Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Pre-school please inundate me with advice :-)

If you want to advocate for a skip, I highly, highly recommend starting very early (like, in October of the year before she starts school). Public schools can be very slow to move, and they may try to put you off as much as they can. They also like to say, "We'll put her in K and observe for a while." By then, you're way past trapped.

Remember, their mandate is to deal with the lower third of their classes. NCLB punishes schools for low test scores and offers no reward or recognition whatsoever for high achievers. Thus, the schools are basically forced to make high achievers a low priority. Keep this idea foremost in your mind as you deal with schools.

Many educators also don't believe in grade skips or even cognitive giftedness. You can suss out a principal on this subject by asking how often children in his/her school skip a grade or get acceleration in a single subject. If you're told "never," you'll have a steep uphill battle on your hands.

Again, if you can send her to a private school, even if only for a year, you might want to consider the idea. Because private schools need tuition money and because they aren't affected by NCLB, they're more open to grade skips and other forms of acceleration. They'll also be more open to meeting you well in advance of enrollment (many start their open houses in December of the year prior to enrollment). This will give you time to let them get to know her. If they can be exposed to her over time, the shock of a pre-schooler who can read will be reduced and she'll become more "normal" to them, if you see what I mean.

I say "even if only for a year" in private schools because the public schools usually have to promote a child who has finished a grade at another school and passed(EXCEPT for kindergarten; check your state's policies).

BUT, if you go the private school route, don't give them a check until you get stuff in writing. The prospect of your enrollment is a big carrot for them. But once they have a check, it's a done deal. If you're advocating for a grade skip, an enrollment form with the higher grade circled would be enough, for example.

I hope I'm not coming across as being too negative about the public schools. I would love to be able to send my kids to the local schools, but I can't. One local principal told me he'd never done a grade skip and never would, on principle. The other one wasn't so black and white, but she was close. But this was only our district. Other people on this list have reported having wonderful, supportive public schools (Oh! How I envy y'all!).

You could always do this: call the schools or district office and just ask them about their policies on acceleration. Make a list of specific questions,and try to get specific answers.

Val