Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Elementary School Asking about giftedness to potential kindergarten

My husband and I have a charter school in mind for our son to attend when he is of age. Right now he is three and a half, and has recently started reading level 1 and even some level 2 easy-readers independently. He has also been writing short words on his own for some time now, and is already doing kindergarten level math.

Now that he�s reading at such an advanced level for his age, and I feel like I have some validation about his abilities (that we could provide proof of, if necessary), I�d like to contact the school we have our eye on for kindergarten to ask about what these abilities might mean for his academic future, and to see if the school will be the good fit for our family.

I found a link that helped with what kind of questions to ask�(though I�d love to hear advice on that too!) But I�m still nervous. It seems like everyone has a horror story about a school or staff member specifically who judged them for being overconfident about their gifted child -- especially if it was before the child had actually been tested. I really don�t want to make that kind of a first impression, but I am very excited about this school, and I would like to have my questions answered.

The only professional I�ve spoken to about my son was his pediatrician, who advised me to prepare myself for the possibility that he may skip kindergarten altogether. I�d LOVE to ask the school about this -- but I feel like if anything could invite criticism, it would be a presumption like that. Any advice? Thanks!

In my experience, the school will either "get it" or they won't, and the best way to find out is to be honest and straightforward. I visited our local public school when my son was 3 1/2 (he read at 2) to get a sense of the environment there, and they literally laughed at me for going there so early and told me that they wouldn't even screen for giftedness until 3rd grade, let alone offer any kind of accommodations. When I went down the street to a small private school that creates an individualized curriculum for each kid, they told me that accelerating my son was a "no brainer" and that they would happily accept him to start kindergarten at age 4 1/2, with subject acceleration in addition to the early start, which has been a huge success.

Our experience as well. Mr W is in PreK now at age 3 doing 1st grade subject acceleration and will start K at 4.

Public schools are extremely rigid.