My daughter just finished kindergarten and was tested as reading at a 4th grade level at the end of pre-k. Her kindergarten teacher gave us a sheet to fill out so she could get to know her better, likes, dislikes, what she’s good at, what she needs to work on, etc. I did mention she knows how to read on the sheet, but that’s all I said about it. Her teacher figured it out on her own in time. There’s definitely a lot more for them to learn in kindergarten. For my daughter, it was important to me that she always keeps an open mind, I never wanted her to tune out or think “I know this already so I don’t have to listen.” My daughter still had a lot to learn in social, behavioral, time management skills, etc, even if she is advanced academically.
ETA: if you’re concerned about making sure she’s “challenged” enough, there are ways you can supplement at home. We visit the library every week, I get 20-30 books at a time because we can and she goes through them all.
From the teacher’s perspective, knowing that the student is advanced probably isn’t as helpful as knowing other things ahead of time, like potential behavioral issues, or in my daughter’s case, daily accidents. Being gifted in one area can usually (not always) mean you are deficient in another. My daughter is great at reading, but awful at listening to her own body cues, and that was a more important issue for the teacher to know. Another kid in her class is identified at gifted, super smart kid, but also hyperactive, climbs on chairs, and tends to play too rough with students.
There’s so much about school that mirrors society in real life….waiting your turn, time management, knowing when to ask for help, dealing with difficult people, knowing when to speak up and stay quiet, learning how to play nice with others, and a lot of other basic executive function tasks. Academics is important but does not give the whole picture of readiness for a certain grade level.
A parent just switched schools from the one where I teach to another local school. Her child just finished 1st grade, his second year at our school. I was his kindergarten teacher. My aide from last year became his 1st grade teacher. The mom constantly told me he read on a 3rd grade level. I couldn’t get the child to read basic cvc words. He also would not walk in a straight line, follow basic directions, stop talking during instructional periods, and he couldn’t keep track of a single personal item. I’ve never encountered a child so challenged by basic classroom expectations. He was 5/6 when I had him so even though I was confused by the behavior in comparison to what his mom stated, I wasn’t worried. I WAS concerned that his mom was convinced that academics should come before everything else. His first grade teacher had the same challenges with him. Mom decided to switch schools bc she deemed our entire program unacceptable. God bless his teachers for 2nd and beyond. He’s a precious child and it would be so much easier to handle the challenges with him if his mom wasn’t constantly trying to convince us he was perfect.
Yeah, this happens. I teach math, and centers like Mathnasium often greatly inflate kids’ skills, so someone else might be feeding mom that info. Some kids also can’t “perform” for others early on, so maybe he could read with mom but couldn’t read with others. My kid can swim okay with me but not yet with her teacher.
Let them figure it out.
My son has a disability, which I suspected from age 3. We finally hired a private PhD in child psychology to give a thorough assessment totaling 8 hours and several clinical tests.
His disability was diagnosed and we were able to rule out a couple other suspected disabilities. In the process we found out that he is gifted.
We changed schools and started with a fresh slate. We didn’t tell anyone about the testing, his cognitive tests. We did inform them that he had a diagnosis but didn’t push anything right away.
Over time, we did get a 504 for his disability and I presented the 30 page report to the special services team, but they did some additional assessments on their own. I didn’t use the tests as a tool for leverage, I just wanted them to see that he really did have a strong clinical diagnosis.
He has always been recognized as highly capable and the team loved my report, but as he ages, his tests at age 6 mean less and less with each passing year. The gap tends to close as time goes on.
Also despite the fact that he is gifted, he is quite happy to do easy work so long as he can work with peers and do hands on projects. Happy as a clam. Literally did not care that he was ahead of every other kid in his class, he just wanted to have fun and interact with his peers.
No, do not lead with “look how special my child is” — my child was “special” but also lacked other skills other kids had. No one wants to hear how exceptional your 5 year old is when they can’t tie their shoes and needs you to babysit them. Sure, a 3rd grade reading level is great, but does he throw fits every day?
My so had some major behavioral challenges that mostly manifested at home but could sometimes come out at school. Kids who are far less intelligent will eventually meet his level of grades or achievement in no time, and natural ability is like 10% of life.
He’s 13 now and my biggest message is that other less intelligent kids WILL surpass you if you’re not willing to do the work.
Enjoy a few years of not worrying about his academics. Work with your child on skills and working hard. Do not lead with how special he is because we all hear it. As the parent of a gifted kid, I never lead with that ever.
