Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Elementary School Possible Grade Skip to Kinder? - LONG!

With my DD4 (April b-day), we did Kindergarten a year early at a private school that was an extension of a preschool program. When she turned 5 and went into a public school, we had to put her through a Kindergarten TEKS acceleration test that required 90% or better in Reading, Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies in order for her to go into 1st Grade and skip public Kindergarten. (TEKS testing has a very slim pass rate for all 4 subjects. Try to imagine six hours of testing in a single day on four subjects!)

She was accelerated and put into 1st Grade with children 1 to 3 years older than her (red shirting is popular in our area). She was ranked #1 in 1st Grade class, so curriculum was not the issue.

In this process, the only issues we ran across was in P.E., where our DD was not physically cabable of doing everything that older kids were, but she quickly caught up.

We did incur a lot of "but she is so young" when speaking to the teachers, but age did not matter in her case.

The one thing that I did notice with our DD was that her writing (fine motor skills) were not as good as some of the older children, but that seemed to be her only deficiency and has improved drastically with age.

My suggestion to you is check with your local school for acceleration criteria and get written guidelines. The schools are reluctant to accelerate the kids b/c they want higher test scores. If they discourage the acceleration, ask them what the process is anyway and go for it. Good luck!

TX G Mom,

What area of Texas do you live in? If you would rather PM me the answer please do. I'm curious because Texas leaves it up to the districts and the process you described sounds intense to say the least. I have a friend in Westlake and she was told by the district that they would not even consider early entrance into kindergarten which is really sad since her DD misses the cutoff by 2 days and is definitely ready for Kindergarten this next year.

I was talking to my mom about the possible grade-skip for dd and she said something along the lines of "What's important right now is that she's in a place that loves her," and today I got the IAS (thank you, interlibrary loans!) and this one sentence gave me pause: "It might be best for a talented child to repain in the warm, supportive atmosphere of a good preschool, where the teacher is willing and able to offer the child individualized activities designed to challenge him or her intellectually, rather than be places in a kindergarten environment where everyone has the same curriculum..."

I haven't talked to the Kinder yet, so I'm not sure how well they can accomodate dd, but I did find a half-time PreK that said they'd differentiate reading and math (No, they don't realize what dd can do, but that's okay. I don't really care if she doesn't learn during PreK hours, just that she has a positive experience). Overall, the PreK seems very nice, with lots of projects, and lots of parent participation. Oh, and they don't have an attendance requirement -- which behooves my family situation.

But, despite what my mom and IAS said, I have two nagging concerns @ PreK--
1 -- I want dd to get lots of opportunity to write @ school. This seems like it would be way better served at the Kinder level.
2 -- DD is such a happy kid, and so comfortable in her skin. I realize eventually she will find out what an odd-ball she is (I mean that in the most loving way, but, hey, an outlier is an outlier), but I don't want that to happen NOW. Sometimes she'll say something that gives people (even me) pause, and she NOTICES the reaction; I imagine she will notice she is different than the other kids -- as far as vocabulary, the type of pretend play, reading and math ability, etc. I imagine she would seem less different at the Kinder level.

JJsMom -- Could you expound on "We suffered through pre-K during the 08-09 school year..."? How did your ds suffer?

Anyone else -- What have your experiences been regarding these two issues, and any other factors?

Since my DS did go through the first half of the year in regular kindergarten, I'll just add this....

I think the 4 year olds DO stand out in a kindergarten classroom, mainly by their age. Believe it or not, peer cliques ("grouping" might be a better term at this age) are already starting to appear at kindergarten, and they are well aware of how old everyone else is. Here in Cal, the state lets you start at 4y8m (Dec cutoff), and it is pretty obvious who the 4 year olds are just by watching them walk in the door. I volunteered in the classroom, and I was surprised by how easily I could pick them out.

A large portion of kindergarten is about playing--free play and playground play. Our kids might know much more than the other ones in there, but all they are really going to take from kindergarten is their interactions with peers. If they're left out because they aren't quite at that social level (and I mean more about how they talk/act/games they play than about how well they sit for the teacher), or can't run as fast or kick the ball as far, my experience is that they will feel that in K.

Conversely, DS's entire table wasn't even aware that he was able to write paragraphs, read fluently, and do division problems. One finally asked him 3 months in why he wasn't reading the red (sight word) books. He had been reading from his own book bin in front of them the entire time!

