How do I advocate for my child to enter kindergarten early?

My son has an October birthday - which has him starting almost 2 years from now! He is super bright and has been cognitively ready for school since the age of 2! He is socially bored over stimulated by the other kids in a daycare environment where not enough energy is spent on focused learning activities. He thrives when he is learning. He is pre-reading, early math skills, counts to 90, and backwards, knows all of his colors/shapes etc, is starting to spell words and writes very well. He is just SO READY for school! As his mom I know this in my heart of hearts - but I keep getting the "our policy is..." I'm sorry but one size fits most is not going to work for every student. When I was in school we had gifted and accelerated programs. Now the only specialized programs I can find are for special needs & remedial students. I agree these programs are needed - but not in dropping all programs for students who need an extra challenge! Any advise is appreciated. Opening Doors :)

Parent Answers to "How do I advocate for my child to enter kindergarten early?"

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is homeschooling an option for the next year? they have tons of homeschooling resources at the library. then once he is of age he can be tested. i mean he is only 2 i wouldn't rush it to much. even in most preschools there will be free play time. i know in IL they have schools called Quest and Goddard that are my academically focused. Goddard takes every young children not sure if you have them by you but they are a little pricey.

Lizzy04, it might be better to start a new discussion, and categorize your question locally for Sarasota, or even better, call your local school district and ask them directly.

Thank you for this response, it has helped me with the decision to let my daughter not enter K until next year. She will be 5 yrs. on 9/25, she can read on a kindergarten level, write her long name , knows all her letters & numbers etc... I am trying to find out more about the VPK program in Sarasota FL and when do they attend?

There have been several past discussions of people who have found themselves in similar situations, and some have gotten private testing done, but the public schools still will not make any exceptions. In those cases, if you have the means, you might want to consider enrolling in a private school, such as Montessori, which may not use the same "birthday cutoff" guidelines. Then, after your son completes Kindergarten/1st grade, he could probably re-enter the public system without them basing it on his age.
Many public schools still do offer gifted programming, but often it doesn't start until 3rd grade....The other option is that there are some "gifted only" schools, and my son attended one that was accredited by www.nais.org You might see if any are located near you. You might also like to join Greatschools Gifted Group at community.greatschools.net/groups/11537

Hey NWmom,
Another option. If the local school will not comply with your request to have your son tested for early entry, check with privite schools to do the testing. When we ran into problems with the public school we had our child tested at both the Montessori and local Kumon Academies. Between the recommendations from her pediatrician, pre-k teacher and the test results from both Montessori/Kumon schools our public schools had no choice but to atleast offer us the opportunity to test. If you truly believe that your son is ready for kndr. then I say go-for-it. No one knows your child like you do. Take care and let me know how it works out.

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