Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Elementary School Kindy 2010-2011

It is overwhelming! There might be a school website that is a jackpot of information that you can review at your leisure. It would certianly be easier if there were 4 neighbor-moms on your street that had been through it all before who could advise you - but that's not so likely! I'd like to know what that 1st grade program is, for example. Do let us know!
Grinity

My DS5 tested very similar to your DD but his birthday is at the end of August, so starting K worked ok for him. I like the idea of asking for your DD to enter K now, because they do need to learn about school, but it won't take long for her to learn the routine and then boredom begins. She will be so ready for 1st grade, maybe even 2nd by the time September rolls around.

In hindsight, we were very lucky because our DS's preschool teacher arranged a conference over the summer at our local public school with the principal, herself and me. We brought all our "professional" reports, and his former teacher led the meeting and basically told them, "challenge this kid or he will find something else to do and it probably won't be good." Because this came from someone other than me, they really took it to heart. His teacher has tried to challenge him from the start and she immediately recognized his abilities. Next week he will begin the math EPGY in her classroom during their math time. This was her idea not mine, although we are paying for it.

One thing my son is completely average in is writing. He reads way above peers, his math is great, but his writing is just plain average. It is not uncommon to find this in gifted kids apparently. Because of this, I think Kindergarten has been good for him but I don't know what we will do with him next year.
A lot will depend on the teacher. If you have an advocate that could meet with you and the school, like a previous teacher or psychologist, I think that goes a long way. Then it's not just you sitting there saying, "hey, look at my kid!". Good luck.

Hi - I agree with the others who said that it's useful to contact the school's gifted coordinator, even if he/she doesn't work with the younger grades. We had huge success with this with our DS6, who is in the middle of kindergarten. Our public school's official gifted programming didn't start until 3rd grade, but we met with the school GC the spring before kindy to show our crazy SB-V results and ask for help. The GC was extremely helpful in setting up a meeting with the principal, who got the ball rolling. The school pscyhologist tested DS for achievement, and the principal hand-picked a teacher who is great at differentiation (and we all love her). A few months into school, we mentioned that DS really exploded in math, and the school tested him again on the WJ and also the MAP. I think the school testing him using their own tests, and seeing the growth in 9 months, really convinced them that something needed to be done. The GC is now compacting the school's math curriculum and teaching math to DS6 for 30 minutes every day, at his speed. She also does weekly gifted pullouts and reading pullouts.

Obviously, we lucked out quite a bit with the great people we've encountered in our district, but it all started with us contacting the right people and letting them know that we got this information and we really didn't know what to do with it.

Also, there are plenty of things that DS6 has learned in kindy. He refused to write for us at home, and he now can write and spell. (His writing is probably the only thing that is age-level.) He learned how to "do school" - it's a big adjustment to go to school all day after very part-time preschool. He can now get on his own snowpants, boots, and coat quite quickly. (He's never been big on dressing himself.) He's learned how to interact with 23 different personalities, and how to get around in a school with 500 students. He's making friends.

I remember the panicky phase before school started. Now I think of the process as life-long advocacy. There is no great solution that will take care of everything. You try to choose the best for the moment, and work from there. Even in our situation, it took until now to really convince the school that our DS6 was more than a little different, but a few months of less-than-appropriate placement did no harm. Good luck!

Thank you for the support and sharing your stories. It really does help. I am glad to hear the successes.

I spoke with our public school and we are going to arrange for a meeting to go over the report. DD has an IEP for speech. When I spoke briefly with her speech teacher, she said she wasn't surprised by the numbers. When I mentioned it, she said "I bet they're through the roof." Which I was glad to hear that she "knew" just by interacting with DD. She also said that the kindergarten teachers were amazing and really do an excellent job working with kids where they are academically.

glad to hear she seemed in tune with your DD from the first interaction
one point of caution



in my brief experience (ds is only half way through kindy), the above quote could apply only to one side of the spectrum. As in, "The kindy teachers do an excellent job of working with kids who are behind/need extra help at catching up to our state required standards."

maybe others have seen differently, but it seems that is how the phrase is used in my school/district.

cynically,

EW

[quote=EastnWest]

in my brief experience (ds is only half way through kindy), the above quote could apply only to one side of the spectrum. As in, "The kindy teachers do an excellent job of working with kids who are behind/need extra help at catching up to our state required standards."/quote]

Same here EastnWest - The teachers have no time or ability to teach the kids who are way ahead. My GD's K teacher recently FINALLY tried one day to differentiate. Her note said, I tried to teach GD double digit addition but we didn't have much time and she didn't understand. GD learned this at home (no carrying) in 5 minutes using up & down problems. Teacher was trying to use side to side problems for dbl digits! This is the first and so far last attempt at "teaching to her level" - for reading this means "she can read any book in the room she wants at free reading time".

I have heard stories from other school district's in the City that do a pretty good job of differentiating but not here.

Yes, I completely understand that this statement may not reflect what actually goes on. I know that she would say they are amazing, if they aren't. I am preparing myself for the worst, and hoping for the best.

Always a good strategy.