does your toddler have a birthday AFTER sept 1?

[Anonymous]

All of you with your genius kids. Come on. Let them be kids.

I have an actual gifted child (yes, she had to be tested) and she did just fine in a preschool with kids her own age - in fact, she's doing great with kids her own age NOW, even though she would be able to skip ahead. Being able to and needing to are entirely different things!

I always say : If your child is actually gifted, then he/she will be gifted no matter where they are. They will not be "dumbed down". If they can be, then they're not as gifted as you thought.

Keeping her challenged can be difficult at times. She reads advanced books at home, with help from the teacher we modify assignments etc. But I don't want her on some special track. If she's destined for Harvard or Sarah Lawrence, she can go at 18 - she doesn't need to be there at 16 or 17. You're doing more of a disservice to your "bright" child by pushing him ahead at TWO YEARS OLD than he'll ever suffer being lumped in with "normal" kids.

[Anonymous]

PP WHAT KIND OF SCHOOL DID YOU PUT YOUR GIFTED DAUGHTER IN? PUBLIC/MONTESORI/WALDORF/OTHER?

[Anonymous]

I'm the pp: our daughter goes to public school. She went to a Quaker school for preschool.

[Anonymous]

My son's birthday is 10/7. The cut off for schools in FFX Cnty is 9/30, so I really have no choice, he will be 6 when he goes to kindergarten.

That said, he is in a daycare with a preschool style that has a split between the younger 2s and the older 2s. They also move kids up to the next level a few times a year, (January and April). They don't move up to the 3s group until the children are fully potty trained.

Your son may be very verbal, but is he potty trained? How is his physical coordination? Is he tall or big? How is he with sitting still, concentrating, and with following directions? Probably most importantly, how does he play with other children? All of these things are stronger in a 3 year old, and I wouldn't want to put my child in with a group ahead of his age just because he excels at one or two things.

My son is very coordinated and is quite tall for his age, so people often think he is 3 or older, but his verbal skills are on par with the average early 2 year old boy. I would just say, don't write off the 2s group in any program as too babyish. I would also talk to any school you're interested in about what they do to separate older and younger kids in the class, and how they handle move ups throughout the year.

[Anonymous]

I agree that it sounds as though OP's child might be gifted intellectually - but that does not mean that the child is ready emotionally or in terms of other areas of development to interact with children an entire chronological year older.

Preschool is primarily about social skill development rather than intellectual development.

Find a good fit socially for your child - you can always do enrichment activities at home if you wish. Of course, you also want to make sure that the environment you choose is supportive of accepting your child's abilities and not finding them to be a bother or something undesirable (and yes, such place exist unfortunately).

Facing the same issue with my late September birthday intellectually precocious child.

[Anonymous]

There seem to be a lot of replies referring to "children an entire year older," when many of these potential classmates will be far less than a year older than OP's child.

In fact, I faced the same issue as the OP last year. I don't think my child is a genius, but, with a late September birthday, her abilities (intellectual, social, physical) are far closer to those of her friends born in late August than to those of children born up to eleven months and one week after her. So she's in a 3s program now and is doing splendidly by all measures (she's happy, she's learning to share, she's learning to write, etc.). She'll be in 4s next year, then go to pre-K when all her classmates go to kindergarten.

OP indicated her intention to do much the same with her own child, so the comments about moving her child a year ahead at this tender age do not seem relevant to me.

[Anonymous]

Thanks PP - I struggle with this a little as my DS has a late Sept birthday - so with a Sept 30 cut off I have the choise of sending him as nearly the youngest or nearly the oldest!

[Anonymous]

Hi - We were in your same situation. Both of our children have early October birthdays. We found a montessori school that would take them right before they turned three. They did the three year Montessori cycle, then started a "regular" kindergarten. They LOVED it and have thrived - way ahead of the other kids in their kindergartens academically, confident, happy socially.

[Anonymous]

PP, did your children go to regular public kindergarden? I am asking since our daughter is a mid October child and it seems publica has that strict 9/30 cut off.. Please provide more info..