I know there are several of us here who have kiddos starting K this year. My DS5 starts in two weeks. His b-day JUST missed the cut-off last year, and there are NO exceptions to early admittance, which makes me concerned about how he is going to do as one of the older ones in the class PLUS coming in already reading (probably at 3rd grade? higher in vocab than in fluidity and comprehension), doing math (doesn't have facts memorized but can easily do multifactor adding/subtracting and simple multiplication/division in his head). His newest thing is ancient Egypt, which he went on and on about the "Great Stinks" the other day (ROFL).

We live in a very educated community, so I'm really hoping that he's got some kids in the same boat with him in class (or at least in the same lake, haha). I'm not even sure at this point how advanced he is...my litmus for normal is so off, maybe there's going to be a lot of kids coming in like him.

He's definitely asynchronous with his emotional/social development, so he'll be with appropriate peers in that respect. I'm not sure if I'm more nervous that he's going to be bored or that he's going to lower his pace of learning and hunger for knowledge.

I passed up a few workbooks in the dollar bin at Target today that I would've normally picked up for him (math facts, animal facts)...I had to remind myself that he is going to be at school so much more now. We will still do supplementing at home, but we don't have the luxury of time any more. Sigh.

Anyone else commiserating? Any advice from BTDTs?

Oh yes, and he is THRILLED to start K. Today he made a count down calendar so he can put a big X through each day until he goes. At least I don't have to worry about that.

Is it full-day K? My DD5 starts half-day K next month, but she's not too excited about it. And she's adamant that she will never go to first grade because that's "way too long".

I'd be interested to hear how it goes for him.

In my experience, even if you go in ahead of time and let the teacher and principal know that your kid is already reading at a third grade level, they will still want to get to know your kid on their own. Depending on whether you have a kid who shows his stuff or who likes to blend in quietly, you could have very different outcomes. Personally, I would give examples ahead of time of what types of things your kiddo is working on/reading, and say something like, "I'm not sure if that's normal or what - will there be other kids like that too, and do you group kids based on ability?" Make sure you go in asking for advice and thinking of it as a partnership -- teachers will quickly get offended if you sound like you're just telling them how to do their jobs (even if you didn't intend it that way).

Since you're in an area with a lot of highly education folks, you may get lucky and have nothing to worry about. However, in most places, kindergarten is about letter of the week and very basic math. Kindergarten teachers are used to many different levels of kids in their classrooms, though. But usually not so familiar with the way-out-there kids.

We met with our K teacher a few weeks ago. We brought our OT, the psych. report, work samples and handouts to address giftedness, learning style and sensory issues.

I realize that is probably way too much but the teacher knows our son and wanted information. She is really excited to have him in class and as a group we came up with some great ideas to help him have a good year.

Now if I could just get him to be as excited as we all are...

His only interest in worksheets at this point is that they "make excellent fuel for fires, can be made into airplanes, can be shredded to make bedding for an animal or recycled and made into something more awesome than a worksheet"

I will definitely be posting how he does. I guess I'm lucky that he's so excited. It's been a loooooong wait this past year because of his birthday. I'm so glad my DD is an april baby.

St. Paulie Girl,

Thanks for your advice. My sister is a K teacher (moved to first grade this year), and she keeps reminding me to 'be patient' instead of coming in like gang-busters and having the teacher biased against anything I say about him in the future.

I really don't know what to expect with the levels of learning. I try not to talk about where DS is with this compared to his peers because it seems to 'braggy'. I have one friend in the same district whose son was somewhat advanced with reading/math (not reading at start of school but quickly progressed), and he was placed midyear with the first-graders for those subjects. Not sure if that is standard practice here though.

KJP,

How awesome to have a teacher so invested already. I don't have anything to even give a teacher at this point. We've never done any evals...I'm only 'assuming' he's gifted until proven otherwise (new acronym, GUP) since his pediatrician and a good friend kept prompting me to do some looking into it. I'm new to this giftedness stuff. We knew he was smart and doing things early, but I guess we are hard to impress? I guess we'll see what K holds and if testing would be prudent at some point (they don't even do GT identification here until 3rd grade, frown).

