Need Information About "Gifted" Daughter

II think you have the wrong idea here of what the purpose of kindergarten is - and that purpose has NOTHING to do with academics, and appropriately so.
I am a teacher - I started in regular education in public schools and have since moved onto special education, psychology, montessori based curriculum, and generally teach in the private realm. However, I was a kindergarten teacher for many years for the public school system and the benefit of kindergarten for ALL children does not lie in what is academically taught - nowadays, most native english speakers already know beyond what is taught academically in kindergarten (alphabet, colors, shapes, counting past 10, etc) and many of them come into kindergarten with pre-reading skills. The benefit lies in those basic skills that can ONLY be learned in a classroom setting that will be the basis of their school lives until adulthood: learning to work with others, helping each other, listening, attention and focus skills, taking turns, social appropriateness of behavior.... I could go on and on. Not all children have the benefit of siblings, and for many, this is their first experiences in a large social situation with children from all socioeconomic statuses and backgrounds accounted for. In the Bay Area, the diversity of culture in the classroom is very wide, and it is a truly enlightening thing when children learn about the wealth of meaning and experience of other cultures. No, kindergarten is NOT what you learn about letters and numbers, but where children many begin to learn empathy and understanding, and about how to work together. They will also learn how to stand up for themselves and about how to react in situations where they may feel uncomfortable or different - they will learn to respect authority (we hope) and perhaps build a better sense of right and wrong. There is so so much more to it than just academics. It is NEVER recommended that a child skip kindergarten, and I would strongly suggest against any private school who's kindergarten program is academically based and sends their children home with any sort of real quantifiable homework.
In the pubic school system, children are generally tested for giftedness at the end of second grade/beginning of third grade if the teachers feel it is appropriate. If the child seems like the right sort of child for the GATE or accelerated program, they will be placed in a classroom that is either a split grade class or just one grade, taught by a "gifted and talented education" GATE educated teacher. In a private school setting, things can be entirely different because private schools can pretty much conduct their teaching in the way they wish. Private school curriculum is often accelerated, so if you want to place your child in a situation where you will be paying tuition for an accelerated program, choose one of those private montessori or charter schools (I have worked in both, and I do not necessarily recommend them for all children. They are not for most children).
I was a very gifted child and was placed in gifted and talented classrooms and actually BUSSED once or twice a week to another school while in elementary to take part in their special gate program. WHile somewhat singled out because everyone was aware I got to leave once a week, I still had very normal school friends, did normal school work, and had a really great typical school experience in which I was allowed to be a child. I do find the public school GATE programs to be better than those in private schools as it still allows those talented children to have somewhat of a normal school experience while still being enriched. Children educated only in the private school system tend to have a very different experience of what school is and can really have social issues when interacting with the "outside" world - which is the world they will be expected to join once old enough to join the workforce.
Be happy that your child is gifted! You are the best person to foster a love of reading, learning and academics with her at home. Go on interesting outings, visit museums, experience things that might seem a little bit mature for her age and see how she does. ENCOURAGE HER TO READ, because reading really is THE basis for the enrichment of the mind --- let her attend kindergarten, and worry about the academics later. Allow her to be a child before throwing her into a situation where there is pressure to perform or succeed academically - if she is a gifted child, chances are, she wont need anyone to push her to do her best and learn.
My 2 year old is so smart it astonishes me (between myself, stanford educated, and my husband that works at Apple, she got some GREAT smart genes) - be proud of it! but the most important thing to do is never get a big head about your child's abilities - other parents will see right through it and resent you. My 27 month old is reading very simple words and I will always work with her and encourage her reading skills, but she will go to kindergarten and attend public school just like I did and be gate identified when the time comes. I will enrich her life in other ways with piano lessons once she turns 4, dance if she wants, or any other class she wants to take. It is our job to give our children what they need if school is too easy for them academically - school provides a wealth of other skills that are JUST as important.

testing and placement for "gifted" occurs in 2nd grade and again in 5th grade. i think part of it has to do with how the test was designed.

definitely talk to the teachers at the future school. they should have ideas on how to keep the advanced child interested, via writing, reading/researching a topic more deeply, even directing plays or making up games to play.

i would say one way you can do for her right now is introduce her to riddles, logic puzzles, games, etc. give her activities that develop her thinking skills. she's kind of young, but there should be things appropriate for her age. morrison school supply in sunnyvale is a great resource.

K.,
I would talk to your daughters school about your concerns. I would think long and hard about letting her skip a grade. My parents let me skip 2nd grade it worked ok until about 6th grade (when puberty started for everyone else) I was the youngest in my class, everyone could date, drive etc before me (I was 18 months younger than my class mates). The other bad part was, I was still very advanced and still got bored in school (which ended up causing attendence problems once I got into high school) Things didn't settle down for me untill I started taking college classes (I was 16) but I still had the problem of being alot younger than the other students.
Good luck
Amanda

My youngest son is gifted, and from my experience I would say you shouldn't go out of your way to "challenge" her, those kids tend to challenge themselves. I would just keep an eye on it when she's in school and if she seems bored or says she is bored then consider changing her situation.

