what do you do when your child has started kindergarten but already seems beyond it? i can't imagine waiting until next year and having my daughter skip first grade (which seems more foundational than kindergarten) but she's mastered the stuff they're doing in kindergarten now. her teacher wasn't sure if she could skip to first grade at this point but that there's not a lot she can do for my daughter without making her feel singled out (since my daughter will want to do what everyone else is doing).
some might say homeschooling but that's not an option at this point.
we are in camas, washington.
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she's been in preschool for two years so she is very well-behaved in the classroom and gets along great socially. her teacher says that she doesn't seem bored and is just happy going with the flow.
Thank you everyone for your input. I found the personal stories especially helpful. (I had never thought of the age aspect. Glad I asked!) I think I'm going to leave her in kindergarten and just work on extra stuff at home, if she's interested.
At this point, I would leave her there. I often think the jump can be difficult socially on them and I especially think so if she were to do it mid-year.
A lot of little ones get bored in Kindergarten. They are all at such different levels it's almost impossible to keep them all busy. Kindergarten really is more about socialization and getting along in school and following directions. Don't push her at this young age. Let her be a Kindergartener and enjoy it for what it is. If she's truly gifted you can have her tested and moved when she is older. Being in Kindergarten won't hurt her even if she is gifted.
My sister was pushed ahead because she could read and was (and still is) basically brilliant. It was the biggest mistake of my parents' lives. She was socially more comfortable with the kids in the year behind.
She spent her entire school career academically ahead of her classmates but socially behind them. She is a December baby and that made it worse. (Our system's cut off was December... so not only was she the youngest.. she was younger than the youngest by a good year!)
Keep your child with her peers. The academics can come later.
If she is truly gifted, the teachers will challenge her and she will have no issues.
LBC
Leave her where she is... She is just starting out. If you move her up, you can potentially be asking for issues later with her not having the maturity of the other students. I speak from personal experience! I was the valedictorian of my class, but I was not emotionally connected to my classmates since they were reaching milestones well before me. A year is not going to make a difference in the long run!!!
I'd leave her with her peers in her class, but do what you can to enrich her learning experiences outside of school. Science/art/history museums, zoos, aquariums. There are things the schools have to teach to, but you don't have to remain limited to their curriculum.
Our experience with the gifted program in elementary school (and this can vary a lot depending on what school system you are in) is they do very little (their budgets get cut first) and the big problem for bright kids is they get so bored while info is repeated over and over (and over) while they teach to the slowest students in the class. No child is left behind because no child can get ahead. It gets a little better in middle school but you've got 5 or 6 years before you get to that point. Subjects might be easy for her now, but eventually she will come up against something that is more challenging and she will need a good base to work from.
Leave her in Kinder and reevaluate with the teacher next year. Then move her to 2nd. Skip first because it is an extension of Kinder. In 2nd they start cursive and multiplication. 4th is the start of real homework in many states and the State History lessons, so don't skip 4th. I wouldn't skip anything after 7th, if at that time she is happy.
Kindergarten is not only about the ABC's etc. It is about social and emotional learning as well. she is learning to work within a group. she is learning to take her turn and follow directions and yes she did 2 years at preschool but preschool is pretty laid back as far as "I don't want to do reading time art time circle time"(.... fill in the blank there) they redirect them on to something else. In kindergarten they also learn about following along with everyone else. If you school doesn't have the ability to give her harder work and let her keep moving ahead you can always supplement what she is learning. Is she in a full day kindergarten? If not maybe search for one of those. As they tend to do more work than your average 2 and half hour program. good luck
I'd probably say just leave her where she is unless SHE is unhappy. Kindergarten is more about learning to be part of the class, follow directions, get used to the school etc. than it is about actually mastering curriculum. My little boy reads at a 3rd grade level NOW and I'll still be sending him to Kindergarten next year.
HTH
T.
If your school has a GATE program have her tested for it. The same thing happened to my oldest son in Kindergarten and it was really depressing for me. There was basically nothing they taught him that he didn't already know. I wished I would have really pushed for him to get tested for GATE-his Kindergarten teacher thought he should be but the admistrators strongly encouraged me not to-they said I should wait. So he basically sat in the back of the room while the other kids were learning to read and read books to the blind girl in class. But you know what-he didn't mind at all. He loved Kindergarten and just being around the other kids. It was only a half day program. Since he is a boy I never considered accelerating him. Academically he would have been fine but I would worry about socially down the road.
In first grade I did have him tested and he was put in GATE. Helped a little but still there was not much challenge for him in the classroom. It is a little frustrating because from what I have found they really do teach to the middle. There is not much available for kids in the lower elem that are above that middle. I have heard there is more differentiation as they get older.
I agree with others about the social aspects of school. If you move your daughter up that means she will be a year younger and a year less mature when she is faced with decisions about drugs, alcohol, and sex. Is that really what you want? Either find her a program that will enhance her interests or try a private school that is academically challenging.
One other thing to think about is the school district. My district requires that kids go through Kindergarten. I'm not exactly sure why, but they do. I do know that it was the 1st time the kids have been to any kind of classroom for most of the kids from my son's class last year. So, that might have something to do with it. But, something to check out, just in case.
Really, the best time to skip is at the beginning of the next school year. If you are intent on going through with this, then be sure you have the materials or can have her tutored at least to bring her up to speed with what she may be missing in the grade she is skipping.
But if she is thriving and happy where she is at, she may be better of staying with her peers.
