Re: challenging an intelligent child

In article <1190927765.923279.33490@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
janesire@xxxxxxxxx wrote:

My DD is an intelligent kid. She's 4 and she can read/write/do math
quite well. Her social/verbal skills are also good. She'll be entering
kindergarten next year. I looked at the curriculum and it's quite
basic. They teach them sounds of the alphabet, basic math etc. The
elementary school has a pull out gifted program but it's only one hour
a week.

How do you challenge a bright kid in this situation?

You contact the school FIRST. You say, "I've been reading your curriculum
documents and am wondering how things would go with my child, because she
looks more like she's ready for second grade curriculum. She can read the
Ramona books independently and tell time to the minute (just give a few
precise examples like this). What could you do for her?"

I would expect a good school to want to see her for themselves, quite possibly
to conduct some sort of assessment rather than just accept your say-so. There
are quite a few parents who think their little darlings are exceptionally
bright, and teachers tend to mistrust them!

One thing to consider also is that while your child is intellectually
advanced, she is still not used to classroom etiquette, school rules, using a
lunch box*, listening for bells, and all those little things that make school
different from home and preschool. Even if the classwork is sometimes below
her level, it might still be better to have her in kindy, just to get used to
school as such. There is more to kindy curriculum than the three Rs anyway.

* In Australia, children tend to bring their lunches, usually sandwiches and
fruit. Quite a percentage of kindy children have difficulty undoing cling
wrap from around sandwiches, or will forget to eat lunch if left unsupervised.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

http://chookiesbackyard.blogspot.com/
.

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