Just looking for some advice on some comments made on another thread - has anyone here grade-skipped kindergarten and gone directly to 1st grade at age 5? If so, has it been a positive experience?

We are considering approaching the school with the idea, but I don't even know where to begin. I have visions of walking into a school where I know no teachers, administators, or resource staff, shoving some test scores at them, and asking for my kid to be placed in 1st grade. I'm sure there's a better way! I just don't know how open they'd be to the idea having never taught my kid in one of their classrooms.....and being a middle school teacher myself, I can just see the eye rolls when this one is discussed in the teacher's lounge ("Yeah right, every parent thinks their 5-year-old is gifted!").

Yes, we did just that. My story is all over this board (I've been here awhile!) but would be glad to answer questions.

We had to work hard to get the early entrance to first and don't regret it for a moment. In fact, the one skip wasn't enough as he is now subject accelerated in math. DS is now almost 8 and in third grade.

We started by attending the K registration and then requesting a meeting to discuss needs based on some private testing we'd had completed. We ended up having to take him for more testing and waiting until just two weeks before school when they finally agreed to place him in first grade. In IL K is not mandatory, the law just says that a child has to be 5 to enter school and that accleration is up to the individual district.

We are going through the same thing. I don't want to skip him if we don't have to...but I want to do what is best. We are planning to have him tested in March...and then will review the scores with the psychologist and see what she thinks. Thankfully she is knowledgeable in working with gifted and has told me that she is more than willing to attend a meeting and talk with the school about his placement. I have gone to the school to look at their K program. What can I say? It's Kindergarten. I would talk with them more, but I want to wait until we get the results. We are registering him for K in a couple weeks, because it is their time to do this. But I just wonder if he is even going to go to K. I know he has easily already completed the entire K and 1st curriculum...but I also want to make sure it is a good move socially and emotionally. I want to remind myself all along to work with the school and advocate...but often remind myself that they are not used to seeing children like him (I know I haven't met any). I have talked to some other parents in the district with older advanced children about their experiences and that has been helpful. So I look at it as a combination of educating the school in a non-confrontational way, and advocating for your child as well. The key skills needed are going to be patience, tactfullness, and perseverance...and I feel like those are my strengths so I feel pretty good about it. Good luck to you.

We did. It was a positive experience. We went in for testing because we didn't think the school understood our questions about k. Like what would our kid be doing since she was reading chapter books already. It came as a teary surprise when we were told by the psychologist "well obviously you aren't sending her to kindergarten." I didn't even know skipping was an option.

We simply contacted the person in student services and told her our daughter's scores - we had the WJs to support the WPPSI so it was more clear I think (if your reading is in 3rd and math at the end of 1st - what will you do in k). Plus, there was a one line recommendation of the psychologist who would have fought our case if need be.

But our school just said yes. She was socially ready too. She adjusted well to all day (as she'd previously gone to pre-school 4 mornings a week).

We sent the next one to k early. She needs to time to build school skills or I would have done the same thing. As frankly, I'm starting to think my kids learn more outside of school than in but...

Oh some states require schools to have an early entrance policy. You may find a smoother conversation by using the language of entering 1st "early" instead of saying "skip" k.

Hi Jen, I had my DD5 grade skipped to first after being in kindergarten for 3 months. It has been a very positive experience for her. When she started this year in K she had never been to pre-school or daycare so it was almost like she was getting to understand what was she was suppose to do in the classroom, that took less than a month then I started hearing things from her like I want to do real math, read something other than baby things ect...

When we went for our parent / teacher conference the teacher told us we should have her tested and consider a grade skip (this is a private school). We had her tested and her reading level was at 5th grade. After talking to both teachers to find out what level the other children in K and 1st were and also their ages, none in k were even close to this, there was one girl in the classroom that was starting to know sight words, it seemed too much of a difference. Most of the kids in k were 6 or even turning 7 later this year (most were boys in the classroom, I don't know if that makes a difference) in 1st grade most are girls and the ages were close to the K's, one of the girls in 1st was only 3 months older than my daughter and later I found out she is also gifted. My dd also knew the kids in 1st grade already so this also helped in our decission.

Considering everything we thought the skip would be the best for our dd. And it has been, I've never seen a child so happy to have homework.

Next year with this school the 2nd and 3rd graders are in the same classroom, so I beleive the teacher is experinced in teaching different levels in the classroom. I'm very pleased with this school because it works with us to insure that she is learning.

