My three year old son is likely pretty gifted. He was reading at 2, he's great at math, has an adult-like sense of humor, etc. He currently attends a pre-school that is supposed to be one of the best in our area. He goes just mornings five days a week.
Unfortunately, in the past month he's been having a lot of behavior issues. He's been pushing and hitting other kids. Sometimes he is even yelling at the teachers. I've had to go and pick him up early a few times. It's been rough.
The teacher suggested to me that part of the problem is the fact that he is so bright. He does great one-on-one with the teacher, and even in small groups. But in big groups he seems to just get frustrated and want attention. I'm not totally sure this is indeed related to his intelligence, but that was the assessment of his teacher.
His teacher suggested that this particular preschool may not be the best fit for him. They don't have the resources to challenge him (her words). This surprised me because I didn't think a 3 year old really needed to be academically challenged - he needs to develop friendships and learn to share. She is strongly encouraging us to check out a Montessori school.
I don't know a lot about Montesorri. The local school I've read about has a bit of a hippie-ish vibe. (Which is fine, I've been described as a bit crunchy. The hubs, not so much. LOL!) They don't have smaller classrooms or more teachers, so I don't know if this would be any better than the current situation.
I hate to uproot my son from the preschool where he has friends and is used to the routines just to place him somewhere else that may have the same issues. We are going to observe the Montesorri classroom this Friday to see what we think of it. Also, we plan to enroll him in a public school 4K next fall. Another reason why I wonder if we should just "tough this out". Do you think having him in more than a half-day would be beneficial?
I'd love to hear any thoughts on this.
