When I visited our local public school this fall with the intention of exploring early enrollment to kindergarten, from all I�ve read, I expected the school rep to either dismiss me as a pushy stage mother who thinks her kid is brighter than he really is or admit that my kid was bright but minimize my concerns about lack of challenge in the regular classroom. I wasn�t at all prepared for what happened instead: once she had heard just a few examples of the things my son was doing at age 3.5, she told me he�s a statistical anomaly who will never find true peers or a good educational match in any school, so we should forget about acceleration and focus on teaching him to �fit in� with kids his age.
I heard:
"Even if he finds the solution to world peace, it won't do him any good if he can't tell it to anyone" (Why presume he wouldn't be able to do both just because he started kindergarten early??)
"Gifted kids are at risk for depression, and skipping grades increases that risk during junior high" (I wanted to hit her over the head with a copy of Nation Deceived or Genius Denied)
"Although you're doing your job by advocating for your child, you need to lower your expectations" (I didn't and have since enrolled my son in a very promising private school where early enrollment is the norm and all kids are taught at the level of their ability)
