Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Pre-school guess no early enrollment for us.

I am in the EXACT same boat as you right now. DS is 4.5mos and is probably around early 2nd grade reading (although it could be higher I am not exactly sure). I just posted a thread about my first preschool tour. NOBODY will take him in K. Oh wait I take that back Goddard school will but, it is $600/mo basically daycare. I am a SAHM I don't need him gone all day!
You don't happen to live in Indy do you? Maybe we could start a club, ha ha.

When DS5 was 4 we put him in a Montessori school for just a few hours a week (maybe 6-9). We also did testing for him and showed it to the school and they decided to have him skip K. So while we didn't do early entrance, he still participated in a program where they weill able to at least challenge him a little and then was able to start first this year. It is working pretty well for us. I found that last year my find was able to find a lot more learning and enriching things at home and was glad I didn't really start him early in a full day program. Just thought I would share incase something like that is an option for you.

lol yea im in the same position you are only my daughter is not really reading books just large words (starting at 4yrs old) and she is doing math on a second grade level in her head i called the school last year and they said they NEVER do early entrence to K but in 2nd grade they start they gifted program when i told her about my daughter and asked if the other K'ers were doing the same things? she said "im sure some are i dont really know for certain but there are bound to be other parents who worked with there kids" i didnt even bother telling her my daughter taught herself these things and i have three young children and dont really have time to drill one of them..

Anyways so now my daughters 5yrs old and would start K this year but im not sure about sening her there so im pretty sure we will be homeschooling... i was homeschooled as a child its not so bad you just have to make sure you get them out of the house often and around other kids often

dh just said we could pay to do private testing. freaking morons this district. i am still mad about it....at this point i want 2 things. #1 for him to test off the charts and take in his results with a dvd of him reading and ask them to tell me again he is "just average" for 4. and then #2....use those same 2 things to get him in a private school that caters to gifted kids...or homeschool him but at least know what i am up against and use his test to get him into summer enrichment programs.

nope...not in indy. so no club i guess big bad wool. lol. i guess i will just continue to schedule play dates with 6 year olds for my 4 year old like i have been doing.

in the meantime we have started unofficially homeschooling him because he is BEGGING for work. i picked a first grade curriculum i am using on my current first grader this year..... and we jumped into it about 1/4 way in....it is still too easy for him and he is already frustrated.....at 4....how's that for "average" dumb district? tomorrow i'm going to skip 1/2 way in and see if it is a better fit for him.

yeah! we are scheduled for private testing for next month! and it is only going to be $200! what a relief.

We tried to have our daughter early entranced last year. We allowed the school district to give her the WPPSI and it was a disaster. Even though the tester said dd was "yawning, laying her head on the table and seemed really tired, it was an acurate measure of ability....." She scored below 120 which is much lower than my other two dc and much lower than her LOG would suggest.

She is at least two years ahead in reading and math and won't start K until Sept. She'll turn 6 in early Nov. When I see current Kindergartners it drives me mad! Dd seems more articulate and mature than most of them. When I go to school and see the K work plastered to the walls I want to scream. My dd is well beyond that yet wasn't allowed to start this year.....

School's age based cut offs are so damaging to GT kids.

Thankfully we found a GT program that begins next year. They tested her on the Nageri Non verbal and she scored way up there and got in. They'll do some great things but not 100% ideal.

Yes, this doesn't make sense to me either, since they are supposed to TEACH reading in K, not just observe that you already can read!! (plus your child *can* read, sheesh!)

I am a bit worried about this myself, since our dd3y10m is going to be 4.5 around next september and shows many signs of K readiness already, but not perfect reading (she reads/writes a bit). Hope they have a broader set of criteria...I am in process now to find out more, in fact

no....sorry...they tested more than just reading....his levels varied between low average (general science knowledge) and high average(can't remember....creative something).....but his reading ability they said was "average." well...THAT is his biggest thing. knowing that last night he was reading a book my first grader is just now reading for the first time....and read it BETTER than my first grader...i know he is beyond average. he taught himself to read...which i still think is huge.....and reads words like towards, suddenly, someone....on his own...not taught! crazy....so if they say THAT is average...then i second guess his performance that day and ALL the scores. they had him in there for one hour. i don't really know exactly all they did to screen him....but like spirited mama probably feels.....k will be a waste of time for him whether he goes on time or a year early. it doesn't matter what their test says.....he is beyond k...and will be bored out of his mind!

and yes chris....bug....bc even if he could BARELY read he'd be ahead of what they would hope for in k. the whole year here is spent teaching letters and sounds and there is no reading until the very end....where they meet with each group once a week for 15 minutes. really?....maybe my kid can lead one of those groups. lol. i feel like they want them to be ready to enter 3rd grade in order for them to enter k one year early.

I totally feel your frustration. I remember virtually everyone I talked to about the possibility of my DD entering K early said something like "Well, just because she can read well doesn't mean that she's ready for K now" even when they knew nothing else about her abilities. I think the knee-jerk reaction of many school officials (but not all) is to say no to early entrance and to think that you're just another one of those parents who thinks their kid hung the moon.

But, I do have to say that, even though they don't expect a child who is wanting early entrance to K to have 3rd grade skills, they do generally expect them to have end-of-first grade skills pretty much across the board in all subjects. Their theory is that a child who is accelerated should be towards the top of the class into which they are accelerated so that they can continue to feel successful and not struggle at all. Otherwise, the argument generally goes, other forms of enrichment are generally sufficient. Just the messenger . . .

i know...and i would so typically agree. but where we are now...they are not so much into differentiation. smart kids are forced to "relearn" all the things their peers are learning. with k being full day and mandatory here....i was really just looking for an option to not hold him back too much. letting him go a year early he would still be forced to sit 7 hours a day and relearn the alphabet and his colors....but doing it NOW rather than in a year would at least mean the gap between what he can do and what they want him to do again would most likely be smaller. i was hoping if i could get him an iep (all gifted kids get one here) that then i'd be able to fight for accomodations (like seeing the reading specialist or going up a grade in reading). at least that way he wouldn't spend the entire 7 hours relearning things he has already mastered. but without an iep...i am powerless...and he will be homeschooled. (which is fine..i just don't like feeling like it is my ONLY choice, you know?)