Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion K for Fall 2009

Hello -

There have been a few posts recently but I wanted to start a new thread for those of us with DC who will be entering K this fall.

So, if you're in this group, please chime in. What are your concerns? How are you preparing? Will it be public K, private K or homeschooling? Acceleration or age-level placement?

And for the Been-there-done-thats, you have given us great advice already on testing ahead of time; working with teachers; etc. Anything to add?

Thanks!

EW

Oh, that would be me. I found it sort of surprising that it applies to me It may sound (and probably is) really bad but I keep thinking more about DS6 than DS4 and his academical needs. DS4 will be in K next year and will be homeschooled together with his brother. Wish me luck, a lot of luck.

He will most likely attend a private school 2 afternoons/week to be with other kids. Their afternoon program includes only the fun stuff (lunch, recess, drama, art, music, cooking, PE, etc.) so I won't have to worry about the academic part of it. We've done the same thing with DS6 this year.

My biggest concern is how I will manage to hs both of them. The dynamic will be very different. I haven't started looking in any curricula yet. I will probably wait till summer when I know better where he is.

I only have one so it is a bit easier.

It makes sense to wait until closer to decide what you might need. I wish I didn't have to think about it now for that very reason. What will his educational needs and interests be like in 7 months??? that seems like so far away. he will be another kind of kid by then.

Unfortunately, schools have applications and enrollment forms that are due now...

DS4 will be in K in the fall. We're going to go for public school, which is half-day and not as highly academic as 1st grade around here. 1st grade is the "learn to read year," and that was a dismal failure for our reading-chapter-books DS7. But K was good for him. OTOH, DS4 can't yet read fluently, so even 1st grade might be okay there. Math is my greater concern, since that seems to be DS4's greatest strength.

If DS4 gets the same K teacher that DS7 got, it's probably going to be wonderful. She was really amazing!

If he doesn't get her for K, even the other teachers at the school are pretty good, I think. Other GT families have been pretty happy. I don't know what we'll do for 1st grade yet--homeschooling is a definite possibility, especially if he turns out to be 2E--but K will be okay, I think.

My concerns:
> Is he 2E? How will that play out in a more highly academic setting than his pre-K is?
> He's becoming quite mathy, looking like he's at least a couple of years ahead there, and maybe more all of a sudden. I'm finally coming to the conclusion that he is probably at least MG, and possibly more. That could lead to the same problem DS7 had: lack of challenge, boredom and acting out, just focused more specifically on math. Will he get enough challenge? Does he really have special learning needs? (We're having him tested at age 6, so at the end of K...)
> DS4 is *way* more social than DS7, so a bad fit would probably be even worse. He's in a pre-K full of very smart, active, social boys, so the fit is PERFECT! How will he do with his peers in K?

Technically, I've also BTDT becuase of DS7, but I don't think I have any words of wisdom. A good teacher makes all the difference. That's about all I've got...

Hi - our DS5 will be starting K in the fall. Since we got so many ideas from this board, we put a few of them into practice and started advocating early. We contacted the district's gifted coordinator, armed with SB-V results that said DS was HG+. She was very helpful and coordinated a meeting with the school psychologists. The gifted coordinator wanted to make sure we met with everyone before teacher selection time, to make sure we'd get an out-of-the box teacher. They met with us and suggested achievement testing, which we did last week. We also did some social emotional testing. We got prelim results (yep, he's smart, and yep, he's 5), and we meet with the group again next week to discuss next steps. We feel extremely lucky and happy to have these wonderful public school folks on our side even before we're enrolled.

Our concerns: We hope that DS will be able to learn math/reading at his level or above, while also having fun and learning things where he's age appropriate (e.g., writing). We are full of hope at this time.

DS4 will be going to Kindergarten in the fall, but where exactly is still up in the air. We should hear next week if he got into the lottery for the GT charter school (this is the wait that wouldn't end, I am so, so tired of waiting!). If that doesn't work out, there are a couple of other charter schools we'll look at and if all else fails, we'll try our regular school. I feel like he will have a better time in K than DS7 because he's not yet reading (very close, but not quite) and while he is already doing some addition and subtraction, it's not insanely advanced. We won't hesitate to pull him to homeschool if it's not working, but I at least want to give him the opportunity to try school since he didn't go to preschool (his choice, we offered, he didn't want to).

