Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Pre-school Quicksand kind of day......

I have to second the call for play-based pre-K - and keep it short, so your DS can continue his learning at home, if he so desires.

My favorite pre-K story: DS, then 3, was at play based pre-K and the teacher served Popsicles as a special treat one day. The teacher enjoyed conversing with the students while they ate their snack, as this was a structured "social time" for the class. Apparently, the Popsicle sticks had "jokes" on them...well, DS decided to "tell the joke" to his pre-K class. Except, the teacher noticed he was READING the joke from the Popsicle stick. She was STUNNED, and sent that stick home in a plastic bag informing us of what had happened). We were not surprised (DS could read whatever he wanted to, by this point).

Actually, the funniest part was DS's little pre-K friends handing him anything that needed to be read, since they'd all figured out that he could "crack the code" (useful when playing video games with "tip manuals"), etc.

It will be OK. BTW, don't have much higher expectations for academics in a typical kindergarten, or you might be disappointed.

Thank you all for your replies and support. I appreciate all of the advice.
I think so many of you are right, we need a play based preschool. Our sole intention of preschool is the social factor. But since they are doing academic activities, it would be nice if he could do something at his level. But you know what, like one of you said, quicksand kind of day, quicksand kind of year. This is just how it goes. I was hoping this kind of situation wouldn't be an issue until K. At least I'd have two more years of not crying about this, but here we go. I'm going to stick this new program out for a little while longer because it's our best option in other respects.

This is something that we need to really look at for our daughter 2 1/2 too. She has been in daycare since 3 months. Up to now it has been play based, but the next age group does start covering academics. I know that nothing that they will be covering will she not find to be a complete waste of her time. She does not like being hand fed any facts anymore. She prefers to learn naturally - facts tied to their relevance. I can imagine how board she would get talking about the letter A all day. She would probably say something like "Okay A..., airplane, aardvark, ape,... A A let's go play."

Update: He brought the book he wrote and read it to the teachers, they shared it with the class (it was on the topic they are covering). You could see how he felt proud, connected and understood. It was very sweet of them. I had suspected that they had a conversation after the awkward conversation. I need to remember that eventhough we have known him 3 years, his needs are new to them. They are definitely trying and I think they believe that he can read now, because before they looked at me with disbelieving eyes, of course. There is hope!

GGG, glad that your LO has such a good teachers, it is really nice to shared the bk he wrote and read it to the class!!
Hope your LO can find his own way of entertaining himself during the academic time :P
I have tried to let my son attend play-base preschool, and the problem is he doesn't enjoy it as he doesn't enjoy the toys there (blocks, train, simple puzzles), he just ignored the toys and do the very simple arts. When other kids do each art once, he does the same art again and again for more than 6 times! =_=
As I have brought him to different preschool, i find that he likes sth more challenging. (E.g. arts that need more steps and skills like cut and paste) So i finally give up play-base preschool.

Update: First of all, I have read your posts many times since and want to thank you for taking the time to reply.

indigo, your list of support is my go-to info for these quicksand days. What you said is painfully true, "unfortunately it's the gifted parent lament... a quicksand kind of day becomes a quicksand kind of year becomes a quicksand decade of schooling. Meeting their needs may be a 24/7 pursuit because these kids are Gifted All the Time.

In the span of a week and a half he has taught himself how to write. He went from writing letters from memory to invented spelling to sentences with puncuation. He makes these little books all day at home. So all he wants to do at school is make books. For the first time, I could see that they understood what I was trying to convey. She told me this morning that they noticed he'll walk around acting bored, then go get some paper, make a book and then get up and play with the other kids. She said, "it's like it just 'centers' him.

Well, yes and no. It "centers" him because it's his passion to learn. For now, I think her perspective is that he's writing to calm himself and to a certain extent that is true, but he's writing because in his mind, just a little more practice and he'll be able to write anything.

I am thankful that they are getting to know him and allowing him to make his little books at school. But she looked at me with an expression and said, "I'm going to call you soon, I've been making mental notes, he doesn't want to participate in much."

I left heartbroken and on fire again to see if he can be a candidate for early entrance Kindergarden. I go back and forth on it all the time.

I hope he'll say he enjoyed school today when I pick him up.