Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Anyone *not* skipping K?

I really envy you for having such an open-minded school for your kids. Is it public or private?

Val

Val,

Your situation sounds pretty similar to ours. Like your school, ours is really bilingual - at least after the maternelle. For the 3, 4, and 5 year olds the language at school is almost entirely French, excepting about an hour of English per week. But the ratio of French to English changes starting in 1st grade, and by 3rd or 4th grade it's about 50/50. In our case, I think the immersion has been terrific for DS. He hasn't learned a single thing about math or reading in English at school - though he does these at a pretty advanced level at home. But there's still enough challenge for him during the school day since he's constantly working on his French language skills. If it turns out that that continues to challenge him in 1st/CP, then that would be terrific. Sooner or later, though, the lack of appropriate math and reading will likely become a problem.

Just out of curiosity, how was the transition out of the French school?

BB

We didn't skip DS6.2 because A) he wasn't reading before K and B) I also heard it might be better to skip 1st because K is more free play and he is a bouncy boy, youngish for his grade. His LOG is unclear to all involved because of conflicting scores. We have the option to skip 1st this year after the 1st trimester but will probably not because he still isn't reading yet. I'm not sure why the school doesn't seem to think that is a big deal, I think they believe he will be caught up within the next half year, but we haven't ruled out 2E issues. I'm homeschooling him over the summer with an English phonemic awareness program designed for dyslexics, which our experts believe will catch him up regardless of the underlying reason for him not reading (dyslexia, dual language learning, asynchrony, lack of explicit/systematic English instruction etc.).

The problem is that he is the first one done with his work, it's always done well, and he has been goading his K teacher into giving him harder work. He already knows/intuits most of the 2nd grade curriculum in math, for example. He is tall, social, and coordinated in sports so it would seem natural to skip him, but until he's reading in both languages it doesn't make sense to me. The 2nd grade is with 3rd grade in his school, so that may be the time to skip him.

A lot of writing to say that I relate to what you're going through EastNWest. When I posted my first frantic plea for help on this site Shari asked me "What does your mommy gut say?" I try to check in with my instincts along the way, as well as how my son feels about things.

There have been more responses during the time I took to post this, my son is also in a French immersion program and we don't speak French at home, and have intentionally not exposed him to English phonics to this point. He is about average in French in his class, as well as on his English achievement test.

Hi all - I wrote a bit on the "anyone skipping K" thread, but I guess we belong here too. We had our DS tested when he was 4 to see if he should start kindergarten early, since he pretty much knew the kindergarten curriculum at age 3. The psychologist recommended not skipping K, but think about skipping 1st instead, for many of the reasons others have mentioned here, but mostly to "let him play another year" because he'd need lots of differentiation/adjustments throughout his schooling. For us, it boiled down to several factors: our DS5 has no interest in writing (but is starting to show a little interest in spelling now), he is shorter than most of the other kids, he likes to run around a lot when he's learning something, and he would be ahead of everyone in 1st anyway. We don't have a lot of school choices here, at least not nearby, but our local public is bending over backwards trying to help us out. The school tested DS earlier this year on WJ-III to see where he is academically (and socially, i suppose), they are hand-picking a kindergarten teacher who is willing to differentiate, they are even letting us recommend a friend or two to be placed in the same class. Also, the principal has said we can meet up again on a regular basis or as needed if things aren't working. So, although we haven't been there yet, we are pretty happy with the placement in kindergarten, so he can learn to "do school."

On a side note, I realize that I am much calmer now than when we first came to this forum. I was pretty panicky about whether or not we were doing the right thing. Now, I realize that DS's schooling needs will change quite a bit, and we just need to be flexible, and hope the school system will be flexible too.

It's only been a year, but not so bad. He goes to an after-school program with certified teachers and followed the CE2 program in "Mastery of the French language." So he learned new grammar, etc. It's a 4 hour/week program, and the teachers are terrific. We're enrolled for next year too.

We order class materials from CNED, which is France's official distance learning program for citizens overseas. The materials are gorgeous.

I'm going to enroll him in the French language soccer team next year to add another few hours of French, and I try to use French at home as much as possible. So far, so good.

We're in the Bay Area; if you're around here, the after-school thing might be a good option at some point. They go through grade 6/sixie'me right now and we're hoping they'll add the next grade next year (the program is growing). We didn't see any point in accelerating him in this program.

The French was a good way to address DS's giftedness through the CP. He loved the French and always had stuff to learn in French class. The next year was really good for his French, though he would have been happier with a skip that year. Whatever, though.

Val

Hi MAE -

Thanks for your reply and encouraging words. (And thanks to everyone for their replies too.)

I will try to listen to my "mommy gut". thanks for the reminder.

I guess this is also hard for me because he has been going to school for such a long time. He is already beyond used to the routine. In more than a few ways, K will be going backwards: academically, shorter day, more random social interaction...

But I will try to be hopeful that we get a flexible situation, a teacher that "gets him" and is able to do some differentiating. (is that even a word) LOL.

thanks again everyone!