So I think the bottom line is that you know your child best and what she needs, if you feel she would do better in 1st then find out if you can do that with the school you are sending her too. I would also suggest you get her tested for your own information and also if you need to use the info to help with the skip. God bless and take care

We are in talks with the school for DS5, who is to start kindy next year. My hope is that he will be able to do things with the kindergartners in areas where his skill is age level (handwriting, fun stuff), but that he'll get to go to other grades for reading/math. Kindergarten itself will be a huge shock for DS in terms of how long it is, and I know they have more breaks/fun stuff than in 1st, so I really can't imagine him going straight to 1st. And DS is pretty little compared to his agemates. But we're doing WJ-III with the school next week, and then they'll have all the info they want so they can come up with a plan.

It sounds like most of the successful kindy-skippers here have been girls; perhaps they're ready to sit down and be good a bit earlier than boys? Obviously it depends on the kid, but the girls in DS's preschool sure seem to cooperate a bit better.

LOL! Oh - and Dottie, i said "most" -- your DS is an exception in many ways on this board! I imagine it probably helps when a kid sees older siblings going to school. Ours is an only who has absolutely no clue and would prefer to stay at home instead of extremely part-time preschool because "it's too long."

I often wonder what the heck DS4.5 would be doing in a K classroom. The only think that would be beneficial is following structure and routine. He was reading at a K level before he wss 2 years old. Now I would guess he is reading at a 4th or 5th (maybe higher...I have never seen anything he couldn't read...but I don't give him higher stuff). But if it was just his reading skills were advanced then I wouldn't consider skipping him...but it's every academic area...even music. He came back with all these completed multiplication problems from his new montessori school the other day. It just floors me to see him doing some double digit multiplication on his own. That's just craziness. I have no clue where he learns everything he does. He asks me a question, I give a 1 minute explanation and then he knows how to do it. That's how he figured out how to tell time...only it was about a 2 minute converstation. Very odd to me(sorry I know this isn't the brag thread, LOL).

I just wanted to say the thought of skipping K makes sense, but is a little scary too. I am not concerned he can't academically keep up with 1st graders...I guess I just wonder if it will really matter because of how advanced he is. And I also think that would be a really long day. He only goes a half day 3 days a week....so going to a full day in first would be a lot. Our district only has a half day K program. I know he will need a skip sometime, but I wonder if he should skip K, or skip first. He is still a boy, he is very active. He sits great when he is challenged....but he is very active when bored. He often acts very silly with peers that are his age. Anyhow, I guess time will tell what to do.

Yeah, sitting that long for ours would be hard as well. that sounds like that would be a good idea to split up a little if possible. I considered that. I even thought he could do morning K and afternoon 1st. But I think they would say no to that, and I think it would be hard on him. I would rather him know that he was in K and doing some harder work, then inbetween grades. (or maybe be in first, doing older work). I guess the thought of him missing K makes me sad though. My little boy missing out going to K? No picture of him waiting at the bus stop? (of course I think we would drive him anyway, but that's not the point). And then one less year with him before he leaves the house. that's sad to me.

Our DS5 (Feb. birthdate) skipped K. How we got there:

First, we met with a school admin (pupil services) and we explained that our son is already about to do a certain level of math and he's a chapter book reader... Based on what we see K focusing on, does it make sense for him to go to K (half day) or first grade (all day). She was actually very helpful, told us that she had a bias towards not accelerating but that if we wanted to, the regulations in our area are that the child must have a Age Equivalence of 7 years old in order to have early admissions into first grade. (Determined by a achievement test.)

Then, we decided to have our son privately tested ($$$) to find out what was up. That opened up at least as many questions because the test we took showed that he was gifted but as the psychologist himself wrote in his report "this was not the *right* IQ test for" DS.

We debated up until the very last moment and ultimately formally wrote a request for early admissions which went to the Board of Directors for getting approval (it did). That was the process that we had to learn & navigate. Your process will likely be different!

Okay, so that being said are we happy with our decision? It probably was *not* the best decision for our situation (although some doors have opened up).

First we under estimated the effect of being in school all day long on a child that young. Our DS needs A LOT of sleep. He doesn't fit the mold of "GT who needs little sleep." For the first 6 weeks, after he got off the bus he'd be a total wreck. We eventually figured out a combination of a little nap right after school coupled with going to be at 7PM that helped. The side effect was that he didn't have much free time at all. Come home, snack, 30 minute nap, homework, dinner, bed.

