Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Elementary School Another early K question: impulsive young boys

It's a hard one... schools get so focused on "behavior." I like the idea of keeping him in pre-K and trying a grade skip later if it's warranted. You might also check with the kindergarten to see if they are willing to differentiate academically--then he could stay out year for maturity, and come into an environment that will meet him at his skill level.
I have friends whose kids have had a hard time with behavior expectations- it can cloud the entire school experience if they are constantly in trouble. They can come to see themselves as "bad." It takes special, skilled teachers to help kids meet behavioral expectations without inadvertently hurting their self-esteem.
My DS did alright in kindergarten, but had a hard time in preschool. There was one teacher in particular who seemed highly frustrated with him, and with me, because of his behavior. It caused DS and I both a lot of anxiety to the point where we moved schools for a fresh start.

Here are the pro/cons that I see

Part-time Preschool - Skip K
Most preKs are focused more on social skills with some academic skills mixed in. It would give him time to develop socially, and he could be home with you a good part of the day so you could work on some of the skills he'd need for 1st grade. However, there is a big jump in expectations from preK to 1st. 1st grade requires long periods of sitting in a desk from day 1, and the writing demands are pretty high out of the gates as well.

Early K
Kids enter K with a wide range of social and academic abilities, so he might not be as outside of the box as you think. A K teacher would more likely be able to meet his academic needs than a preK teacher, and it would be an easier transition into the non-academic demands of 1st grade.

However, my thoughts are based on the average experience. You might get great teachers who really get your DS, or you might not. IME the school philosophy is important, but the individual teacher is more important.

Just a brief comment on the multidisciplinary testing: it might not be as extensive (or as expensive) as it sounds, as there are a number of screening instruments for K that cover those five areas, but are done commonly by school systems for all entering K students. It may be that they will screen with the same instrument, but use the cut score for a K-aged child, rather than the age-normed score for a younger child. For example, the DIAL-4, one of the better K screening instruments, covers all of the standard five areas: motor, concepts (cognitive), language, self-help, and social development. It takes less than an hour to complete the stations (usually closer to half an hour), which are relatively fun and developmentally-appropriate for young children.

No suck luck with quick testing, I think. I pulled up the policy and for cognitive, for example, they recommend the SB-IV (so much overkill, I'd think), Kaufman Assessment Battery, or Batelle Development Inventory. The other areas are fine motor, gross motor, auditory discrimination, visual discrimination, and social-emotional.

To get all 6 areas in the least amount of testing, we'd need to do the Batelle (cognitive & social emotional), Peabody Development Motor Scale (motor skills), and McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities (visual/auditory).

And you have to pay for it all yourself, unless you qualify for free/reduced lunch (which we don't), then you can apply for a financial waiver for help.

To get into 1st grade early, by contrast, you just have to get the principal's permission and they do a 30-day trial as a 1st grader. No testing required by the district procedure. After they've had DD for a year, they'll either be massively in favor, or massively against, her brother entering a few weeks early.

They seemed open to talking about grade skipping in the future. In spite of the crazy detailed early K policy, the district in general talks like it's flexible and open minded about accommodation and acceleration.

It is a possibility to advocate for doing kindergarten at the school's age and then skip first grade if he passes some end of year curriculum tests that the school could provide?

I have often thought that if I could have figured out something to do differently with my child, that is what I think might have really worked out well. (Of course, I don't know that for sure.)

IMO, kindergarten does have a lot of fun social/role playing aspects to it that still provide learning opportunities, but first grade was fairly useless since it is all about learning to read and count, which many gifted kids would have long since mastered at that age.

Learning to sit at a desk could happen just as well in second grade with possibly more interesting work.

ETA. Although there are some who will get diagnosed with ADHD, I think most kindergarten age boys are normally impulsive, to one degree or another. A good kindergarten teacher will understand that.

Arr. That does sound like overkill. Clearly, the simplest route would be to wait a year, and ask for early 1st grade. Although we did have a situation related to what you note: #1 skipped K to go into 1st, the only child to have ever done so in this small school, but after being subjected to a couple of years of #1, the school said absolutely no to any more early entrants when I inquired about #2.

(This would be the same #1 who bounces up and says, "hey, I just tried one of these free ADHD questionnaires online, and it says I'm highly likely to have it!" I think the only reason we haven't had more problems with teachers is because #1 also bursts out with spontaneous exclamations like, "You are the best teacher in the whole world! I love you!" Accompanied by an adorable smile. To every teacher. And means it.)