I was hoping we could have a starting K thread! DD doesn't start until the end of August. I go back and forth being excited and worried school will be a terrible joke... it's just impossible to know until we get more familiar with the school, which is a gifted focus but open lottery school. Full day but homeschool all Fridays and other days. My daughter sounds a lot like your son! DH is convinced she'll need a skip but K is a good start bc she's not done formal preschool. AND there's a maternity leave sub for the first two months so it'll take a while! The idea of the assessment the week before school makes me excited and sick--will it mean someone else to get my DD and really partner with? Or DD get all perfectionistic/not answer or will the stuff be aimed so low they don't even know? As a teacher myself I like to hear from parents but I'm planning on being pretty patient, just going to school will be plenty for DD for a bit.

K here doesn't start until after Labor Day so it still seems far away for me. My son will be four when he starts but turn five soon after. He is still considered early entranced given local cut offs but it isn't by much.

My son went to this Montessori school for preschool and the school director is also the K teacher. While she let the preschool teachers run their own classroom, she was aware of some of the challenges he had while in PreK.

He'll be going a half day in a class with only eight students for one teacher and an aide. The teacher's plan for him is a bit different. He will arrive for the last half of the day while the rest of the class is at recess. He'll have about twenty minutes of one on one instruction at his level and pace. Then they'll do a group activity like a demonstration or listening to a story. After that, the students can choose their own activity from the materials in the classroom. She knows he loves science so she is going to increase the depth of the science materials available in the classroom. Plus, he will have a friend in the class who seems to be working at least one grade level ahead. It really is ideal.

I am nervous because if this doesn't work, I am not sure what will (except waiting until he matures or looking into whether there is another "e" that isn't identified as of yet)

Our Kindergarten experience with our DS was not the experience that anyone would want. We encountered an older teacher who really was not happy to be teaching anylonger. Her complaints about my son was that he was so capable but she could not get him to work. When we saw the work, we realized that he did not understand why she wanted him to complete twice the amount of work as the other students. The sitution deteriated rapidly. That teacher had a terrible affect on him and he shut down. This is the short version. We moved to a public school and he was put in a class with 27 children. However, he loved the teacher and still talks about her fondly. It was not the experience that one would want! I think the most important thing about Kindergarten is being in a class with a loving teacher who fosters learning and creativity. This is there first experience with "big school," and it has a life time impact. If they are gifted they are going to learn.. it's important to have a teacher who just accepts them.

DS4.5 completely agrees. He is skipping k (starting yr1 in Jan- in Australia) but we still have a sense of trepidation as a lot of enrichment will still be needed.

My ds5 is starting K next month and my dd7 finished two years ago. With dd we didn't tell the teacher anything we knew about her. The teacher was a 40 year veteran and we decided that she would know what she was looking at with dd.
Unfortunately, that teacher was burnt out and done. DD was a lovely, compliant child in the classroom and spent much of the year bored or answering questions for other children. Thankfully we had her in Montessori in the mornings that year and she did her real learning each day there.
DS will go to all day kindy, they just changed it this year. (BOO!) At his IEP meeting for next year (hearing loss) we mentioned that ds was also "bright" (3/5 people there knew dd)and let it drop. I think that it is a good idea to allow the teacher to "discover" the child's talents on their own and if they don't, then bring it up.
Send books from home for him to read each day so that he won't get stuck with Dick and Jane when he wants the Great Stinks.
Fingers crossed for all of us!

I'd keep an eye on that. K was a HUGE letdown for my DYS boy. He was so excited to be going to the big school where learning "finally happens!! And when he didn't start learning, he got pretty sad about it. It was a frustrating year, even with a teacher who really did quite a bit to accommodate him-- for instance, moving him up to a 2nd grade reading group (which wasn't high enough, but no one wanted him in a 4th grade reading group as a tiny kindergartener). We did keep doing enrichment for him after school, but since it was all-day K (no choice, and I didn't know better anyway), there wasn't a tremendous amount of time. Anyway, just be aware that they might not be able to satisfy him and you might need to do something for him at home.

Thanks for this. Anticipation is a wicked thing. I remind myself that any decision we have thus far made can be unmade at any point.

My twelve months of wisdom... our only kid DS6 has a December birthday and is tall for his age. We were lucky to get into a gifted feeder magnet (no official testing until 2nd.) Since the 3-5 gifted magnet is in the school, they are very accomodating. They use an online reading system for accelerating/test and different types of pullouts.

The send home parent sheet asked "What do you hope for your child?" We only put down "that he is challenged"

Connecting with the gifted coordinator was helpful as well as volunteering and a friendly relationship with the teacher. Supplemental reading material in his backpack, definitely useful.