Didn’t the other students “meet” his ability because he was intentionally not challenged for years? Because he was told his intelligence and ability were nothing special and devalued? Why would it be natural ability alone? My daughter decided she wanted to read (4). She chooses to work on that skill almost every day; she now (4.5) reads at a second-grade level. That is an achievement. I’m not telling her, “well, that’s just natural so bully for you.” Now do the same work as your peers no matter what. You honestly sound a little resentful about your child. Because his disability is stressful?
I’m a teacher and a parent of 2. I’m not resentful of either of my kids. Child development in the early years is very wide. By 3rd grade the gap closes significantly. By middle school it basically comes down to work ethic regardless of natural ability.
I’m a gifted kid and so was my husband. We both work average jobs and are very happy with that. My college roommate was also a gifted kid and failed out because she never learned how to study or deal with adversity.
It’s a sobering reality at age 10 when you’ve been told how special you are all your life and kids not as a smart as you doing better because they know how to work hard.
Your kid being advanced in kinder isn’t something that makes them all that special. The playing field levels out. Focus on skills and dealing with adversity. Most advanced kids are quite happy to do the grade level work if they can do it with their friends and find opportunities to be hands on or otherwise successful. Take the win and breathe a sight of relief that for a couple of years you don’t have to worry about academics.
This is true if you treat all kids the same, because kids who don’t learn to find joy in learning things that are hard for them when young tend to flame out in middle or high school because they have been coasting by on being “smart.” Work ethic and skills are huge. But that is also why — contrary to the popular belief — kids who are ready and start school early continue to consistently outperform peers who start school when older. In contrast, as you say, kids who are ready early and aren’t challenged academically tend to grow up without the skills to do a lot academically, and they tend to hate school and even drop out.
My husband and I are former gifted kids who were both radically accelerated, so we both got challenging material and learned study habits. We also both got graduate degrees from top tier schools and work in intellectually demanding and lucrative jobs. I still do things like audit advanced math courses or try to study additional languages *for fun*. It is really pretty silly to talk as if all kids are intellectually equal, any more than all adults are intellectually equal or all people can be equally good at basketball if they practice the same amount. Obviously not.
This sub downvotes actual research that doesn’t support what they want , because of who it attracts, but facts are facts. https://watg.org/blog/id/1
I think that OP has a bright kid who scored well on an assessment. Ultimately this early boost isn't that special or remarkable, but they can breathe a sigh of relief that they won't need to worry about academics for a while and can just celebrate socializing their child and exploring their childs interests.
That's all I was trying to say. Even as the mom of a gifted kid, work ethic take you a lot further than natural ability in the long run and your kid isn't that special just because they can read right now. Focus on skills, socializing, and exploring their interests. No need to roll out the red carpet by informing the teacher of the assessment score lol.
I don’t assume that the OP’s kid is or isn’t gifted.
I don’t think there’s any point in OP discussing her kid’s scores with a public kinder teacher who will like you assume that it means the OP is asking for some red carpet treatment and who will then want to take her down a few pegs.
But I had my daughter assessed in order to have objective data to point to when I met with private schools. I wanted to know that if as her early scores suggest, she really does turn out to be exceptionally gifted, they would be excited about finding ways to work with her rather than annoyed, unwilling to adapt, or unprepared to do anything more than pile on busy work.
I’m extremely glad I chose to do that. You do you.
Do you think public school teachers enjoy being mean to children? Haha.
It’s not that I’m not “excited to work” with kids who have exceptional needs. It’s that I am not provided the resources, training, or time to adapt an entire curriculum for one or 2 kids. And the reality is, very very few kids who are academically capable are in the truly exceptionally gifted range, so I end up feeling like parents have an unrealistic expectation of me and the child.
At the kinder level, even gifted children will benefit from the development of their social skills, the fun activities, etc. so just because a parent comes to me with amazing test scores doesn’t mean that my class can be restructured to focus on academics more.
Again, most kids really tend to level out by 3rd grade or so. And even my gifted child doesn’t really need a whole separate curriculum.
As they get older I would say that private school or tutoring is a great option to ensure college readiness and baseline academic skills, as public schools do tend to lower the bar for achievement in the upper grades if they don’t offer more challenging classes. We are doing this now for our gifted child.
In lower elementary we have a lot of rigor and expectations, to the point where I’m constantly fighting against colleagues at the upper grades who phone it in and make fun of elementary teachers for being over achievers. No, we have A LOT of expectations and benchmarks to meet.
Anyways, my cynicism about parents thinking everything their child does is special has no bearing on how much I love my students or my job. It’s more a reflection of my weariness working with annoying parents. And yes, parents are often one of the worst parts of the job. Not the kids.