My DS4 will be starting private kindergarten this fall. He has a winter birthday, so this would be early enrollment if he were going public, but the private school cut off is months later and he just makes it. So, although he'll be starting a full year earlier than all the kids I know who are his age (including all his current friends), there will be other 4-year-olds in his class.

It's a small school (100 kids total in grades K-12), with just 10 kids in the kindergarten class, ages 4-6. In the morning, all 10 kids are together for what sounds like a very academic kindergarten. Then, in the afternoon, the 4-year-olds have the option of going home or staying for something more like preschool: naptime, music, art, Spanish, free play. My husband and I both work, so my son will stay for the afternoon session. If all goes well, the following year, he will advance to 1st grade.

I chose the school because it was founded with gifted kids in mind, although you do not have to be gifted to attend. They do extensive pretesting and develop an individualized curriculum for each student in each core subject at every grade. Most kids are working at least one year above grade level--many are working much higher--but all without skipping grades. It's kind of like having a tutor, but in a peer-group setting. The flexibility will be great for my seemingly lopsided son, who currently reads at about a 3rd grade level, but shows little interest in math.

My big concern is that he's never been happier at the play-based preschool he attends 4 full days a week. I'm not sure whether it's because he just recently moved from the 3 year old room to the 4 year old room, or because he's made an extremely close friend, but either way, he's doing absolutely great--so well that I've been wondering during the last week or so whether we made the right decision by enrolling in kindergarten this year. However, I've spent enough time on this forum to know that having two good school options is a good problem to have.

And then there are those days when I still wonder whether it's really that unusual for a young 4-year-old to read at a 3rd grade level. My son just seems so...normal.

DD4 will be in K this fall as well. She is going to stay at her Montessori school for the extended day year. Although she is ahead in both math and language art she does not seem as far ahead as DS6 was at this age. She also does not read fluently yet so that is something she can continue to work on next year. I also think the Montessori method is working out very well for her this year. She does seem to mind the repetition and sequencing that DS6 rebelled against. It also helps that she is a June b-day while DS6 was a December b-day. That extra 6 months really seems to make a difference.

I will have to make a decision between public or private GT for her in the fall of 2010. I will probably get her tested some time next fall.

Hi all! I am very new to this site, mostly reading and trying to figure things out. But, this topic is very interesting to me as my oldest DS, recently 5, will be in K next year. We are currently in limbo about what to do for K. Our preK is Spanish immersion, and he has done fairly well (first preschool at 3 was a DISASTER!) but the teachers feel like he would do MUCH, MUCH better in a gifted K. We still have days (like yesterday) where he comes home crying about how much he HATES school. He is just barely reading and not at all interested in math but he is VERY cerebral--always wondering, questioning, wanting to know more about topics of interest to the point that he is bored out of his mind in preschool where no one seems to care about his passions. The teachers try, but say that there is no way to really meet his intellectual needs with 14 other 3 and 4 year olds running around and someone always needing their attention. He draws diagrams of red and white blood cells in his preK journal and then tries to share them with the other kids who look at him like he's from another planet. He is really struggling to make any friends and it has been hard.

Sooo, we're trying to decide what to do for next year. We did apply to a charter school for gifted in our district which required the WPPSI. He scored HG and the psychologist feels like it was a "low estimate" and from what I've read on here some of these early test scores may or may not be all that valid. I wasn't that wild about the charter school but at least they are claiming to address the needs of gifted kids. It is a lottery though and VERY competitive so there's like a 30% chance we'd get in.

We recently found out that there is another new charter school opening which will cater to HG+ kids as well as gifted girls, challenging boys, and 2E kids. I talked to the director and am kind of leaning towards that option b/c they are advertising an experiential approach that I think would really match DS's learning style. I'm a little worried since the school is BRAND new but we could always give it a try.

We both work so homeschooling is not an option and, besides, we have a 3 year old and a 1 year old so I feel like homeschooling would totally shortchange our oldest!

I appreciate hearing from others! We are really struggling right now, as there are few people to talk to about this. Our DS does not seem all that "normal," but sometimes we wonder if we are just bad parents and did something wrong that he is having such a hard time adjusting! I know that's not true, but I can't help but feel bad for him. Of course, I just want him to be happy! It's nice to find support from other parents who are non-judgmental.