I need advice: What to do with advenced reader kids in school

[Stodd]

Hi,
The other day my husband and I had a conversation about our son's schooling (even though we have a few more years to go -he's not even three yet). I am positive that I don't want to home school him (don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with that), but it also came up what to do with his advanced reading. I don't want him to be bored in class.  Can he just attend a higher class only for reading? Or can we choose a language class instead of reading? I have no idea about our options.
I would love to read about your experience, ideas, advice.
Thanks

[fma001]

My niece goes to a charter school. They place kids into reading classes based on reading level rather than by grade. Charters may be a good option because they can be more flexible.

[haydeejamison]

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[Stodd]

Thank you for the ideas. I will take a look of charter schools by us and also what it is exactly.
Thank you haydeejamison, but i think you misunderstood me. i was thinking about my son going to school about 3 years from now and I think he will be board at school because he already can read. That's why I thought that maybe he could take a language class, but I don't know if it's a good idea or even an option. that's why I started this topic because I would like to know how others do if not homeschooling their kids.
Thanks again.

[TracyR4]

You'll have to do some school 'shopping' and look around. Some schools will promise they will let your child advance at their own level and end up not doing it. We don't have charter schools in our area. Just public or private and my daughter attended a private school for preschool that had grades prek-8th. They gave us this promise that if they needed to advance they would let them do that. They never did and held my daughter back with the class. It made me very angry.  They drilled and killed her with the alphabet when I had told her teacher she knew the letters and sounds. She ignored me. Then when I told her she could read , my daughter still did not come home with a book until April. Even so the books were so easy for her she would come home and read the entire thing to me that night. Then they would spend weeks on one book!  They were spending a week reading one sentence at a time.  Needless to say my daughter only got to read two whole books the entire year at school. She was bored and she was never challenged at all.

They also held my 3rd daughter back to 1st grade reading because she didn't know two words on their reading test. So the teacher promised she would start her out and go through what she needed to know and that by the middle of the year she would bump her up to 1st grade reading. Again that never happened and my daughter spent a whole wasted year reading stuff she already knew how to read. So she was never challenged and never progressed. So we've spent all summer bumping up her reading.

So remember what looks good on paper and what sounds good by the school isn't always so. You honestly have to make sure what you see and hear is what you get.

Needless to say we spent a ton of money for them to blow through a year when we could have worked on more at home and they could have progressed.  That's why we're going back to homeschooling.

[TeachingMyToddlers]

You can also look into Montessori school. Typical children's houses contain kids from ages 3-6 and they all work at their own pace. It is very self motivated and self-regulating, no one will tell him he can't have a book because it's too advanced. Just make sure the Montessori school you're looking into is authentic, anyone can use the word "Montessori" in their advertising/branding. Doesn't mean anything though, so ask about certifications and such, or better yet, read a few books and websites on the subject so you can compare what you're seeing with what you know it's supposed to be.

[akalori]

I'm worried about the same issue.  The gifted and talent program doesn't start until second grade in our public school.   There aren't any formal accommodations for advanced kindergarten and first grade kids.   I have another year before my daughter will be old enough for kindergarten.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do.  In the winter, they start registering kids for the next kindergarten.  At that time, I will discuss my concerns with the school official to see if they will make some accommodation so she isn't bored.  I'm afraid that I might feel compelled to homeschool.  My husband will not be happy because he is expecting me to get a job when my daughter goes to kindergarten.  I've wondered if an educational advocate could force the school system to provide an appropriate curriculum.  In the USA, the school system is suppose to provide a free appropriate public education - "FRAPE" rights.  But I have only heard of people invoking their "FRAPE" rights in regard to special education.  Where do you live?

Lori

[TeachingMyToddlers]

Also wanted to add, in our state (well technically we're a commonwealth!) of Virginia, there is no law that says kids have to go to kindergarten. They can skip it, even if you don't do any homeschooling. At least that's what the director of the Montessori school told me and she has been in education for 35 years.

So, if it was your desire to keep your child home another year you could. I don't know what your intentions are, but I just wanted to put that out there.

[Stodd]

We live in Wisconsin and I haven't look around yet, so I really don't know about our options. but I think I should, so at list I'd know what to expect. I was also thinking if he could attend a higher level reading class or it depends on the school?

[Karen84]

I am also interested in this subject. My baby is only 4mo but I'm already wondering what to do with him when he reaches school-age.

I live in Australia but the situation is the same as TeachingMyToddlers said of Virginia: Kindy is optional.

