Hi mich
Sorry I don't think I was terribly coherent last night!!! What I meant by seeking out academic or those throwing around developmental play and other terms was not to look for those who will meet your kid on his or her academic level although that would be wonderful.i meant look for those because they will likely have lots to do and not just expect the kid to sit and play with what is in the room, they will have specific things that the kids will move through over the course of the time spent. I read on hoagies that gifted kids are often thought of as spoiled because they play with things and move on unless they develop an in-depth focus, like with trains. With my DS the interest in the room itself wore off with time spent so it was the tasks that he enjoyed because they were always something new. And I noticed from talking to friends that those schools without the buzzword focus tended to give the kids more center time.
I think you are probably right to worry about older groupings because the older kids will. not be interested in "the baby" even if the baby knows more than they do!!! What would be ideal is the sort I am seeing now with teachers interested in helping him relate to the others and the world in general but without thinking he is strange or just happy he is quiet and well behaved.
I think this great you're attentive to this now,
we didn't know we needed something different but then still would have likely gone with the school we did because the problems were with the teacher and weren't visible until we were well into it.
Do you know people who went to various schools, might be able to get a feel for a school from that, at least in terms of how open they are to parents concerns
DeHe
