*slightly incoherent rant*
OK, it might be my fault. I'm a curriculum-specialist-slash-teacher, and most of our friends are also in similar jobs. DS1 is only three, and we're already getting questions, pressure, and suggestions from everyone about "what to do with him." To all these people, I wish I could say:
Yes, we know. We know he already knows most, if not all, of the concepts required to "pass" kindergarten in our district. We didn't teach him most of it, though now he's asking us to teach him how to read.
Yes, we know. We know he can do great things in life if he puts all his brainpower to good use. I hope he does. We know that in a town that is called the "Armpit" of a state that most people think is something of a national joke, everyone's looking for a Local Kid to be proud and fond of. We'd love it if you could all be proud and fond of him. We know that you don't want us to be another family that left because "we thought the schools weren't good enough."
Yes, we know. We know that finding a way to make our district's educational program fit his needs is going to be very, very difficult. Our students are among the "lowest," academically, in the nation. He will start school with some classmates who, though they may be as biologically capable as he is, are growing up in abusive and neglectful situations. We know that compared to their needs, his lack of challenge will likely not seem a high priority.
Yes, we know. We know what the two (yes, TWO, and no, we can't bus to another district; our district is the size of West Virginia and the nearest schools are tiny village schools only accessible by boat, air, or snowmobile) elementary school options are. We know who the "good" teachers are at both schools. We know that "All the parents with smart kids in this town send them to the language immersion school so they actually learn something new." We know that "Immersion schools and gifted kids are not a great match." We know that "Hey, you should homeschool! That'll solve all your problems! We love homeschooling!" But we also know that none of the three choices (immersion, regular English school, or homeschooling) are perfect. You don't have the answer, and quite frankly, neither do we.
We know that he is going walk into the preschool next year ready to join right in with the four year-olds when it comes to what he's capable of. We also know that he'll be one of the youngest kids in the group, and is NOT, even just a little bit, emotionally mature for his age.
We know that DS is going to be a white kid in a classroom full of mostly Native kids. We know that that will raise all sorts of issues about special treatment and social bias and advantage and all sorts of things that a five year-old shouldn't need to worry about just yet.
We know a lot of stuff, as you can see.
And we appreciate your concern and interest.
But, please. PLEASE. Can he just be a three year-old sometimes? Can we just not focus so many conversations on how smart he is and all the issues it's going to cause? I love, love, love that he has so many caring adults who want the best for him, but it's becoming a bit overwhelming, talking about it with every living human being. Can we talk about his inappropriate burping, or his love of Matchbox cars, or his tiny little white boy butt that pants won't stay up on? I can't have this many Very Serious Conversations about him. I have a feeling that time will come, but that time is not now. He's three. He's having fun. Please let me do the same.
