Well school has been in session for two weeks, and so far, so good. We have met with the K teacher and she is a kind, experienced teacher who seems to support my daughter. She says she asks her questions that she knows are beyond the others,has her do certain helping tasks, and they are in the process of testing the kids and once that is done, she will be grouped with kids based on ability. During a meeting yesterday, the teacher even mentioned examples of my DD5 saying and doing things beyond the class (they brought in squares, she talked about cubes as a three dimensional object with six squares on the side etc.) and seemed supporive of it,surprised and taken off guard at times, but not threatened or annoyed. The psychologist who came along with me clearly told her that my DD was not one of those high performing kids who will level off in third grade. She also talked about over-excitabilities. Speaking of over-excitabilities, my DD5 who is notoriously high intensity, impulsive, and can look ADHDish, has been in control and happy in school. Their OT and their guidance counselor came in and both said she was a lovely child that they never would have pegged for having any sensory or behavior issues. I'm proud of her, and I think one reason she is holding it together is that this teacher respects her and her pre-K teacher spoke down to her. I think this new K teacher still shoots too low when she gave examples of "challenges" but she will find out on her own that those are too easy. I know it is only two weeks in, but it is a good start. I feel they are much more supporitve of her here than at her pre-k where they were annoyed by my asking them to differentiate in any way. I know of one boy in the class who seems to be of a similar ability, so they may work together. Her class is huge, 24 kids, and they have almost no time for free play, crafts, or recess, but so far, my DD5 is coming home happy. She is highly social and is making many friends. It probably helps that it is only 2.5 hours. Maybe they are only placating me right now, but for now, things seem fine. For the record, I actually do not want to grade skip her. She is young and nervous in terms of navigating the school and being away from home. In class, she is very outgoing and confident, but I want her to grow more confident this year and hope they can provide things in the classroom with eventual help from the gifted coordinator. They won't have actual gifted programming for several years though.
Last edited by TwinkleToes; 09/08/11 10:12 AM.
