Trinity and Texas Summer, thanks for your replies.
I feel a little better about the situation tonight. My daughter said she had a good day. It was her first full day in the new classroom/new school. She said she likes this classroom and teacher SO MUCH BETTER than the previous situation.
I asked why, and she said because:
1) there are LOTS of books and she can read whenever she finishes work early,
2) they are allowed to move around a lot more in the classroom,
3) the teacher is nicer and more fun and friendly and funny.
Hearing this, I feel that at least she is happier and has more independence in this classroom. The freedom to read books is definitely better than having to sit and do nothing while waiting for the rest of the class to finish worksheets. Also I think she's enjoying the "celebrity status" of being the new kid in the class... all the other kids are going out of their way to be nice to her.
When we walked into class this morning there was a sub. teacher there... she recognized DD because she long-term subbed at the private school DD went to last year for K. She looked at DD and said, "I remember you! You're the one who's the great reader!"
Then when I picked up DD in the afternoon, the para-pro who works in the room saw me and said, "Your daughter is just so smart! It's amazing!"
Both of those events made me feel good too--not because I need people to tell me my child is smart, only because it means that her differences are being recognized and talked about by the staff at this school. I think that will help everyone to be open to letting her do advanced work. The receptive attitude alone is a big improvement over the previous situation where the teachers seemed almost hostile to the idea of letting her do anything different from the norm.
I decided I need to relax and back off a little, give the new teacher time to get to know my daughter and see what she will do with her. I've heard this teacher is very creative, so I'm feeling more hopeful.
