Reply to Anyone knows the Early Entrance Exam to Kindergarten?

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Reply to "Anyone knows the Early Entrance Exam to Kindergarten?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My child is in preschool this year and is enthusiastically working 3 to 4 years ahead in math.  I really don't think he'd be happy going into public K in two years and following the traditional K curriculum.  Socially he prefers playing with older, typically developing kids or age peers that are similarly advanced.

I'm really surprised none of the teachers posting have ever taught a child like mine in all their years.[/quote]

Former K - 2nd grade teacher here, turned school admin.  I have taught kids like yours.

If your child is 3 to 4 years ahead in math, he's not going to be in the same place as the other kids next year or the year after.  If you feel that his happiness is going to depend on being passibely academically challenged every minute, you're going to be disappointed.  It sounds like he learns at a different pace than other kids, so even if you accelerate him he won't spend the whole year on the same level as his peers.  A better strategy is to encourage him to enjoy the social aspects of school, and to learn to find ways to challenge himself.  I was a gifted child, and I know that I did a lot of that -- taking assignments and making them harder.  Using the time after I finished an assignment to read or write.  Thinking up ways to turn "easy" problems into "hard" problems.  I'll also say that my schools didn't quite know what to make of my academic skills and moved me back and forth several times (e.g. up a grade, and then down a grade).  To be honest, I wasn't "happier" or "unhappier" up or down.  My happiness at school was far more dependent on whether I had a teacher who allowed me some wiggle room to challenge myself, whether they were teaching interesting content (e.g. science, social studies, etc . . . ), and who the other kids were in a group.

As far as socially, often times when kids play best with older kids, it's because they can't negotiate the give and take that comes with playing with same age peers.  When older kids play with younger kids, they tend to take on the role of deciding who will lead.  Sometimes they let the little kid lead, or at least think he's leading, and sometimes they take on that role, but they're always the one deciding.  Playing with same age peers is much more challenging, as it requires more give and take.  It's also the skill he'll need when he's an adult and age differences kind of disappear.

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