Kindergarten prescreening and grade advancement?

Question

Hi,

My son is 5 and will go to Kindergarten in August.

We were in India previously and he had been going to school for almost 2.5 years there.

He already knows whatever the kindergarten studies include.. reading wirting capital and small alphabets, reads beginner level books, does simple arithmatic for numbers uotp 20, can read write numbers upto 200, perfectly sorts numbers, arranges in order, grouping sorting etc etc..

I'm worried that he will be bored in kindergarten and the same things will be repeated.

Has anyone got their kids tested at the schools? and sent one grade higher? how do the schools react? Do they allow it? whats the effect on the kids?

REsponses from parent who have already experienced are most welcome :)]

Thanks!

Answer 1

My two older kids were reading chapter books when they started kindergarten (one was tested in kindergarten as reading at a fifth grade level).  They could add, subtract, etc.  But they still went through kindergarten and I'm glad they did.  Kindergarten is  far more for the social/ behavioral experience than for academics.  My kids had fun in kindergarten and benefitted from it even though they didn't learn much "academic."  There were other kids in their class who could read and do math and their teacher was great at putting together reading groups/ math groups to keep everyone interested and occupied.  While other kids were counting dots on the dice, the teacher had a few of the kids figuring out the probability of rolling a six with two dice.  With luck, you'll get a similar teacher.  If not, you might want to consider finding a school where the philosophy is to keep everyone challenged.  I don't think the optimal solution is generally to put younger kids together with older ones.  If you're socially miserable, you're going to eventually hate academics, as well.

Answer 2

if your child knows all that then he should be in 1st grade.the thing is he is not gifted if you or someone taught him that stuff.if he learned that by himself or had good memory skills with that stuff, like i learned my alphabet right away after hearing it only a couple times,then he is gifted.also i think they will put him a grade higher because he already knows that and he would be bored in kindergarden but i dont think he is gifted so thats another problem-sometimes the only way they will put him in a higher grade is if his IQ is 135 or above.if it is then he is gifted and for sure should be in a higher grade.i hope you figure something out for your son.with me i taught myself everything because the teachers were teaching it weird so i taught myself how to read and what the teachers taught me i learned right away.but if your son already knows that then get his IQ and if it is at a gifted or higher level then for sure he should be in a higher grade if not anyway even if he is not gifted because duh he already knows the stuff!good luck!

Answer 3

When I went into kindergarten, they let me slide by a few months on the age requirement to enter because I was advanced enough to be at least in kindergarten, and it was a private school.  After completing first grade at a private school, the public school welcomed me into second grade, even though I was half a year too young.  

Schools hate to do this because social skills are an important part of school.  They are afraid that when a child reaches high school and is two years younger than his peers, that this will cause problems--he may not be accepted by them because he is so young, and if he is, he may be influenced by them to do things he isn't old enough to be doing yet.  And it was definitely weird playing sports in college and needing to send a permission slip home to mom because I was only 17 as a freshman.  

That said, public school bored me.  My dad was military so we moved all over the place, and some schools were far better than others.  Some teachers made an extra effort--some had gifted-talented magnet programs that would challenge my intellect, but only once a week.   My third grade teacher got tired of watching me doodle while she was teaching everyone else long division, so she got a kid from the high school to start explaining fractions and basic algebra to me.  (Which, of course, meant I was bored all through fourth and fifth grade math while everyone else was struggling through fractions.)  Once I was in high school it wasn't so bad, but it shocked me that the rest of the class could hear the teacher and take two weeks to understand the lessons.

And one day, a person passed on the wisdom that I shouldn't limit myself to what the school decides to teach me--that I should decide to study some things on my own.  Some of these were total wastes of time, like learning the game Dungeons and Dragons in great detail.  Others weren't, like learning about biology and reading about interesting people in history.  So I'd say don't worry about school, and if your kid gets bored, then guide his extra education yourself.

The US also allows homeschooling.  This is a difficult option for the parents, as they make themselves responsible for teaching the curriculum and for teaching their children to socialize--the kids have to pass a test each year to prove they learned as much as a schooled child would have.  The advantage is that they can teach at the children at the rate the child is capbable of learning--if your kid learns fast, you can teach him more.

Answer 4

My son is kind of the same. But we have Montessori schools around me. HE will be in a class that has 3-5 year olds in it. My son is 3. He is about in line with 4 year olds and in some areas advanced for that. I think this is best because they can also get help in things they are not so advanced with.

Answer 5

I only know people who have had their kids tested at a later age- around 2nd or 3rd grade.  My niece missed 3rd grade and went right to 4th.  She was very advanced and socially well off too.  I'm not sure how a school would react to a request for kindergarten.  I don't believe kindergarten is required, but you would probably have to have him tested in order to move right to 1st grade this year.  Kindergarten isn't all about learning.  It's the social environment and getting used to the structure of the schools- maybe it's alot different in India- don't know.  My daughter just finished kindergarten this June and she could do most of that as well.  She didn't seem to get bored though and had fun making new friends, going on field trips, and just feeling all grown up.  It won't hurt to ask the school though.

Answer 6

If your son is going to a school that has an "individualized instruction" approach, he should be just fine.

The way it works is each child is met at his or her level and the instruction is geared for them.

One of my kids was functioning at a second grade math level when he was part way through kindergarten---his teacher just kept making adjustments and he kept learning. He was never bored. He was first grade reading too---but so were a few other kids.

My oldest attended this school from K to grade 4 and in grade 4 he tested at  11th grade for science, 10th grade for math and reading. He's a bit of an extreme case because he is scary-smart, but  I think you get my point :)

Putting your son in an older age group especially as you are just moving may not be best for him socially. Find out what the local schools do in order to "ramp up" the curriculum so he is learning new things.

Let the school know that you expect his academic needs to be met and he should be given a chance to grow ---not grow bored :)

With that in mind, he might regress/falter a little as he enters K and adapts to the new school. That is completely normal :)

Answer 7

I don't have any experience with your situation but I do understand what it is like to have a child who is capable of doing higher level work.  I have one child who is academically 2-3 grade levels above where she is placed in school.  Because she is in elementary school we feel she should stay with the kids her own age group.  At this age is it more important for them to develop age appropriate social skills.  Kids who are with older kids often feel left out and it can have a huge impact on how they feel about themselves.  You can certainly ask the school to do a full skills assessment on your child then ask them to meet his/her needs in his classroom.  I know our teachers have done a good job challenging our daughter and I don't worry about her getting bored.  I do however supplement academics at home through additional learning activities and trips.  Your best bet if your worried about the academics is to check into a private school.  They are more apt to allow a child into a higher grade or do better and giving individual instruction due to the lower number of kids per class.

Answer 8

If you can afford it I would look into a private school because they tend to let a child work at their own pace. Public schools do not generally let a child skip a grade at his age.

Answer 9

I don't have personal experience with this but I can tell you that American public schools do not look favorably upon moving a child above their age level.  You can seek testing but your child would have to be at genius level for them to do anything more than suggest extra curricular and advanced programs.  If you truly think your child will not benefit from public kindergarten then you should start researching your private school options.  The Montessori systems usually allow for more flexible learning as might some charter and magnet schools.  I don't know what is available in your area but the public school should be able to give you a starting point.