Laurana has been reading the occassional word since she was 12 months old. She can now read a very large number of words, has read aloud a sentence though she cannot speak in full sentences and has a good grasp of the alphabet and many aspects of phonics. She is advanced physically as well and has started showing some advanced social skills too (she knows about taking turns and can easily name “friends” and plays peek-a-boo with older children) This is all great except that today I was speaking to some children who are enrolled in the private school I have booked Laurana into - she is due to start in January in 2011 and will be in the 3-4 year old class. Since she turns 4 in September that year she will be one of the younger ones in the class.
I spoke to a 6 year old today and asked him what they are learning in his class - he said: the alphabet. He also told me they are nearly finished the alphabet but obviously he wasn’t sure what they would do after that. He also told me they are learning to tie their own shoes. I have seen that classroom - my daughter has Sunday school at the church there every week - it has alphabet posters and clocks and so on on the wall.
My daughter knows the alphabet. In fact today we write a sentence for her about trains on the board (the train goes into the tunnel) and she said “another t” everytime I wrote a T on the board since we had told her we were doing “t” for train today. Is she meant to be bored at school for 3 years? What on earth am I supposed to do with her? We do not have gifted classes in this country and most schools are very rigid about sticking to the curriculum. And what scares me is this is a private school - the public schools are 100 times worse. We will have an interview for the school next year and I need to know what to ask them? Any ideas? We are also considering homeschooling to avoid this, but since both oarents should be working it may not be possible. I know my daughter is not even two yet but if she knows a lot of the kindergarten curriculum already then what should we do?
I am in the same boat. I hear where you are coming from… my oldest will be 3 in september… we were told we could enroll him early in school but decided that socially I didnt want him around the older kids yet… Mainly because some 5 year olds experiment with things like swearing, spitting, and things that I sont want my current 2 year old doing yet.
Also… one little thing… my 1.5 year old shared really well and took turns and signed both before he was 1.5 years… at 2 he went through a non- sharing stage. So socially they change all the time… Kids experiment, test limits and fall back into your moral boundries eventually mimicing your behavour… but it is a journey with many bumps, curves and straight lines.
Now that being said keep teaching your child and have fun, try not to worry about what will happen when they hit school. When its time for them to go you need to ask the school What will you be doing for my child. Tell them you dont want them stuck as the teachers helper… you want your child advancing and you want your child to remain challenged.
You can ask for a curriculm… its your right as a parent and advance making sure you havent skipped any crucial steps… and each year re-assess where your child is at and ask the same thing.
If you feel the school is not the right one, find one that is… private or public. The one that will adapt to the needs of your child, and persue a parents wants and goals is ideal. You need to talk to the teachers.
Hope this helps… but I hear you… my 2 year old shows all the coulntries in the world, know the bones in his body, and reads about 500 words. He speaks in perfect sentances, grasps things like left and right… shows empathy.
I just try to have fun… and not stress out about the school thing because if I feel stressed out about his schooling he will feel it and likewise feel stressed.
Tankit,
Yes, I understand where you are, too. When my oldest was ready for kindergarten, I went to the school (at the end of the year before he was to enter) to observe a class. My boy already knew most of what they were doing at the end of the year. Yet, as Mandi Quiring said, I didn’t want to move him up a grade because he wasn’t socially ready. I looked into different things. The had a combined K/1st class that was interesting. In California, at the time, they also had charter schools. One charter school would pay for curriculum (of my choice), but would let me teach him at home. For the charter school, I would meet with a teacher once a month to evaluate how things were going, and they had other activities like fieldtrips for the children to do together. I eventually moved and continued by homeschooling. Now, in Colorado, I continue to homeschool, but can send my child to school for any class he chooses. Right now he gets free music lessons at the school but he (and my husband and I) chose to continue homeschooling for the other subjects. He (13 years old now) says he likes it because he can move at his own pace (ahead of others) and have a more flexible schedule (so we can go fishing or something).
It is an option. I understand it isn’t for eveyone.
My son is ahead enough that we could skip a grade (I’m sure your little one could skip a few grades :laugh: ) and be in high school this year, but again, socially, I think he is better where he is for now. (And I like having him around :happy: ) Here in Colorado, they have a nice program where he can do 2 years of college work (at the community college) when he is in highschool and graduate highschool and finish with an associaltes degree. We are hoping to do that in a few years. I know that is still far in the future for you, but thought I’d share what we’ve done so far.
But, like Mandi Quiriing said, I think it is important to relax and keep learning fun. Thankfully, schooling has been a pretty positive experience for my boys. Oh, we have our days, but not too many.
I think any good school will feel that this is a blessing, as most kids in todays society are being raise by the tv. It is much easier to give our kids more assignments then to try and teach a child who is older the basics that should have been taught at home. If the school doesn’t see this as a blessing you should find your child a new school.
Good Luck and like the above posters said don’t let it ruin this wonderful experience for you and your child.
What happens later? Well God willing more love and appreciation coming your way! Be more positive and believe things will fall into place as they usually do. If you can decide to home school that would be really great, but if not maybe you can look at different schools? And keep in mind that any school you do send her to, you will have to top up her education yourself anyway, just to keep her on top of the level you created for her. As I believe a lot of schools dumb down children!
I haven’t had time to read all the posts, so maybe this has already been suggested. You mentioned private school, so if that is in the budget perhaps there is a foreign language immersion school nearby.
Thanks for all the advice. Unfortunately the state of education in the country I live in is in a shocking state - it ranks worse than some countries that are in a perpetual state of war! (This is not a joke - they did a study on it) I have heard of a woman who applied for a place at a government school and was told: “You DO KNOW this is a public school” - she was not applying for her own child though. So that said, we sort of have to go private whether we can afford it or not or else homeschooling - but that would mean one of us not working.
I will definitely ask the school about their policies though. There are no gifted schools, no foreign language immersion schools and only a few montessori preschools that I know about. Spaces are very short in any good schools - I know of people who have applied for these schools by taking ultrasound photos with them to their application before the child was even born.
If I do send my child to school then I will remember to be positive, but I think its going to be important to have an open relationship with the teacher. They seem to like all-inclusive education here, but unfortuantely that very often means that children are taught at the lowest common denominator. My sister skipped a grade though they will no longer allow you to and she did struggle being very much the youngest (by about 2 years) in her class (not intellectually, but more emotionally) My daughter is also very small physically and although she is ahead on physical milestones, the size issue could be a problem so I would not be keen on her skipping a grade.
At the moment she is having fun, loves reading and begs for Little Reader and Starfall every day, gets plenty of time to play and is coming out with fantastic sentences that delight us. Its a pity we have to think so seriously about her education so early in her life.
tanikit, have you heard of a school called Radford House? its a school for gifted kids in SA. its in jhb and they center lessons around the childs interests. i havent been there as i want to homeschool so not sure if its appropriate for the type of school we need for our kids but worth looking into.
Taknit, I think, your concern is very typical for preschool mothers:
my child is so clever, he will have no challenges. I was the same, few months ago. Now I think - yes, my kid is unique but all the other kids also are unique, in many ways. Until age of 6 I can relax.
Four-year old kids don’t spend all the day in learning. May be 10 minutes per day they learn something but generally they spend their days in playing, singing, drawing, running, sleeping and eating :)
(At least in our conntry.)
10 minutes is not a serious boredom.
My 2 year old goes to kindergarten, 2 days per week. I don’t think if anybody has noticed that she knows alphabet, can count, and distinguish bird species. But she has relationship with a little boy ( :yes: ), she is singing nice songs for me and she is generally happy.
In mornings, we spend 5 - 15 minutes with LR and/or LM.