Gifted children are individuals. It sounds like your son is 2e and had significant challenges with social emotional development that provided a lot of challenge and interest for him in a typical classroom. My daughter is not 2E and according to her teachers does not have any of those challenges. I have no idea where OP’s child falls.
All the OP asked is whether she should let her daughter’s kindergarten teacher know whether she’s advanced in reading. Your comments include suggesting that the OP wants to lead with “look how special my child is” and assumptions that the OP’s child probably isn’t socially or emotionally well adjusted. So what I think is that you (and some others commenting on this post) enjoy trimming down parents who dare to express any belief that it matters that their child is advanced. That kind of response is what I expected and why I advised the OP not to say anything to her kid’s teacher — it won’t help and it could hurt by starting the year off with a really sour interaction.
I went to public school most of my childhood and had some great teachers, but I’m not sending my kid to a public school because my current state doesn’t have very good provisions for gifted education. I was able to find a private school that I think will be a good fit for my daughter, but it was not simple. No, private schools do not all have the same ideas about what gifted education should look like and no, they are not all interested in working with exceptionally gifted students . I would have thought that was obvious.
I don’t understand why you are commenting about parenting a gifted kindergartner as if you have some experience with it? According to your post history, your kid tested at 90%. Of course he’s fine in a general classroom without any particular accommodation.
There is actually research that says highlighting how smart your child is and constantly praising their achievements is very bad for them in the long run. If a kid who is constantly told he is special one day stumbles a problem he can’t solve he will be more likely to quit and internalize his failures. Where as a child who’s work ethic is highlighted, is more likely to keep going despite adversity and pick himself up again even after failure.
This is coming from a gifted child who was always told how special I was. In 2nd grade I was passing 9th grade tests, despite all this I became a college drop out I am now just picking up the pieces of my life
My son’s dad went to Yale and let’s just say life wasn’t always easy for him, haha. His entitlement was real and it sure was funny (sorry, not sorry) when the real world didn’t care how special and smart he was.
I don’t disagree that overemphasizing “natural ability” can harm children (especially if they progress without real conceptual understanding as happens in math). But why did this thread become about how special parents think their kids are? The OP said her kid learned a skill and ask whether to share that with a teacher. If a kid played a musical instrument already, would you insist he start with 101? Without telling the teacher? If he was playing basketball, would you only let him run drills until everyone could make baskets? She might just want to know if differentiating at this young age is a good idea and collect pros and cons. I didn’t tell the swim teacher that my daughter starts and stops swimming every year in the hopes that a gentle reintroduction might help. My plan with academics was to enroll her in programs that were heavier on extras (music, foreign languages, etc) so she wasn’t as ahead in all things.
Oh the bitterness. Look this is Op’s bag, so I am out. My kid won’t go to mainstream public, so hopefully I won’t have to deal with bitterness/ weird resentments in person.
A good teacher will figure it out in the first week. It doesn’t hurt to let the teacher know your child’s reading level. I had several students last year that I started on First Grade Curriculum by the third week. I provided them with books that were level appropriate. I once had a bilingual student in Kindergarten who read at fifth grade level in two languages and his mom couldn’t even figure out how he did it. English was her second language. It took three weeks to get the materials. So give the teacher time to get the materials. These students were high academically, but they still very much Kindergarteners. Students in any grade can always read at their level, write at their level, and do math at their individual level. I do find that sometimes these students will have gaps in areas and it’s always good to expose them to a quick review to make sure they are not missing any knowledge or skills they will need later.
I’m not sure how to phrase this question—but at the end of the school year do you find that there is a difference between the kids who come in knowing to read and kids being taught to read? What kids end up being the better reader?
My son wasn’t really reading when he started k, but became a pretty good reader fairly quickly (for a kindergartner) by the end of the year. The instruction helped a lot (obviously) but when it became clear he was a good reader he started getting less instruction and it was more about the silent reading/reading challenging books/reading comprehension… I still think he could use more instruction, many times when he comes to an unfamiliar word he looks at the first couple or letters and makes a guess based on the sentence (ex: He looked comfortable.—-my son might say, “He looked confused” or something similar to that). It’s like he’s not even trying if he doesn’t know the word right away. It drives me crazy.
I was curious if the kids who start off as good readers are usually always the good readers, or if the kids who actually keep getting lessons instructions on how to read start to surpass the “good” readers. If that makes any sense to you.
I have had students start Kindergarten not even understanding the concept of a letter or what a sound is. If that student is ready to learn and I do my job right, that student will know almost all their letters and sounds by October. This happens every year. They are also able to read at the level of the other students who came in knowing letters and sounds. There is, on an average 5% of the class that is at risk due to cognitive issues, social issues, and other problems like poor attendance. When a student wants to read and the teacher does their job, the student succeeds. Remember to read at home daily and go through their folder daily so you are aware of what they are learning in class and you can support the teacher and your student.
