Hi FLMommy,

You are one of the lucky ones whose school listened and went out of the ordinary to prove you right via the test. I must not complain too much though as my principal was accommodating enough to allow my daughter attend Gr 1 Math and Reading classes, for which I am eternally grateful for. It's just that I naturally thought that since she was well aware of my daughters’ potentials, she would allow her take the test. I think though that through no fault of hers, her hands are tied due to the set rules. As for the home schooling, I dedicate my entire self, seeking stuff for the girls, and I have a wealth of websites that I have come across over the years. I don't know GS policy regarding sharing information about other educational sites but I found www.picadome.fcps.net/lab/currl/kindergarten/default.htm quite helpful and spending time with it (best time is between 12am and 2am when all the babies are asleep - yes, including "daddy" lol) I was able to find other excellent resources for the girls in all subjects - math, reading, science, social studies etc. Oh starfall is a blessing, most parents I gave the site to said their kids started reading after a few sessions with the site. I would have still loved the girls to have to do these things with kids their age with the same interests as kids learn and interact best with their pairs. Yet for now, I am all they have for now, you can imagine how I have had to drop my IQ to their level so they think I am “one of them.” I have learnt through all this that we have to be creative and even though it is hard especially if you are working, that little 30 minute, squeezed out to do something with them goes a longgg way. For example, instead of asking straight up "what’s 2+3 I play the song www.bbc.co.uk/schools/numbertime/songs/web_plus1.shtml and find a cool way of asking the same question, we call our sessions "mommy and me" and trust me, by the time I am done each day, I think I die in my sleep and get up the next morning. But I look at it all as my "Wall Street" Investment on my kids, giving them the foundation so to speak. I must say I have found GS one of the best resources since my Search life as I get to meet other parents with like minds and problems and its quite encouraging.

Mermonkey,
Have you spoken to your daughter's teacher or principal? Maybe she could visit another classroom for reading so she could enjoy something more on her grade level while spending the majority of her time in her kindergarten classroom where she can work on her fine-motor and writing skills...

My K girl is much like yours. I was lucky because I had an active principal who went forward with testing. She is now in a "gifted" class one day a week. She looks forward to it although she is one of only two grade K students in the class. They work on problems in teams and learn a lot about creative problem solving as they push each other in a supportive environment.

The "homeschooling" after school option is one that I used too...I'm sure we all have. My issue with that is timing. I work full-time, so my girl has to use after-school care at her school. By the time we get home, there is barely time to eat, bathe, brush teeth and have some reading before bed. I don't want to make her feel punished because after school, she has more school while her friends get to play. I'm struggling to find balance here.

My other issue is that both my husband and I are strong in verbal skills, but relatively weak in quantitative analysis. I can see already that our bias is being passed on to our children. We spend lots of time expanding their reading skills and vocabulary, but I don't do a good job teaching mathematical skills. I'd love to find good sites for these. Enchanted Learning is good at abotu $25 per year. Starfall was good for my younger child. I'm always looking for more.

Mom doing her best in Orlando

Reading your quest was as if you were asking about my girls. I have a 6 year old and a 4 year old and they both started reading books like Dr Suess "Are you my Mother" at Age 3. Unfortunately from all the research I have been doing, due to the NCLB system, our kids might not have that much recognition and opportunity to be explored in the system, not that I have given up, I still try to seek. What I have resolved to do in the mean time is spend my time satisfying their enormous quest for knowledge by conductuing my own version of homeschooling at home, so when they get back from school, I have various fun programs designed for them, like if I am treating multiplication problems with my 6 year old, I try to make it fun like a Game Show or something. We the parents know our kids capabilities and everytime we try to tell someone - teacher, school, Ed Board etc, the first thing they say or insinuate is, "every parent thinks their child is Eistein" or " Just let her grow and enjoy her age". Yes I agree, but the thing is what if they get bored, then what? And I know from studies that a well advanced child in a bored environment reacts in various ways, one being showing boredom by throwing tantrums etc, which I think is not fair to have the child go through that just because the ed system is not designed to feed her quest educationally. You can tell I am very passionate about this issue. Anyway like I said, it mainly lies in the parents hands. If you need me to send you some of the websites I use for Science, which is also one of their favorite subjects, please let me know. I have tons as I spend all my time researching for fun stuff for them.

gtteacher,
Thanks for the reply! I totally forgot i posted here! Nice surprise to login and see your message.

Anyway, yes, she more or less "taught herself to read". We read to her a lot and taught her letters, but that was about it. She just started following along in books and picking up sight words and before we knew it, she had cracked the code :).
Thanks again for the good advice,
scott.

Did she teach herself to read?

Kindergarten is tricky for differentiation since most learners don't have the ability to self direct their learning. The teacher should work on her weaknesses but still allow her to make gains in the other academic areas.

I would suggest that you don't "press" the teacher. This will just make her defensive. Offer help and show a willingness to assist her in creating materials that may benefit the entire class. Be an advocate.

Is there a gt teacher in the building? If so, ask for her/him to observe.

Find outside resources to support her passions. www.hoagiesgifted.org is a great resource for information.

Hope this helps