When my youngest was in first and second grade he always came home saying he was bored in school. This was in two different schools, both of which were very highly rated schools. For that reason I put him (and my other children) in a charter school where they taught the children at the rate appropriate to each individual, and the teaching was less rote and more creative. He has never said he was bored since.

I didn't want to accelerate him by skipping because I believe kids should be in their peer group, and there are other things to be learned in school besides academics. He doesn't need to be going to college at 14.

WOW - And Laura's child (below), is REALLY gifted, sounds like a genius!!

My 3 year old daughter is reading basic words and writing common words already including her first and last name as well as her numbers with accuracy. She has a more advanced vocabulary than my 7 year old. She regularly and correctly uses words & phrases like "actually" "therefore" "I beg to differ" etc. I don't plan to do anything different with her than my with my avearge kids. I want her to have a "normal" school experience. Perhaps when she's older we will pursue further options. The only relative advice I can offer is that we have struggled to maintain regular playdates and friendships with children her age. She becomes easily bored with more average kids. She seems to prefer the company of adults. We are working at that. Good Luck.

K., I am a relatively new mom (my daughter just turned 1), but I am also a teacher of an entire class of gifted 4th graders. The earliest test for IQ (in order to be accurate) are for 2nd graders, although I have heard that in the LA area Kindergarteners have been tested before (not sure what measures they use or validity they have). You may seek out a Pshychologist who would be willing to test her if you are interested. As far as right now, the more reading she does and the more creative opportunities that are provided for her the better. Her vocabulary can be strengthen by taking walks and discussing her surroundings, "Look at the blue sky, and the green leaves on the trees. What do you think would like to live in the trees?" Then at the park have her pretend to be the tree and you be the bird, then switch roles. Or play alphabet games, where you name things she sees or can draw and create your own alphabet book (if you are into scrapbooking, they sell a great one "ABC book" that you could make with pictures of her). Use magazine pictures and cut out textures, colors, flowers, words, and have her create collages with a certain theme... give ideas first and do a couple together (things you find in the grocery store, things that are loud, things that are for babies, things that go fast and slow - opposites). Give her a box of known objects and have her come up with new uses for them, by putting on a play for you (provide a box of things for "costumes" - your clothes, hats, scarves, old Halloween costumes). Also, as a BIG supporter of music education, I highly suggest finding an outlet for her through music instruction. My bias - Suzuki Method instruments: piano, violin, viola, cello..to name a few. My mom is the Suzuki coordinator. Whatever you do right now, I agree with Kristin L on a lot of points.
I currently have a couple students in my class who have skipped grades and though they are academically ready, it is really hard on them maturity wise. If skipping grades - once in school - seems to be the only option, then make sure to have some out-of-school venue where she is with her age peers in order to balance the socail/maturity part.
Once in school, observe the classroom often. Watch how she interacts with others, and encourage participation but also restraint from answering everything the teacher asks during whole-group discussions. Continue to foster creativity and reading during the summer months. Also, learning a foreign language might be a fun challenge. Have fun! Share what works out for you and your daughter.

Like you, I have 2 older children and my just barely 4 is completing the work of his kindergarten sister. I have checked into what can be done for him. We even looked into starting him a year early for kindergarten. Unfortunately, public schools do not offer early entry but they do offer accelerated programs for gifted children. YOu should check with your daughter's school to be and express your concerns now about her being bored. I have even reviewed and interviewed the kindergarten teachers to see if they offer accelerated curriculum. The school should, after kindergarten, offer the opportunity for your child to skip a grade if she is that advanced. So, I would check out the school first and worry about having her tested when she is a little older.

D.

Hi K.. I have a gifted daughter. She taught herself to read at 2 1/2. She is now 6 and recently finished reading Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth and wrote a report about it.

When she turned 5, we went to the school and had a meeting with a kindergarten teacher. I asked her if she could guarantee me she was going to be able to do to keep my daughter challeneged enough while teaching 19 other children because I didn't want my daugther labeled a behavioral problem from being bored. She told me, off the record of course, there was no way a child with my daughter's ability would ever succeed in public school. She would always be bored, teased, and/or feel left out.

I took my daughter to look at a regular public school kindergarten and a Montessori based kindergarten/first grade split class. Her response was, "Why would I want to go where I already know everything they are doing?" I told her the Montessori school would be providing her a mentor, an older student that would work with her at a higher grade level. Her response was, "Why would I want the other kids to know how smart I am?"

So we are homeschooling her and have for the past two years. She has done incredibly well and loves learning at her own pace.

L.