Second we built it up far too much "oh you get to go to first! that's great! You'll learn lots!" Nope. Mid-year and we're still trying to work through a GIEP that is appropriate for him. We probably won't get there completely. But a single skip still is not where he is actively learning and it was a let down to him. When asked what did you learn in math today, a lot of the time we get "I didn't learn anything but the other kids learned...." Sad.

Third, we don't think this teacher "gets" him so it's not a great fit. This one we couldn't have predicted.

Given what we know now, we would have rather go to K and "afterschooled" in the afternoons. It would have given his body a little more time to mature so that sleep was less of an issue. Yes, he'd have all of the K material mastered, but that wouldn't have been so much of a focus for this year (we could still be working through the GIEP process during K). This was an option for us, and since DW stays home with the kids it might have worked. Hindsight and all that.

Then we would have pushed for a 1st grade or 2nd grade skip. (We were told that skipping 1st would have NEVER been an option. But of course now I know a little more )

That's our mid-year report. Sorry for the length of the reply. I do think it's a case-by-case basis. It hasn't been a disaster for us, but I also wouldn't call it a success either.

JB

Shelly,

Your DS sounds so much like mine it's funny. Although my DS is officially listed as a K, he only spends recess, lunch and the last 15 minutes of the day in his K room. The rest of the day he rotates through various grades and subjects. He had a little trouble in the beginning because he got tired towards the end of the day, but now he is loving it. I spoke to the principal about skipping to 2nd or possibly 3rd next year as all of his subjects are at or above that level. I think that even limited amounts of K were good for him as it gave him a chance to learn "how to do school".
I'm waiting for my Iowa Acceleration Scales Manual before I push the issue of skipping but at first glance it seems like it would work for him. You might suggest something similar for your DS and see how the school feels about having daily pullouts.

thanks for the suggestion. I do think that may be a better option. Especially since in some areas I would imagine 1st would be boring. So maybe just moving him up levels in certain subjects. I think that they offer that. I have talked with a few parents recently in the district that have said they do pullout with their kids. I don't quite get how it works though. Do they just go in the older classes for certain subjects? Don't the other kids wonder why this younger kids is in their class? Not that that part matters much. Thankfully my DS is a big kid so they wouldn't notice much. He could easily pass as a 6yo now. I am glad you are having success with your son's schooling. And BTW, congrats on the DYS!! I didn't know much about it until recently, but I think we may apply after his testing (assuming he meets the criteria).

I think that was very useful, JBDad. I think the long post was very worthwhile!

I know Dr. Ruf thinks that half-day K and skipping 1st grade is often a better solution than skipping 1st grade. But every kid is different, of course. Our K experience was very good and our 1st grade experience was dismal. But we didn't skip at all...

Thanks for sharing your experience JBDad. I like hearing different experiences. When DS is challenged he does get tired more...but when not he can go and go. Since he started his Montessori school he gets more tired on those days. Other days he has boundless energy. So sometimes I think a full day would be way to much for him. Although I work at a school with full day pre-k and they adjust fairly quickly after a couple weeks.

Sometimes I try to build things up with my DS and it always seems like he isn't excited after. But it still gets him to try new things, so that is good. He never really hates anything, but he never acts like he loves anything either. He is odd. Like he will eat something and say "wow mom, this is the most delicious meal I have ever eaten in my life" and I will say thanks, and then a second later he will take a bite and say "I don't really like this". He does stuff like that all the time. He will still eat it though. This isn't just with food though. He will excitedly tell me about how he had a great day, and then will not remember any of it. Today he told me the best part of the day at school was circle time. What was great about it? "the waiting." He said that he had to wait and wait and wait until it was over. That's all I got out of him, because he "couldn't remember" anything else (ie: I don't feel like stopping and thinking and talking about this). Anyhow, I got way off topic. my point was a I build things up, and he gets excited...but it doesn't last long, LOL.

St.PauliG - can you clarify?
Your DS is already 5? then he will be 5 and a half next sept. when K starts?

Also, how are you doing testing through the school if he is not enrolled yet? Or is he?

Thanks,

EW

Yes, DS just turned 5 and would be 5 and a half when school starts. To answer your second question, no he's not enrolled yet, but we contacted the school to give them a heads up, and they suggested this. (oh oh, now i feel like i just got caught doing something and i'm going to be in trouble.) I guess we're just extra lucky?

Yup. Sounds like it to me, extra lucky. So enjoy it!

That's awesome that they offered and you didnt have to jump through any hoops.