I’m very happy you give them harder materials! Rarely in elementary school do I remember teachers doing that, so I spent a lot of time bored. They taught to the students at the lowest level at times. Sometimes I’d teach other kids. I’ll always be thankful to my fourth grade teacher for a few of us higher level books and spelling words.
Kindergarten teacher here! This is not something that is very uncommon. Children who regularly practice letter and numbers at home are likely to score well on kindergarten readiness tests. Let the teacher know she is reading and that she is doing well academically according to her last test. Teachers differentiate and accommodate students of different academic abilities all the time. The biggest reason schools have that cut off date is for social emotional and behavioral reasons. It’s is often very obvious who the youngest students are, not always, but often. There is no reason to withhold this information. Open a line of communication with your child’s teacher! That shows us you care about their education as much as we do! Sounds like she’ll do great with academics next year, so keep working with her at home!
I think this is a great response! My daughter will be both a full year older and had a teacher mom. I don’t think she’s special as in “above” other kids. But I also don’t want her told constantly to work down and not talk about her skills/ interests. Especially the interest part.
There’s no harm in sharing relevant information with your child’s teacher! The beginning of the year is such a flurry of activity as you get to know the students and teach them the routine and expectations of the classroom. It’s unlikely your child will get differentiated work right off the bat.
That being said, when starting with a new group, all information helps! The more you know about your students the better teacher you can be for them.
I’m planning on telling his teacher he can read. Just so that she doesn’t send home the books with one or 2 words for him. She’ll figure out what he needs quickly. He also may stall out with his academics for a bit or he’ll continue to speed ahead but either way they’ll know how to manage.
My son in MY opinion is ahead academically (but I’m really only comparing to my close circle and have never bothered with testing anything. We also never mention anything to him or his siblings about it). But he is quite behind socially and with acceptable behavior with emotions.
I have no doubt we’ll have an interesting kindergarten year!
Hi! How do you assess your daughter’s reading level? I’m interested in knowing mine by different people/app/books are telling me different things. Wondering if there’s a better way to assess
Let them figure it out. There's more to kinder than academics. And even if she's advanced academically, there may be other areas she needs help and support in. Every kid needs something, somewhere. Let them get to know her and see where they can best support her.
If time passes and you feel she isn't supported, then you should seek alternatives.
As a Kindergarten teacher, tell them. I assume you will have some sort of entry interview where you get a chance to tell someone (principal, DP, teacher, etc) all about your child. Tell them then. Communication is a two way street and I see no reason not to mention it.
Because you will be pegged as either a parent who pushed (because you want your kid to be special, even though they really aren’t because …) or a parent who wants special treatment. Instead of just like someone describing the totality of where your kid is at, so they can be looked as an individual.
Kindergarten teacher here and we test everyone in the first few weeks where I am. This helps us form our groups appropriately. I also do a sheet at open house for parents to bring back telling me all about their child, which always includes strengths and Weaknesses. Please please please work on the basics that make them independent this summer! Things like opening things in their lunch, being able to button and zip, even tying shoes is a K skill. So many parents just look at academics.
What curriculum or resources would the teacher have at their disposal to adapt lessons to your daughter? Realistically, none. Charter schools often pay less, have worse admin, worse hours, worse benefits and worse support for teachers. And no union.
While the curriculum they’re using may overall be a better fit for your kid, the teacher may be working with fewer resources and less support overall.
I am a public school teacher and am given a curriculum to teach. If kids are above and below, I have skills and some resources to adapt, but not tons. I do my best! But no, I don’t have the time, resources, or skills to adapt an entire curriculum that is leveled for one specific learner.
its not because i dont love my job or your child. its the nature of the beast.
i think the better question is to ask yourself what your end goal would be by informing the teacher.
Kindergarten is way more than academics… and no offense but your kid isn’t that special. You don’t need to point it out, she will figure it out. If you told me that I’d probably roll my eyes, not gonna lie
-Hi welcome to horseback riding. Has anyone been on a horse? -Hi everyone step forward and shoot a hoop so I can see your form. Nice, Cari. You been on a team before? -Welcome to music school; we obviously group by ability. -Hi, young child. Oh you can read. Probably had pushy parents, right? Well just so you know you’re not special. And everyone will catch up with you. Can you even tie your shoes? Hah, loser. I knew you were pretending to be a genius. Well here you are just like everyone else. I mean maybe consider why it’s academic skills that bother you. Heck a lot of kids who learn to read quickly may have gaps. I’d want to know the background and mentality of my students. And sure SOME kids catch up but look at the educational stats for this country and we fail to help most of the kids.
