Advanced Child

I suggest teaching him new things at home if he is interested in something in particular. Take him to the library for storytime. Get him My Big Backyard magazine from Nat Geo...just whatever he wants to know about.

Kindergarten is super taxing! You will be glad he knows the info beforehand because there are so many other things they have to concentrate on. My daughter was always one of the brighter kids in her preschool class, but Kindergarten is a struggle. Not academically, but it is such a long day and there are so many things they have to do and go. It's a mad house and she comes home pooped. I'm just glad she knew all the basic and how to read beforehand!

As a teacher you really want to wait until 2nd or 3rd grade to have them tested to skip grade levels. Kinder and 1st grade are as much about learning social skills and how to be a student as they are anything else. Students really need those years to find their place. The most typical grade skipped in the previous district I worked at was 3rd. (not sure of the numbers in my current dist).

My older daughter learned everything she would learn academically in kindergarten before she started kindergarten. I still had her go. Socially they need kindergarten.

Seems like a lot of parents forget their kids have more than one dimension that needs to be nurtured.

My son is now 5 1/2 and in regular public kindergarten (so you you know how the post ends).

He is extremely bright and very advanced. By the time he was 3 he had taught himself to read. At this point he reads EVERYTHING. He adds and subtracts easily (including dealing with place value) and can multiply small numbers. He reads large numbers and talks about things like "one thousand thousand is really a million."

I kept him with his same-aged peers in pre-school and pre-K and this year he is in Kindergarten. The way I figure... he'd be no better in 1st grade than Kinder... and what? I'm gonna have a 5 year old in 3rd grade? No thanks.

HE LOVES SCHOOL! And he's LEARNING... the teacher pulls him separately for reading... he does math with his classmates and still enjoys it... He learns about the water cycle, and seasons and cloud formation... and symbols of our country etc. He does music and art and PE and computers and library. He plays with his FRIENDS.

Kindergarten is fun for kids. A good teacher will make sure it's interesting. Pre-school isn't JUST about learning ABCs and 123s... it's about being in a classroom, taking turns, following directions etc.

HTH
T.

In the gifted community... it's generally recommend to AVOID testing FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE unless it's needed for admission into x, y, z, or for special services.

Here's a good 100+ hour reading on the subject http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/

When you CAN'T avoid it, it's also really important to make sure they're being evaluated by a gifted kid specialist. All child psychologists can admin the test, BUT the results are subjective.

My son was tested twice for school entry. Once by a 'sub' (our psychologist was in a car accident and moved all her appointments to a colleague who DIDN'T specialize in gifted kids) and then once by the director of a gifted program who'd recommended the school (that needed the test results in the first place). He'd already done an 'unoffical' screen of my son ahead of time and was baffled by the paper results.

"OH." he said... and then proceeded to highlight everything the other tester had MISSED

"What goes faster a bike or a car?"

"Well MY bike goes over 160 mile per hour!"

"So which goes faster?"

"MY bike goes faster."

The tester marked the VERY BASIC question "wrong". But the specialist said; "This is super common with gifted kids. He's differentiating between HIS bike, and every other bike... AND I'm willing to bet your car tops out at 140-155."

"155"

"Yep. So he's ACTUALLY saying, 'cars are faster' but has done it in a totally typical way for gifted kids to; by making YOU think about it / providing and explination that "lays out" the answer for you."

He then went on to ask where the reading and math portions of the test were, and I told him she hadn't done those, and he was ticked. My son had been reading since he was 3, and doing math (just arithmetic, nothing fancy) since he was 4. But she didn't have him do ANY reading or math, because AGE WISE those weren't on the test. 2 years older those are on the test.

So two RADICALLY DIFFERENT scores, by two different professionals. Which is PART of why the gifted community loathes testing.

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Added: NOT all kids love kindergarten. My son was trying to take his own life in Kindergarten he was soooooo miserably bored, and spent hours every day crying. He had a FANTASTIC teacher. He was uber popular. He loved his friends... but he was quite literally bored out of his mind.

do not have him tested , none of that matters until they get to school.

Let him take the lead on learning. Don't push him with flash cards, or making him sit and write his name . . . . kids his age learn best from play and he needs to first and foremost be learning how to be around and play with other kids. I'm not saying not to let him learn I'm just saying let him lead the way instead of drilling him. And if he is still advanced after K then have him tested in first grade. Kids in K are at all different levels when they get there. And most level out. My oldest is confirmed gifted, my youngest likely is as well so I have a bit of experience with um.

I am a mom of a 19yr old and 16yr old. I remember back in the day when everyone was getting "tested" and I felt the pressure to do the same. My kidz father is a doctor, and very intellectual-good DNA for smarts. Saying that he said, I don't want my kidz pushed in any way in lower education. They have the rest of their lives to excel in school (hello college let alone grad school, med school, law school, u get the point), and now they need to experience life. You need to use this time to get into music, socialize (gosh intellects are so retarded this way!!), sports, take field trips (zoo's, etc), church and character building. There is so much available now to that age group it's unbelieveable. This time is precious, don't waste it....

