I think advocacy is especially difficult when you are coming into a school and need accommodations right off the bat. I had good results by enrolling my son in K with his age cohort and didn't request a grade-skip until the school had gotten to know him for a few months. He was then placed in first grade after spring break. ...
We're right in the middle of this process with DS5 who is scheduled to start K this fall. It's hard to approach the school without hard data (like test results) and without them observing your child. I wish I had more advice to offer as it sounds like a similar situation... We're just starting this journey.
What did work for us so far was meeting face-to-face with the principal, bringing samples of DS's work, and asking "how can we work together to help DS?" If nothing else, our principal has matched up with a teacher that she thinks would work best with DS. That, coupled with at home work we'll be scheduling (15 min/day) is
likely what we'll do next year. Sort of like "homeschool lite" if you will...
Good luck. A lot of us have been through this or are going through this now.
JB
P.S. We don't watch a lot of TV but one of the shows that I discovered through this forum is PBS Cyberchase. DS--a mathy guys--loves it.
