awful. When he was 3 the teacher came to me about a month into it and said "he is reading" I said "yes, I mentioned that to you when he started" she said "no, I mean that he is really reading...and reading well. I didn't take what you had said that seriously because all parents say that when their kids start to memorize books" How annoying. Anyhow, his experience at the next place was worse as they didn't challenge him at all and he was way overstimulated because of the lack of structure. They thought that having him jump around would keep him busy enough. Didn't work as expected. So...I think it depends on the kid. Some schools act annoyed when you think your child is the brightest. They have heard it so many times that they just smile and nod. I think that is awful, but I have unfortunately seen it firsthand working in schools. But with most gifted kids, they are going to need some accomodations, so it is good to mention their skills and possible needs.

This is so frustrating, and we've all been through it.

I understand that teachers get tired of heairng the "my kids are gifted" line, though I don't believe that "all parents" make this claim. What I don't understand is why they just dismiss parents out of hand. The best way to deal with the situation would be for the teachers to whip out some SRA reading cards during a quiet moment and test the kid. Total time: five minutes. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

I know that teachers have to contend with (and sometimes get blamed for) a lot of difficult problems that are beyond an individual's control (e.g. NCLB), but this issue is within their control. I hear shellymos's story too often and have lived it myself. For me, teachers lose a lot of credit as a group here because of this. Oh well.

Sorry shellymos. If it helps in some small way, I know your pain.

Val

We looked at a lot of daycares for Mr W.

He needs books, puzzles, complex toys, and the big-kids outdoor play stuff like slides and swings.

NONE of the places we looked at had anything like that in the toddler rooms. We had to go all the way to the 4 year olds in most locations to find things he would enjoy.

In retrospect, now that we have seen what most other 19 month olds are like, we understand why the admins looked at us like we were space aliens when we brought up his books and toys.

We'd be amiss as parents if we dropped a 19 month old who can navigate starfall into a place that would stuff his round mind into a square hole!!!

This is so hard. I have him in kindergarten and don't know if we want to advance. I'd like to give them a chance to get through the assessment tests but I'm worried. Reading starts at letter regonition, he's at least at a third grade level. But there's other things that I think he'd do better in kindergarten like art and music. They also do projecs which I know his teacher can tailor for him and I think she will.

It's hard to advocate when I'm not sure what would be best. He hasn't had testing and I don't know if the school will pay for it, it's a small charter so probably not. We went with the school though because they clearly will listen to the parents.

I do think they can notice where a kid is at, I think my sons teacher is interested and will do her best, but I'm not sure she has the resources around her to do so.

For my DD5 we are not advocating at all. Her brother, DS6 is PG and really needed accommodations. DD5 on the other hand just seems to go with the flow more. She is also not fluently reading (just turned 5) so I do think Kindergarten is the right place for her. It also helps that her school is Montessori and her brother did attend that same school when he was 4/5 so they are aware that DD5 might need a little more.