In the "modern" US system, I figure we are offering a guaranteed achievement test pass and are only asking them not to impede his learning.

The one offer of advice I gave our DS (I didn't figure out until around 3rd grade myself):
Don't try to answer every question, just the ones no one else knows.

Evemomma, anticipation *is* really tough. My advice is to try to not worry about it yet. You're aware of what might happen, so you can keep your ears and eyes open for challenges and address them as they arise. I think it's great to talk to the teacher informally first just to let her know where your ds is at, but otoh, just fwiw, my experience in early elementary, particularly K-1st grade, was that so many of the moms I knew were convinced there kids were gifted and just about 100% of the moms in our school were urging the teacher to give their children challenging work. That doesn't mean your ds isn't gifted and doesn't need challenging work, but it does mean that his teacher may be used to hearing the same thing from lots of parents and is going to filter out what you're saying until she really has had a chance to get to know your ds.

I also don't know if it will ultimately work out this way for your ds, but my ds12 was also just short of making the age cutoff for kindergarten, and our district is also adamant about no early entry. I was very disappointed that he wasn't able to start k when he was almost 5, and worried that he'd be beyond bored - yet kindergarten worked out a-ok for him, his kindergarten classroom was about much more than learning letters and phonics - it included lots of fun projects, group activities, field trips, and time just to hang out and be with the other kids building friendships, and that was all good for him. Later on in upper elementary, I was glad we hadn't forced the issue and demanded he be accelerated in grade level, because socially he really does fit in well with the age group he's in school with. Chances are he would have done a-ok with the slightly older kids too, but it hasn't held him back in any way that I can see socially. Intellectually, boredom hit him pretty hard by the time he was in upper elementary, but middle school has been much easier because he's had opportunities now finally to be intellectually challenged. I'm not sure that starting him out one year ahead of age-schedule in a regular elementary classroom would have really helped all that much with intellectual challenge because he would still have been an intellectual outlier in his classroom.

polarbear

Thanks for sharing hour personal experience, Polarbear.

I've thought the same with my DS about entering last year, he was way ahead then also. With his immaturity last year though, I think he would've been an easy target.

He amazed me today with a friend who was being mean to him. He handled it so well (good thing as I was having a mama bear moment). I know he 's exponentially more confident this year.

Out of curiosity, did your kids entering K have peers who were also reading /advanced? Did they tend to pair up together as friends? My DS would love having a friend who loves science /geography /math as much as he does. He goes along with superhero-ninja-spies play because his friends love it.

My kiddo didn't have peers at his educational level when he entered K, but it worked out OK. There was so much new to him just in learning how to "do school". And he had other friends in his class that weren't at his level, but with shared interests (like Lego). DS didn't make close friends until he was in a program specifically for HG kids, in 2nd grade. Could also be the normal time developmentally for him to make friends.

DS made friends out of grade level too in afterschool activities like Lego league. We got special permission for DS to take some of those classes even though not normally open for kindergartners. (Once you get on a roll with advocacy, you learn that good things often come if you keep asking questions. :))

Thanks for your input, st Pauli girl. I wanted to try my ds in some science camps this summer, but he wasn't old enough.

I am very irked to learn our teachers may be striking. My ds is about to burst he's so ready to start school. He'll be crushed to have to wait

I think the schools view kindergarten as mainly a social thing, IMHO. That isn't a bad thing, I guess. Some kids have never been in daycare or preschool, so they need to learn how to sit quietly, how to wait their turn, that type of thing.
We switched schools at the end of kindergarten for my little one to ensure that he got a spot at our highly ranked local public school. The teacher sent home books like "Hop on Pop" which he had read in preschool. I told her several times that he could read very well, could do math, etc. but she always just smiled.
So... I don't think kindergarten or even first grade is all that academic. It's mainly social. Just do academic things at home and hopefully your child won't be too bored.
Actually, at the start of first grade, I asked the teacher how he was doing. I figured she would say something like, gee, he is a great reader! He can multiply things! Etc. All she said was that "well, he said penis, penis, penis very loudly in the class and I had to take him outside to explain we didn't talk about with our friends in school." I was like, oh... I didn't know what to say since he had never said that at home before! She probably thought we were all perverts or something!

The children of all of my friends are reading at least a couple of grades ahead, and at least a few kids in each class by first grade. Being a couple of years ahead in reading does not appear to be difficult to accommodate. Asking for acommodation of any advancement in math, and anything more than a couple of years in reading is apparently crazy talk.