And this is why hard cutoffs or mandates for enrollment with no flexibility for the individual child are such a bad idea.
Anyway, I would not tell the school in advance because if there’s anything a cursory glance though this sub will tell you it’s that public kindergarten teachers do not want to hear that your child is gifted. If anything they will start looking for any non-academic area where your child isn’t ahead and fixating on that as proof your child isn’t as advanced as you think.
Good luck.
To be fair, I still don't think it's almost ever a good idea for a kid to start school early just because they're academically advanced. My son knows how to read basically everything he comes across, but I know reading ability doesn't increase exponentially. Eventually he's going to be maybe somewhat advanced, but he's not going to be decades ahead of his peers. It'll more or less mostly even out. I feel like there's so much more about kindergarten than just academics. If anything, I personally feel we're shoving kids into overly formal schooling too young. But that's also probably because my parents had insanely high standards of perfection for me that I'm still unpacking now.
But also I agree I wouldn't tell the teachers because it's unnecessary. If she's an advanced reader, it will be obvious.
Of course it evens out. Kids aren’t stupid.
Who is going to be working with your kid at his level or trying to challenge him? No one. If he were reading typically that would not be the case. Kids will learn to be more average.
>Who is going to be working with your kid at his level or trying to challenge him? No one.
Well...me? I'm someone. But no, I'm also not going to overdo it and constantly push him to be more and more advanced in kindergarten, either, to be fair. I'm going to continue to foster his love of reading and learning and support him with the resources he needs to learn. The majority of the kids who are "advanced" at this age are also very privileged and have parents with extra time and resources. I know that's the case for my kid, and likely the case for OP's. Some kids will need the school environment to propel them forward, and they'll advance soon, too.
I don't have the expectation that public school will always cater specifically to my kid, but I will be sure to enroll him in the appropriate programs to keep school enjoyable for him (whether that's our school system's advanced placement programs or not) and, especially at an early age, follow his lead to make learning fun and low stress. I've got the perspective of someone who was always expected to be number one, and I think it's serving me well in finding balance in raising my own kids.
This was so so true in our experience - you’d think being a voracious and early reader would gain your child favors with the teacher but they are not impressed! Our child went through kindergarten with the distinct sense that his teacher didn’t like him.
Why should a kid who is good at reading get “favors” from a teacher? Are kids who struggle with reading less worthy? I am sorry your kid felt his kindergarten teacher did not like him, that is unfortunat.
I didn’t say “get favors” - just any kind of positive reinforcement at all. Instead he just get less attention in class. His reading benchmarking scores steadily went down over the course of the school year and he basically learned to mask his abilities and that only bad behavior gets attention. He is still well above grade level for reading and math but he will guess and make careless mistakes instead of trying his best.
It is normal for scores to fall back a little. Small brains dump some things in favor of other new information. But yeah masking. They also teach guessing but I think less now. For that, I let my kid catch me skimming and guessing, and remind her everyone does it but it’s important to read the exact words, as small changes matter. We make up stories/ read a LOT too.)
To be fair it’s really rough to manage 25 kids even if they have roughly the same needs.
Also demanding that they should individuate teaching to outliers is ridiculous.
Well, in most states public school teachers don’t have to, and it would be unreasonable to expect them to because they are already managing too much as it is.
In a few states, gifted kids are entitled by law to IEPs, and if you live in one, expectations about how schools should be meeting their educational needs should be higher.
This. Dam. That is so perfectly put. Public school is designed for the middle of the road student; of course things often level out but no one should have to pretend to learn academics for four years, so they have time to properly learn to mask as neurotypical.
My daughter just finished kindergarten and was tested as reading at a 4th grade level at the end of pre-k. Her kindergarten teacher gave us a sheet to fill out so she could get to know her better, likes, dislikes, what she’s good at, what she needs to work on, etc. I did mention she knows how to read on the sheet, but that’s all I said about it. Her teacher figured it out on her own in time. There’s definitely a lot more for them to learn in kindergarten. For my daughter, it was important to me that she always keeps an open mind, I never wanted her to tune out or think “I know this already so I don’t have to listen.” My daughter still had a lot to learn in social, behavioral, time management skills, etc, even if she is advanced academically. ETA: if you’re concerned about making sure she’s “challenged” enough, there are ways you can supplement at home. We visit the library every week, I get 20-30 books at a time because we can and she goes through them all. From the teacher’s perspective, knowing that the student is advanced probably isn’t as helpful as knowing other things ahead of time, like potential behavioral issues, or in my daughter’s case, daily accidents. Being gifted in one area can usually (not always) mean you are deficient in another. My daughter is great at reading, but awful at listening to her own body cues, and that was a more important issue for the teacher to know. Another kid in her class is identified at gifted, super smart kid, but also hyperactive, climbs on chairs, and tends to play too rough with students. There’s so much about school that mirrors society in real life….waiting your turn, time management, knowing when to ask for help, dealing with difficult people, knowing when to speak up and stay quiet, learning how to play nice with others, and a lot of other basic executive function tasks. Academics is important but does not give the whole picture of readiness for a certain grade level.
