Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Pre-school Public school or in-house daycare for preK 4?

Hello!

My name is Yvette and my 3 year old son is going into PreK 4 next school year. He is currently at an in-house daycare where there are 12 children ranging from 12 months all the way to 4 years old.

Matthew is a pretty smart almost 4 year old. He knows the sound of all of the letters, can write them (upper case/lower case), can spell out his name and is trying to read. He does basic addition, subtraction, knows his shapes. He's witty and blows my mind everyday with random things!

I was thinking of putting him in public school next year for PreK4; however, I was told that the state dictates the curriculum and it would be everything he is doing now. The teacher is not allowed to deviate from the lessons in order to meet Matthew's need. So at the end of the day, what Matthew has learned this school year, he'll repeat next school and then in Kinder the first half of the year is going over everything from preK4. So three years of the same thing!

At the in-house daycare, his "teacher" will differentiate the instruction and challenge him. My only issue is that Matthew will be one of three kids that will be 4 years old. I believe he needs more exposure to older children, but at the same time I can't imagine the kid doing the same lessons for three years!

I'm a teacher and never thought that this would be so difficult! Any insight or suggestions?

I think it's good to have the experience of being one of the oldest kids in a classroom. The older kids are usually the ones who lead, and everyone needs practice leading. Also, the older kids can help the younger kids. 3 years of the same thing is just too much.

In your situation, I would probably keep him in the daycare (though you didn't mention a difference in costs that might sway the decision). The question would be what happens when he does go to kindergarten, and takes a step back academically from what the daycare teacher had him doing.

That's when other considerations come into play, regarding a possible grade skip or in class differentiation. Is Mathew tall for his age? How's his motor control? Is he mature? Where does his birthday fall relative to the age cut-off? What can the school offer? etc. You'll need to gather a lot of information and consider a lot of variables.

When the time comes, the Iowa acceleration scale may prove handy. I haven't used it myself... my oldest is 4.

http://www.davidsongifted.org/db/Articles_id_10053.aspx

He has the rest of his childhood to deal with kids his own age, and often for gifted kids this is a challenge, not a reward, because they are not mentally the same age. My bet is that your kiddo will thrive in the home setting where his expectations of finding a peer won't be as high and his ability to learn at his own pace will be more likely.

I would say it depends on what you're expecting for the pre-K to bring you. And also, is the public pre-K all day or just half day? If it's just half day, I'd probably try it. If all day that could make him seriously bored. DS4.5 started public pre-K in the fall after he turned 4 and went in already knowing the whole year curriculum (and beyond) but we really only sent him in for the social interaction and to get used to being in a formal school setting. He basically goes to school to have fun and then he afterschools himself at home. It has worked great, with no complains on his part until just this last week when the teacher mentioned that he started complaining about being bored and not learning anything. I think he's entering the age when he's starting to realize he's at school and should come home knowing new things. But other than that, he has been very happy. But again, it's only 3hours a day so it's short enough not to get too bored.

Oh, and as for "kids his age" ... I wouldn't put too much weight on this either. DS4.5 still doesn't interact all that well with his age peers. His absolute favorite moments at school are when they have gym twice a week with 4th graders! They have a little program where 4th grade kids volunteer their recess time to be gym buddies for these little preschoolers and DS LOVES it.

What type of exposure to older children will he actually be getting at the public preK? Have you visited and observed? Wouldn't he be in with other same-age kids?

I would leave him at the home daycare since you are happy with it.academics not even considered, the the I think my kids benefited from the most before entering kindergarten were consistent (ie not changing), loving, caring caregivers. Being in a situation where your child also has stimulating and appropriately levels academics is a wonderful bonus - I won't want to give that up. My kids also still see some of the same kids they went to preschool with in various after school activities... Not because we plan it, they just happen, and because they spent a few years together including that last year of preschool, they remember each other and enjoy seeing each other. It sounds like he small setting your ds is in gives him the chance to form that type of friendship.

Best Wishes,

polarbear

I would also first check the ages of the kids in the public pre-K. Ours is mixed 3 & 4 year olds, which makes it harder to teach anything new to the older kid.

Thank you all for your responses!

All of the kids in public pre-k are either 4 or 5 years old. Matthew is very small for his age and is turning 4 in a couple of weeks. He is very mature for his age but at the same time is very shy and clingy in new settings.

I'll keep him where he's at and I think it might be time to put him in extracurricular activites. The kid begs me not to take him anywhere but he needs it!

It sounds like you have a good plan snoopy - and keep in mind, quality daycare/etc is tough to find! So I'd hold onto it

I also wanted you to know - this below sounds very typical of a lot of 4-5 year olds who haven't started kindergarten yet - I'm guessing you'll see quite a bit of change re this as the next year goes forward. Starting with some extracurricular activities is a good place, plus so much of what you can do with children that age can be very fun for parents too


Best wishes,

polarbear