Just in case nobody remembers our situation. I have a bright 6 year old ds in first grade that seems to be a poor fit. I emailed the teacher last week and arranged a meeting to get her professional opinion on his academic proficiency.
The teacher is nice. She looked just as nervous as I was and seemed unsure of why I asked to meet with her.
I was hoping that she would have prepared to meet with me by looking in ds's file and/or doing a informal evaluation on him. I don't think she did. I took the advice from JBDad's thread. I asked how she was and how things were working out with ds in her class. I tried to let her do the talking. When all she would share with me was that he was well mannered and a hard worker, I explained that I asked for the meeting because dh and I were concerned that the work was too easy for our son. She opened up a little after that.
She showed me the reading teacher's manual and tried to tell me things would get harder after the third block. Because that is where the class start's to learn the sounds of a.
Ds reads chapter books. After asking about what else they learn, I found out it is everything he already knows and can do with the exception of capital letters and punctuation (which is a week lesson at most for ds). Since ds is already reading,I asked if I should exchange the small books coming home with chapter books? She said that in a couple weeks she will start up the AR and see if 1.5 is a good fit for him. I decided to let it drop and let her see for herself. The only thing I made sure to point out was that
he want's to please her and might do easier work then he is capable of becuase of it. I asked her to take that into consideration because we want him to make mistakes and try because things come easily to him. He just came into this world knowing stuff.
Then I asked about math. She said he really enjoys math. I agreed and asked about his work and what they will be learning. Again all things he has been doing since preschool and Kindergarten.
I asked how he was getting along in class, his peers and was he engaging in lessons. *side note* We kept him in K to help his confidence and social skills. She says he has a group of friends he plays with on the playground and he is opening up in class. She came back yesterday from a Doctor's appointment and she was pleased to see he had already finshed the math work the sub gave him and he was up helping other student's work on the worksheet. The sub said he did it on his own initiative.
She said she wouldn't be suprised if she is running over to the second grade by November asking them advice and getting harder work for him. But in reality she won't actually do that because she goes on
maternity leave for 12 weeks in December. I have no idea who the long term sub will be.
I don't think the sub or his current first grade teacher will be able to differentiate or subject accelerate.
I feel better about keeping ds in Kindergarten now because he used to be afraid of adults and unsure if he should speak up for himself. He has always gotten along with his peers but now he has more self assurance. I was able to observe his 1st grade class after our meeting. He seems happy at the moment.
I don't know what to do. I can ask for a grade skip but I have no idea what the district's policy is. If I do ask for it, the second grade teacher I prefer teaches a combo 2nd/3rd grade class and I am not sure if I can request her. The other option would be to supplement at home *crossing my fingers* that 1st grade will be socially adequate even though it isn't academically. All the while hoping the second grade teacher I prefer doesn't retire and stays in a combo 2nd/3rd grade class next year for a better fit and seamless grade skip.
So if you were me what would you do?