I would love to keep my LO at home for that year at least and would consider homeschooling grades/years 1 and 2 as well.

I'm very worried about him being too advanced and do not want him to be skipped ahead a year (as happened to gifted hubby) because the innumerate social problems of being so much younger than classmates (especially in the teenage years and especially for a boy).

TracyR4's story horrifies me! I don't think we will be able to afford private schooling for the primary years as I have no intention of returning to work so I'm left with the public system--a frightening prospect.

Baby and I are currently spending time on physical, emotional, musical and verbal development including both English and French. We have just started math and will commence literacy in English, French and Latin soon. (I hope most people will understand this is not out of an interest in results but in feeding the mind of a child who has a lot of gifted people in his heritage and is therefore likely to need a lot of intellectual stimulation)

Sometimes I wonder if my plans to stimulate baby in his youngest years may end up being a diservice to him when he starts school. Will he come to hate school if school cannot meet his intellectual needs? Will they just want to skip him ahead and throw him into a pot of social problems?

[fma001]

akalori,

You can work and homeschool. It may be easier to homeschool through a school district, charter school or online public school, where the curriculum planning is done for you. But you would need childcare. Homeschooling is definitely still an option even if you work full-time.

[FloridaMom]

Hi,
The other day my husband and I had a conversation about our son's schooling (even though we have a few more years to go -he's not even three yet). I am positive that I don't want to home school him (don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with that), but it also came up what to do with his advanced reading. I don't want him to be bored in class.  Can he just attend a higher class only for reading? Or can we choose a language class instead of reading? I have no idea about our options.
I would love to read about your experience, ideas, advice.
Thanks

Karma to you Stodd for such a great topic and karma to everybody who is sharing their ideas and experience.
We are in a similar situation and in addition to that my DD was born end of Sept and by Florida laws the cut off is Sept 1, so she will actually go to a kindergarden when she is almost six years old!!!!

[eschlem]

I think it's possible in certain districts to apply for early entrance kindergarten, especially when a birthdate is so close to cutoff like that. 

[Mae_Jakob_Ka]

I was worried about the same thing! Thanks for posting  and sharing experiences.

My son is 2.8 years old and started reading words a month before he turned 2. Now he starts blending words and can read simple books.
We are sending him to a montessori preschool this September. Having read Tracy4's experience, I plan not to tell his teach what he could do. I would wait and see what they would say about him. I am not sending him to school full day. He will be in a half day morning program (3 hours/day) until he goes to Grade 1. I think full day at school is way to long for a young kid. Plus, I still want to spend more time with him, and do our educational activities at home. We do not have a plan to homeschool but still thinking about enrolling him in a French immersion programe when he will go to Grade 1. However, if he becomes very happy with the school he is in right now, we may just keep him there.

When I was young, I read before I attended school too. I did not have anty difficulties adjusting, and loved going to school. I hope my son has the same positive experience.

Elle

[glitterusagi]

We were very active in local playgroups and I started with them when my daughter was only two months old, so a lot of her friends were about 16 months older. When they all turned 2, they started in local Montessori schools or church PMOs - so we were left with no daytime buddies! To keep my kiddo busy, we took a lot of Mommy and Me classes.

She really missed the peer interactions we had enjoyed with regular group playdates though! So, when she turned 2 I let her start at a 2 day a week morning program and she LOVED it. Really, wanted to go every day! It wasn't till the end of that first year or the beginning of the next that she started asking me, "Momma, why do we go to school?" 

Well, it took me a while to understand what she was really asking!! The first few times, I just said "Oh, to see your friends and play. To learn how to get along with other people and share. To learn how to listen to a teacher.", etc., just saying things that I knew applied to her. Finally, I asked flat out "do you mean why do other kids have to go and learn how to read and know their colors and things?" - yup, she nodded.

"Yes" I said, "other kids have to learn these things at school because they don't learn them at home in their families... and that's fine too!" and she never asked me again!!

Anyway, yes - it's been a challenge to find somewhere that won't be boring when you learn so much outside of school. Homeschooling isn't a good option for us just because my kids require so much social interaction. Our solution has been a local Japanese school - mostly intended for Japanese temporarily in the States. So far, my daughter LOVES it and my son will start at the end of this month.

My daughter did not ever enjoy the attention of being an early reader - she didn't like to feel different. So, being at a school where she also has to learn something completely new for her has been exciting I think.   I don't think Japanese schools like this are common, but maybe your area has something that can provide a challenge like this (Fine Arts based, language immersion, really anything would work I think). Good luck!!

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