Sigh.

My advice is that don't assume that because you're reasonable they will also be reasonable. Don't expect logic. And no matter how many rules you make sure you follow ( ie, hint, then let them discover fo themselves, then talk of earning to learn, challenge, etc), they'll still try to get away with the bare minimum of effort.

I'm sorry you've had this experience, but I'm not sure it's fair to say that the teachers are trying to get away with the bare minimum effort. I know that a lot of people have had bad experiences with teachers, but I think that most teachers really do mean well, but have never encountered kids who are so way out there. We felt this frustration with our son's teachers, and we finally had a meeting where we understood that even though our perception was that the teachers weren't doing enough, they really were doing an awful lot extra for our kiddo. If you haven't worked with a kid who is way, way ahead, it's not unreasonable to think that it should be enough if you give a kid such and such amount more, which you've never done before and seems like a crazy amount. (Of course, there is some point that you hope the teacher sees that it's not enough, but I will defend those teachers who are trying but have never encountered this type of kid.) I felt horrible when I learned all the extra that one particular teacher had done for my child, and he told us he was offended at us for thinking that he hadn't done much of anything.

So my advice is to tread lightly, and try to open up the channels of communication. It takes some time for people to get on the same page of understanding what your kiddo really needs. Testing/pre-testing helps a lot though.

This: yes.

And I will go further to say this. Learning is not always linear. That is, because your child has learned thing Q, it is somewhat fallacious to think they must necessarily next learn R S T. Reading levels: I suppose they have their place, but I have never needed them for anything. Do not assume that no learning is taking place just because you are not seeing visible changes of "level" in reading and math until you've really checked it out.

It is possible that lots of subtle, interesting things are happening, and once you know the teacher and they know your child (give them some weeks) they will be able to tell you what the needs are from that teacher's perspective. Which may not be the same as yours. There may be surprises and conversation.

A certain amount of humility is needed here, because if you are sending your child to school, you are not the sole arbiter-- you get to collaborate, which should be a privilege. Why go into it assuming disaster? A really smart kid can sometimes get through school without a grade skip or even a major disaster. (I am exhibit A, with all due blushing modesty.)

Trying to stoke up for another year of pleasant educational advocacy myself. Respectful attitude and positive, cheery mindset are jobs 1 and 2, respectively.

DeeDee

We went with the let her discover him, gentle nice advocacy. It was SO hard but in the long run totally worth it. At the first meeting, my DH was like why were you so quiet. DS's school is a gifted school and filled with THOSE parents, who drive teachers nuts. Since I knew we were going to have to advocate eventually I didn't want to waste goodwill early. DS was tested for reading levels and if you go by the ones on his progress reports he went from I think an N to an S - both probably underestimate him. drove me nuts at first but I didnt say anything - although did ask for more help getting library books actually at his level. So he didn't really get to read books that pushed him in school - instead he got books at his emotional level and on the level that the other advanced readers in the class were. I think that was good for him, for the most part. I do wish there had been more for him in the last third of the year because I do think he was a bit bored but not much. However, what we found K really good for is filling in all the stuff DS would not bother to learn about - and they are working with him on writing.He has an IEP and we are basically repeating his K HWT workbook and journalling over the summer and I can't wait to turn this back over to the school - much rather have the professionals deal with this!!! The approach to math they took really intrigued DS - could he move faster - yes - so we got him murderous maths and books and stuff - he is loving it but again school will fill in all the things he skips or glosses over in his desire to get to the stuff that interests him.

The real trouble for us is in his area of interest/expertise - science - they will never provide what he needs and I am not sure what to even advocate for. Hopefully this is something DYS can help us with.

But our nutshell - started K with teacher thinking he couldn't pay attention, didn't sit in his seat, couldn't write - she saw his negatives none of the positives and slowly he either unfurled or she unfurled him, not sure who took the first step but by the end of the year - she wrote his letter of recommendaton for DYS.

But if you ask DS 6 what he thinks about school - he loves it - but he learns at home.

DeHe

This is a tangent.

I still have not solved this adequately for DS10. There are perfectly nice online science courses, but if you want the kid to get lab skills, they are inadequate. Which means you'd be letting him work ahead to no purpose. This is one reason why I am skeptical of leaping ahead in early elementary UNLESS you have a very good plan for what you are going to do next-- because here I have this kid, and no solid place to put him for a variety of reasons.