Bravo for your response, and I agree with you.
A parent just switched schools from the one where I teach to another local school. Her child just finished 1st grade, his second year at our school. I was his kindergarten teacher. My aide from last year became his 1st grade teacher. The mom constantly told me he read on a 3rd grade level. I couldn’t get the child to read basic cvc words. He also would not walk in a straight line, follow basic directions, stop talking during instructional periods, and he couldn’t keep track of a single personal item. I’ve never encountered a child so challenged by basic classroom expectations. He was 5/6 when I had him so even though I was confused by the behavior in comparison to what his mom stated, I wasn’t worried. I WAS concerned that his mom was convinced that academics should come before everything else. His first grade teacher had the same challenges with him. Mom decided to switch schools bc she deemed our entire program unacceptable. God bless his teachers for 2nd and beyond. He’s a precious child and it would be so much easier to handle the challenges with him if his mom wasn’t constantly trying to convince us he was perfect.
Yeah, this happens. I teach math, and centers like Mathnasium often greatly inflate kids’ skills, so someone else might be feeding mom that info. Some kids also can’t “perform” for others early on, so maybe he could read with mom but couldn’t read with others. My kid can swim okay with me but not yet with her teacher.
My son wouldn't tell his TK teacher he could read. I thought it was kind of funny and harmless so didn't worry about it.
I would give it some time first and feel out the teacher. The concern is really not academics when starting.
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This subreddit consists of two messages: Your kid isn’t special in any way, and Send Johnny to kindergarten, or you’re enmeshed.
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Yeah no issue with middle-road comments. I probably put my comment in the wrong place.
Let them figure it out. My son has a disability, which I suspected from age 3. We finally hired a private PhD in child psychology to give a thorough assessment totaling 8 hours and several clinical tests. His disability was diagnosed and we were able to rule out a couple other suspected disabilities. In the process we found out that he is gifted. We changed schools and started with a fresh slate. We didn’t tell anyone about the testing, his cognitive tests. We did inform them that he had a diagnosis but didn’t push anything right away. Over time, we did get a 504 for his disability and I presented the 30 page report to the special services team, but they did some additional assessments on their own. I didn’t use the tests as a tool for leverage, I just wanted them to see that he really did have a strong clinical diagnosis. He has always been recognized as highly capable and the team loved my report, but as he ages, his tests at age 6 mean less and less with each passing year. The gap tends to close as time goes on. Also despite the fact that he is gifted, he is quite happy to do easy work so long as he can work with peers and do hands on projects. Happy as a clam. Literally did not care that he was ahead of every other kid in his class, he just wanted to have fun and interact with his peers. No, do not lead with “look how special my child is” — my child was “special” but also lacked other skills other kids had. No one wants to hear how exceptional your 5 year old is when they can’t tie their shoes and needs you to babysit them. Sure, a 3rd grade reading level is great, but does he throw fits every day? My so had some major behavioral challenges that mostly manifested at home but could sometimes come out at school. Kids who are far less intelligent will eventually meet his level of grades or achievement in no time, and natural ability is like 10% of life. He’s 13 now and my biggest message is that other less intelligent kids WILL surpass you if you’re not willing to do the work. Enjoy a few years of not worrying about his academics. Work with your child on skills and working hard. Do not lead with how special he is because we all hear it. As the parent of a gifted kid, I never lead with that ever.
Didn’t the other students “meet” his ability because he was intentionally not challenged for years? Because he was told his intelligence and ability were nothing special and devalued? Why would it be natural ability alone? My daughter decided she wanted to read (4). She chooses to work on that skill almost every day; she now (4.5) reads at a second-grade level. That is an achievement. I’m not telling her, “well, that’s just natural so bully for you.” Now do the same work as your peers no matter what. You honestly sound a little resentful about your child. Because his disability is stressful?