Also, most K teachers that I've talked with won't do a lot of differentiation for the first half of the year. DS was profoundly gifted, and they tested him at the beginning of the school year as 3 years ahead in most areas (2 1/2 in math). Nonetheless, he couldn't get anything but his own book bin for the first few months. They practiced their letters and numbers for MONTHS! DC will get MUCH more writing experience from you at home than from any K program I'm familiar with.

What they will get in K, though, is the fun of being part of a larger school, the excitement that comes from being a Ker, buddy classes with older grades, etc. Also, while my son was going completely crazy with the academic level, two of his very best friends came from that class. They aren't gifted, and they are such blessings in our lives because he has other age-peers that he likes to play with. He's around older kids with all of his academic-type activities, but we are finding that having a summer full of age-peer friends is very very healthy for him at this age.

Just my two cents....

Clay, I'm going to play devil's advocate a bit and go back a bit on something your mom said. (Sorry, this is long)

My DS6 starting reading when he was 4, before his last year of pre-K. He attended a play-based preschool in which he was the only reader in his class. The teachers didn't know or care, but they were loving and provided many stimulating play-based things for the kids. I know other parents of gifted kids who kept their kids there until regular K age and were very pleased.

Even though they didn't do "work", the kids had lots of opportunities to learn in whatever way they were ready for. I did gets lots of questions when one of the teachers was trying to teach DS to paint in big brushstrokes. He looked at the strokes, told her that was "infinity" and continued in his meticulous ways. I read something recently that talked about preschool being a better environment for gifted kids than K b/c teachers will accommodate fast learners just as they accommodate any other child. I found that to be the case with both my children. The pre-K kids didn't really care or notice that he was doing far different things than they were.

The downside for us was DEFINITELY entering K in our neighborhood elementary school. By then DS was reading at a grade 2 level and tested fully done w/1st grade math. I couldn't get many accommodations for him. The curriculum is the curriculum. When I brought work of his in, the principal said she couldn't verify what I was telling him as he did the work, etc. Still, that didn't stop his growth. (It only frustrated me!) We simply continue to do things at home and he ended the year reading at a grade 4 level. Thankfully, he's switching schools next year to a school that will accommodate his needs and give him a same age peer group. He definitely encountered more kids who would say they liked him b/c he could read, hence noticing the difference between him and them.

One other note: There was a child in DS's K class who entered early. He's doing well academically. DS is good friends w/him (gifted kids gravitate towards each other, I think). Where I really notice the difference between the two boys is in athletic kind of stuff. My DS can swim the length of the pool, ride a two-wheeler, etc. His friend's not developmentally quite there yet. It simply means I need to be careful about the kind of play dates I schedule with the two of them so my son isn't leaving the other boy behind, causing bad feelings. It's not a big deal at all, and I'm sure the other boy will catch up quickly enough.

We suffered through it, not DS. He really didn't know much different. It was great for him socially... but that's about it. I would have to say that if anything, he lost at a chance to gain knowledge, but gained socialization skills he really didn't have prior to pre-K (and he was a daycare child since a baby!!!).

However, if I had the choice whether to have put him in pre-k or K at the time, he would've been in Kindergarten. Hands down. There's not much difference here in GA between K & pre-K anyway... sad, but true.

Clay,

We ended up entering our DD into K early through a private Kindergarten at her Montessori school. Missouri *does not* allow early entry to K to be publicly funded.

Her school was great, both before and during her K year. Lots of kids above grade level, lots of differentiation.

That said, your daughter will still know she's different. At one point, over a year ago, my daughter and I were talking and she used a multisyllabic word (I don't remember which) correctly in a sentence. She then turned to me and said, "most 4-year-olds don't know what XX means."

She knows. She accepts it. If your daughter is observant, she knows too.

Make sure she's in a place where she is supported, wherever that may be.

Update: So, dd is starting PreK next week. I'm pretty nervous about it, but between the free play, outside time, story time, art, singing, snack time, etc. I don't imagine she'll have too much time for boring language arts and math instruction each day. And they've said they'd differentiate. And they've just been a lot more accessible throughout this process than the school with the Kinder program. So... I'm thinking/hoping PreK will be "good enough" (which is my general litmus test when perfect just isn't possible). Honestly, K might not be a better fit anyway -- dd easily knows all the academic content they teach in Kinder. Perhaps a good Montessori or foreign language immersion school would be a good fit, but as neither of those are options, I'll settle for her being happy and entertained for three hours a day, and then us doing what we do at home the rest of the time.

3 hours a day is a lot less than 7 hours a day - there is hope!

Thanks, Grinity. This board actually clued me in that a half-time PreK can work well for HG+ kids. Now, next year... that will be interesting... but, ah, trying not to get ahead of myself.