We are encouraging breadth for now, and can't wait until he ages into the local summer chem with lab course. Been years coming.

DeeDee

Hi DeeDee

Continuing the hijack! A few years back there was a thread about an IEP for science - is that not an option for your DS up to HS?

IEP science thread

My problem is its once a week with the same teacher for years! And DS6 is understanding stuff I didn't get until high school. So what is the benefit of accelerating him. I actually am wondering about early college for just science, taking him for a class or 2, but I can't do that for years - right now too squirmy, can't take notes etc. but we need to keep moving him along if that's a potential goal. Plus he gets nuts if he doesn't get more info - he is willing for now to do depth and also to pick up subjects and drop others, then go back, which sort of strings thing along. I am hoping we can get him into the year round program at our museum but its entry point is not until 5th grade, I am wondering is there's any hope for advocacy there. I doubt it though.

DeHe

St Pauli, unfortunately in our situation it really was a case of laziness/burnout. I honestly went into it with respect for and trust of the teachers, and excused their behavior as a lack of understanding just how far ahead they needed to be, due to me not being pushy. I was heartbroken when I discovered the classroom teacher knew exactly how far beyond the norm my child was, and never did anything to help.

I have given up advocating for my kids. Our full-time gifted program starts in 4th grade. My rising second grader knows even his math facts for multiplication, can add/ subtract 3 digit numbers, etc. yet I know in the fall, he will learn simple subtraction with his class! And there will be 31 kids in the class, so no differentiation there. Sigh.... Only 2 more years until he is in our g/t program.

DeHe, on the science hijack--


They really don't do that here. Gifted is nominally a part of special ed services here, but the "individualized" part is very hard to get. Science is considered to be integrated into the elementary curriculum, so grade acceleration in science is discouraged (to put it mildly; it's viewed as impossible).


Mine is like that too. In some ways he really would like to just fly and do some serious high school science now. In other ways, maturity, organization, etc., he is the age he is, and no h.s. student will be thrilled to be a lab partner with a kid who's barely 10.


For better or for worse, I think DS is getting accustomed to the fact that he dips into serious science textbooks at night in bed, but can't talk about them with other people too much. He is probably getting a terribly spotty education this way, but we are kind of resigned, and he is no longer pushing relentlessly. He has accepted that most peers don't care about this stuff, and he mostly talks about video games with them. I think he is figuring out a mode of making it work and biding time, and I think that feels like a workable childhood to him.

I don't see any reason why we HAVE to give him everything he wants in science right away, any more than we have to give him everything else he wants right away. It does feel funny, though, when a kid is pining for knowledge, to hold back.

DeeDee

I'm with you! My dd5 is starting K in a few weeks and I am trying to stay calm - then every once in a while I get a bit freaked out. Yesterday, I was talking to a mom who was telling me that in our district they do not do any ability grouping for math until 5th grade. "How does that work exactly?" I asked... just that - everyone does the same thing for math K-4 at which point they are placed into a "high" or "low" group. I don't know - I just don't see how that is possible. I get the whole "ability grouping can destroy the self-esteem of some students" - I really do... but at the same time - wow. That could really get rough for my kid. When I visited the school last spring they had a shelf of books that ranged from bob books to harry potter and the teacher proudly explained that they have a program where students can select their own books according to their interest and ability level - so I was relieved about that... how strange that they would be so progressive about reading but not math?

We meet ds' teacher this Thursday! DS has the same teacher his good friend had last year, so I got some inside info on her (all good...yay). I just had a sinking feeling when the mom was telling us about how "ahead " this teacher's class was at the end of the year: sounding out words, counting by 5's, telling time. Ahead? Don't most K'rs have some grasp of this at the start?

I just have to concede that this is a how-to-do-school learning year for ds. Not that we won't supplement at home and ask for some challenge at school, but I'm feeling more and more that public school may not be the right fit (and I DO hope I'm wrong) .

There is no gifted anything until 4th grade - no exceptions.

I've got the starting pre-k jitters. Will my kid behave and have fun? Will the teacher like my kid? I'm also excited.

Thanks for the perspective La Texican. Will my kid have fun? Check. I do have a very very happy kid - there is no way she would not have fun even if she learns nothing - so I guess I can relax just a bit. I also have the advantage of having a very assertive five year old who has already had the experience of telling her preschool teacher, "I'm not doing this- this is too boring - let's do something else." Somehow when it comes from the kid it sounds cute... when it comes from me... not so much.