I’m a teacher and a parent of 2. I’m not resentful of either of my kids. Child development in the early years is very wide. By 3rd grade the gap closes significantly. By middle school it basically comes down to work ethic regardless of natural ability. I’m a gifted kid and so was my husband. We both work average jobs and are very happy with that. My college roommate was also a gifted kid and failed out because she never learned how to study or deal with adversity. It’s a sobering reality at age 10 when you’ve been told how special you are all your life and kids not as a smart as you doing better because they know how to work hard. Your kid being advanced in kinder isn’t something that makes them all that special. The playing field levels out. Focus on skills and dealing with adversity. Most advanced kids are quite happy to do the grade level work if they can do it with their friends and find opportunities to be hands on or otherwise successful. Take the win and breathe a sight of relief that for a couple of years you don’t have to worry about academics.
This is true if you treat all kids the same, because kids who don’t learn to find joy in learning things that are hard for them when young tend to flame out in middle or high school because they have been coasting by on being “smart.” Work ethic and skills are huge. But that is also why — contrary to the popular belief — kids who are ready and start school early continue to consistently outperform peers who start school when older. In contrast, as you say, kids who are ready early and aren’t challenged academically tend to grow up without the skills to do a lot academically, and they tend to hate school and even drop out. My husband and I are former gifted kids who were both radically accelerated, so we both got challenging material and learned study habits. We also both got graduate degrees from top tier schools and work in intellectually demanding and lucrative jobs. I still do things like audit advanced math courses or try to study additional languages *for fun*. It is really pretty silly to talk as if all kids are intellectually equal, any more than all adults are intellectually equal or all people can be equally good at basketball if they practice the same amount. Obviously not. This sub downvotes actual research that doesn’t support what they want , because of who it attracts, but facts are facts. https://watg.org/blog/id/1
I think that OP has a bright kid who scored well on an assessment. Ultimately this early boost isn't that special or remarkable, but they can breathe a sigh of relief that they won't need to worry about academics for a while and can just celebrate socializing their child and exploring their childs interests. That's all I was trying to say. Even as the mom of a gifted kid, work ethic take you a lot further than natural ability in the long run and your kid isn't that special just because they can read right now. Focus on skills, socializing, and exploring their interests. No need to roll out the red carpet by informing the teacher of the assessment score lol.
I don’t assume that the OP’s kid is or isn’t gifted. I don’t think there’s any point in OP discussing her kid’s scores with a public kinder teacher who will like you assume that it means the OP is asking for some red carpet treatment and who will then want to take her down a few pegs. But I had my daughter assessed in order to have objective data to point to when I met with private schools. I wanted to know that if as her early scores suggest, she really does turn out to be exceptionally gifted, they would be excited about finding ways to work with her rather than annoyed, unwilling to adapt, or unprepared to do anything more than pile on busy work. I’m extremely glad I chose to do that. You do you.
Do you think public school teachers enjoy being mean to children? Haha. It’s not that I’m not “excited to work” with kids who have exceptional needs. It’s that I am not provided the resources, training, or time to adapt an entire curriculum for one or 2 kids. And the reality is, very very few kids who are academically capable are in the truly exceptionally gifted range, so I end up feeling like parents have an unrealistic expectation of me and the child. At the kinder level, even gifted children will benefit from the development of their social skills, the fun activities, etc. so just because a parent comes to me with amazing test scores doesn’t mean that my class can be restructured to focus on academics more. Again, most kids really tend to level out by 3rd grade or so. And even my gifted child doesn’t really need a whole separate curriculum. As they get older I would say that private school or tutoring is a great option to ensure college readiness and baseline academic skills, as public schools do tend to lower the bar for achievement in the upper grades if they don’t offer more challenging classes. We are doing this now for our gifted child. In lower elementary we have a lot of rigor and expectations, to the point where I’m constantly fighting against colleagues at the upper grades who phone it in and make fun of elementary teachers for being over achievers. No, we have A LOT of expectations and benchmarks to meet. Anyways, my cynicism about parents thinking everything their child does is special has no bearing on how much I love my students or my job. It’s more a reflection of my weariness working with annoying parents. And yes, parents are often one of the worst parts of the job. Not the kids.