You've gotten a lot of great responses. I have 3 children, the youngest is 4 (almost 5). All of them showed high intelligence skills at an early age, with my youngest being the most advanced. And with all that said, I completely agree with the others who have said not to get him tested. I put my youngest in a "normal" pre-school environment because at this age it is of the highest importance that she learn the social skills. Her teacher is well aware of her advanced skills. And we're always doing things at home, in a fun way, to challenge her thinking. I believe our school district actually offers a gifted program starting as early as Kindergarten, but it's only for a couple of hours a week so that the students are still actively involved in day to day activities with their friends but yet offered some challenges as well.

Gifted kids need the social practice that school supplies. You don't want a super smart son really, you want a happy son. I have a really smart son (college age, 2 majors and a minor) that is most of the time happy and always involved in many things. You will have some teachers that will provide knowledge up to their potential but for the most part that burden will fall to you. We did a bit of sports and piano, lots of library time, museams, along with varrious experiences with church such as visiting nursing homes and just talking with adults. As the younger sister who kept up with all her older sister's homework, I know he will get lots of stimulation from just learning his older sib's stuff! You have good answers here..happy reading!

Get him accepted into a good AMI Mobtessori school. Best gift you will ever give him.

Your concerns really depend on the school you attend. My son is very bright as well and was reading before he entered Kindergarten. I was planning on talking to the Kindergarten teacher about how bright he was, but she came to me first and said that she realized he could read and she wanted to enroll him in the 1st Grade reading program (awesome!). My son went to a private school for Kindergarten and 1st Grade (mainly because my youngest was still in daycare at the same place). Then, I switched him to public school for 2nd grade. Our public school has a gifted and talented program and so this kept him engaged there. However, I switched school again to a Charter school for 3rd grade. I did this MAINLY because the charter school offers more in the way of fine arts. My son is very bright and he doesn't necessarily have to be taught the math/reading/sciences because if the teacher mentions something, he GETS it. But, in public school, he wasn't being exposed to the fine arts very much. So, in the charter school, he is in musical theater and art - several times a week - which helps him to stay engaged.

In the meantime, he is reading at a high level and self educating himself through reading. He is bright and and it is frustrating because the other kids are not at the same level. But, we really lucked out at this charter school because they put the kids in "leveling" classes, meaning that most of the kids in his class are in the top of the class. That helps a LOT.

Good luck!
L.

Maybe send him to a school where he stays with his age group but is exposed to new and different things...so a breadth of knowledge rather than a race. One idea is the Spanish School House, where he can learn in Spanish. Wouldn't it be great to have a bilingual kid? But there are also other choices around.

My daughter is very smart. Knew her letters at 2, could read at 3, etc. My husband and I have both noticed the difference in her stages of learning. Keep in mind she has 2 older sisters, who are also smart. We're talking 94 is a low grade for our #2. Anyway, we are not going to have her tested because we want her to socialize with her friends and be socially ready, etc. However, she is learning to speak Chinese (outside school) with her sisters and she plays soccer and swims. She loves the library and reading to us, all snuggled up. She knows a lot of math and when I do the multiplication drills with her sisters, she chimes in. I said all that to say, just keep her engaged in things she likes. My daughter finishes things early, but her teacher has books in the classroom that she can read while she waits on the other kids to finish. Her teacher also knows that she can read and is advanced. I also let her take reading, coloring and exercise books in her back pack. You can buy these at the dollar store. Whenever she finishes everything I have her practice writing things to develop her fine motor skills. Oh my word, her handwriting is beautiful. She prints better than my 10 year old, but I wouldn't dare tell either of them. :)

Don't focus on the fact that you think he'll be bored, focus on giving him more of what he likes and keeping it fun and interesting.

Also I give kudos to Thea's last sentence, she is so right.

I'm in a similar situation. My 4 year old is very advanced, and its entirely self-initiated on his part. He reads 2nd-3rd grade chapter books to himself for fun and discusses them with me afterward, he's taught himself multiplication, etc. Currently, he goes part-time to a Montessori preschool, so he can work at his own pace, and at home, I just make sure he has plenty of time to play and access to things he's interested in (like regular trips to the library for more books).

While I think that public school can be great for gifted kids, the school my child would go to has a really high student - teacher ratio, and I'm just not sure they are going to be able to keep him interested. You should look into what is available in your area, though, because I know if I lived two streets over, there is a wonderful gifted program my son could be in (assuming he qualified). We are considering sending him to a private school next year that has a much lower student-teacher ratio and allows kids to work at their own pace. This school requires testing from CATS (Collaborative Academic Testing Services). I would agree with other posts that there is no reason to get him tested prior to applying to a specialty program. Also, I would avoid grade-skipping if possible, because it can really hurt kids socially. Good luck!