My jitters are not academic at the moment. I am worried that my petite four year old may be bullied, that she won't get along with her teacher because of her strong personality, that lunch/snack time will be a mess because she has a restricted diet. I am worried that we won't be able to find her in what we have been told is an elaborate drop off and pick-up method. And I am worried that instead of smiling and waving at her confidently on that first day, that I'll bawl and send her off poorly.

DD is chomping at the bit to go to kindergarten and I think its going be a great experience for her. I just have that small list of worries.

Editing to add: DD's school scores poorly on math. They have the class do math as a group with a giant touch screen. I figure DD will learn to speak and problem solve in front of a group from that activity and we can do math easily at home. I'm planning to do a fair amount of fun afterschooling at this point and to take each year as it comes.

On worries....

DS is a happy, confident kid who obeys well (though will probably struggle with his fidgetiness and need to process EVERYTHING verbally).


I considered why it is that I'm nervous. And here is my conclusion: Deep down, I am scared that my this mystifying quality my DS has to hunger for answers and think such big thoughts might somehow slip away from him with the advent of school. Or worse, that somehow I've imagined the whole thing. I adore my kids no matter what and yet I've often felt like i've discovered this amazing thing, and it is still yet to be confirmed.

We got the more information about the curriculum this week in the mail and now my son is excited. Yay!
The school has an academic core that doesn't change year to year. This includes reading, writing, math, and keyboarding. There is a sequence and the students work through it at their own pace. The science/cultural curriculum changes every year and the whole school (PK-6) studies the same focus areas with increasing depth. I think it is on a four year rotation. Each month there is a new focus for science and cultural. Each week the K students are given 10-15 academic goals that are mainly from the core academic areas with a few from the science/cultural. These are different for each student and they have have to complete 2-3 each day. Once the goals are complete, the student can work on whatever subject they want.
We got the science/cultural curriculum for the year this week and it includes many areas of special interest for my son.
When he was in Pre K, he would either know the science material before it was presented or learn it faster than his classmates. Then he was stuck doing more of the same for the rest of the month. Or just working on weaker areas (like handwriting) the whole time which made him not like school very much.
The teacher's plan is to increase the depth available to him in his interest areas so he stays motivated. Basically, "finish your handwriting assignment so you can work on the 12 piece head, arms, legs, feet type human body puzzle" doesn't work as well as "finish your handwriting assignment so you can assemble a 3D skull model".

Here's my concerns about school, ready in case they ask.  

I always find something for my son to do several times a day or else he starts getting into mischief.  I've really worked with him a lot on practicing to entertain himself because it didn't come naturally to him.  

He's very good at being able to follow directions.  Conversly he also likes to debate you to death.  He's not very good at leaving other people alone, especially, he wants to tell his sister what to do rather than let her answer to me.  I try to tell him,  "you worry about you let her learn to listen to me".

La Tex...sounds line a clear intro to your ds for school.

KJP...sounds amazing. I'm jealous

We're getting close and NOT close to K here. My DS met his teacher last week for orientation. DS immediately took to several kids in the class (they were allowed to play while the teacher went over some 'this is how we do school things'. My DH was disturbed at the errors in her powerpoint presentation...and I think probably didn't learn or listen to a thing she said because of them.

We've been told this teacher is very nice and really does encourage a deeper level of learning for her advanced students. We haven't talked with her specifically about DS, but I don't think it will take her long to realize at least his reading: he went around the room happily reading aloud the posters/signs (at first just out of habit). As several parents started to praise him, he began to read louder and LOUDER until we shut his little performance down.

Humility is up next on our after-school enrichment curriculum. Oddly enough, he's never been one to show-off, he used to HATE if I had him show my family that he was reading at 2 and 3 years old(then of course, they thought I was delusional).

So the not great news is that it's likely that our teacher's union is going to strike. The teachers say it's about class size, the board says it's about pay. We got notice on Saturday that my DS' 26 student class was lowering to 21 kids as the superintendant just brought on two more kindergarten teachers for the district.

Sadly, they can't legally strike (has to do with due notice) until the 23rd but school starts on the 15th ...so the kids will START school before the strike. Grrrrrr.

You are so lucky to only have 21 kids in a kindergarten class. We are going to 31 this year.

First day went well yesterday. Teacher seems to get it already, without me saying anything yet. She said "I think it was much TOO easy for him today. But we will step it up and make it more challenging for you. And we will work one on one too!"

I have yet to have a discussion with her and my intuition is to wait.I feel it is more respectful and less desperate to give her some space for a couple of weeks. I am sure she is expecting a request to talk since she SHOULD have found out from the director about DS's abilities.

1111...

How awesome! My ds' poor teacher is so busy "herding" 22 new kindergarteners that I haven't said a word either. My ds was first up for show and tell, and he brought a journal he made from a summer trip with grandparents (hid idea to make the journal and to take it). He said he "read a few of the entries", so I guess she gets the early reading thing.:)

Our teachers just settled yesterday on a new contract, so they will not be striking. Yay! Now maybe we can get to the business of teaching kids.

Evemomma, I take it learning to read "The Cat Is Black" will not be needed then...;-)

We are lucky that DS's class has only 12 kids with 2 teachers. I am thinking maybe she WILL be able to do one on one...

DD met her teachers last night/this morning (sub and regular teacher who had a baby). She gave the sub the card she made with pictures and writing and got a big reaction from her manner of talking about her name/nickname... Then we did a pre-assessment and they said she really well. Said she all her K sight words--then I got brave and talked about her reading fluently and some at one, and keeping herself awake at night to make mental plot charts and examples of chiasmus... So things she really loves to learn about to do during LA time.., we'll see how all the differentiation talk pans out but at least we're on the right track I guess! DD is beyond excited to start; I hope it all works out well enough!

Sounds like her teachers will have at least some grasp of her abilities (Yay!). I have no idea what assessments they do at our school. My ds came home today with an "all about me" page. His teacher filled in everyone's answers as she went around the room. A few of my ds' answers: "What I like to do most is...learn about science and math." "When I grow up, I want to be...either a scientist or a cartologist or a mailman." (LOL)

BTW: what they say is true. Ds was a major grouch today from being tired. His fellow bus-stop-mate fell asleep on the 8 minute ride home and nearly missed her stop...eek!

So here we are at winter break. How has the first semester gone for your kindergarteners?

The highlight of my son's school year so far is his first best friend. His friend is a very sweet boy that emptied out his own piggy bank to buy my son a special present for Christmas.

KJP- that is so sweet! A best friend is important! How's the rest of kindergarten going?
For my ds, we're managing. Glad it's Christmas break- needing a break. I wouldn't say kindergarten is a complete mess, but it's not good. I think my ds (and maybe even I ) are just learning to deal. He has not found a friend yet, though is friendly. He tries to please his teacher, but is bored. His teacher has worked ok at math differentiation (wierd, right?). But the pace and repeatition drives him crazy. Had MAP testing again with math 97% and reading 98%. My current plan is to enjoy the holidays, then figure out what next to say/ ask of his teacher.
Hope to hear that other kindergarteners are having a good year! And what helped/ worked to make it better.

We're having a good year. It took a while because we had a maternity leave sub for six weeks, but we finally met and the teacher seems to be a real expert at differentiating. Things are finally taking off, and the welcome reaction we got to the discussion bodes well. Dd loves school, she likes the friends and schooly stuff, but she has asked for acceleration, which she'll get more of now. She just has to find the fun in stretching while they sound out easy words and use their arms to show blending... Kinda cool really, but she's bugged by phonics. But then she mopes about not liking books, HA, the child who made me read to her for three straight years of her life. She's really into math, so whatever. She has some best friends and gets along pretty well with everyone, tho I think some of the girls are starting clique stuff and etc al-freaking-ready. I am sure the teachers will step in if alerted, but for now DD's going to learn to ignore some stuff. She loves rough housing and silly things they all do, but eh. Could be worse I hear from other patents whose kids are exposed to trash tv etc on the playground. She's really gotten the hang of school, tho she rarely goes potty til I take her back in after each day. Feeling really grateful for this school!

Hope most folks have a good year, or find a clear new path...

I think for the most part it is going well. This time last year we pulled him out of preschool because he couldn't handle being in class. Now he is able to handle the routines, transitions and classroom expectations. He likes his teachers, he has friends and is making academic progress.

We have teacher conferences next month. It will be interesting to hear what his teacher thinks.

Good to hear everyone's updates! I would say "fine" as in his teacher reports that he is a happy, cooperative and sociable student (Yay)...but the only differentiation DS is getting is in reading - and even that is too easy. My biggest sadness is DS no longer sees school as a place of learning. I've also seen his thirst for gobbling up new info wane. Who knew summer would mean looking forward to HITTING the books?