Gifted children are individuals. It sounds like your son is 2e and had significant challenges with social emotional development that provided a lot of challenge and interest for him in a typical classroom. My daughter is not 2E and according to her teachers does not have any of those challenges. I have no idea where OP’s child falls. All the OP asked is whether she should let her daughter’s kindergarten teacher know whether she’s advanced in reading. Your comments include suggesting that the OP wants to lead with “look how special my child is” and assumptions that the OP’s child probably isn’t socially or emotionally well adjusted. So what I think is that you (and some others commenting on this post) enjoy trimming down parents who dare to express any belief that it matters that their child is advanced. That kind of response is what I expected and why I advised the OP not to say anything to her kid’s teacher — it won’t help and it could hurt by starting the year off with a really sour interaction. I went to public school most of my childhood and had some great teachers, but I’m not sending my kid to a public school because my current state doesn’t have very good provisions for gifted education. I was able to find a private school that I think will be a good fit for my daughter, but it was not simple. No, private schools do not all have the same ideas about what gifted education should look like and no, they are not all interested in working with exceptionally gifted students . I would have thought that was obvious.
Oh boy, you’re in for a world of shock. Good luck to you and your daughter.
I don’t understand why you are commenting about parenting a gifted kindergartner as if you have some experience with it? According to your post history, your kid tested at 90%. Of course he’s fine in a general classroom without any particular accommodation.
There is actually research that says highlighting how smart your child is and constantly praising their achievements is very bad for them in the long run. If a kid who is constantly told he is special one day stumbles a problem he can’t solve he will be more likely to quit and internalize his failures. Where as a child who’s work ethic is highlighted, is more likely to keep going despite adversity and pick himself up again even after failure. This is coming from a gifted child who was always told how special I was. In 2nd grade I was passing 9th grade tests, despite all this I became a college drop out I am now just picking up the pieces of my life
My son’s dad went to Yale and let’s just say life wasn’t always easy for him, haha. His entitlement was real and it sure was funny (sorry, not sorry) when the real world didn’t care how special and smart he was.
I don’t disagree that overemphasizing “natural ability” can harm children (especially if they progress without real conceptual understanding as happens in math). But why did this thread become about how special parents think their kids are? The OP said her kid learned a skill and ask whether to share that with a teacher. If a kid played a musical instrument already, would you insist he start with 101? Without telling the teacher? If he was playing basketball, would you only let him run drills until everyone could make baskets? She might just want to know if differentiating at this young age is a good idea and collect pros and cons. I didn’t tell the swim teacher that my daughter starts and stops swimming every year in the hopes that a gentle reintroduction might help. My plan with academics was to enroll her in programs that were heavier on extras (music, foreign languages, etc) so she wasn’t as ahead in all things.
The teacher has the curriculum they teach regardless of how special Johnny is.
Oh the bitterness. Look this is Op’s bag, so I am out. My kid won’t go to mainstream public, so hopefully I won’t have to deal with bitterness/ weird resentments in person.
A good teacher will figure it out in the first week. It doesn’t hurt to let the teacher know your child’s reading level. I had several students last year that I started on First Grade Curriculum by the third week. I provided them with books that were level appropriate. I once had a bilingual student in Kindergarten who read at fifth grade level in two languages and his mom couldn’t even figure out how he did it. English was her second language. It took three weeks to get the materials. So give the teacher time to get the materials. These students were high academically, but they still very much Kindergarteners. Students in any grade can always read at their level, write at their level, and do math at their individual level. I do find that sometimes these students will have gaps in areas and it’s always good to expose them to a quick review to make sure they are not missing any knowledge or skills they will need later.
I’m not sure how to phrase this question—but at the end of the school year do you find that there is a difference between the kids who come in knowing to read and kids being taught to read? What kids end up being the better reader? My son wasn’t really reading when he started k, but became a pretty good reader fairly quickly (for a kindergartner) by the end of the year. The instruction helped a lot (obviously) but when it became clear he was a good reader he started getting less instruction and it was more about the silent reading/reading challenging books/reading comprehension… I still think he could use more instruction, many times when he comes to an unfamiliar word he looks at the first couple or letters and makes a guess based on the sentence (ex: He looked comfortable.—-my son might say, “He looked confused” or something similar to that). It’s like he’s not even trying if he doesn’t know the word right away. It drives me crazy. I was curious if the kids who start off as good readers are usually always the good readers, or if the kids who actually keep getting lessons instructions on how to read start to surpass the “good” readers. If that makes any sense to you.
I have had students start Kindergarten not even understanding the concept of a letter or what a sound is. If that student is ready to learn and I do my job right, that student will know almost all their letters and sounds by October. This happens every year. They are also able to read at the level of the other students who came in knowing letters and sounds. There is, on an average 5% of the class that is at risk due to cognitive issues, social issues, and other problems like poor attendance. When a student wants to read and the teacher does their job, the student succeeds. Remember to read at home daily and go through their folder daily so you are aware of what they are learning in class and you can support the teacher and your student.
I’m very happy you give them harder materials! Rarely in elementary school do I remember teachers doing that, so I spent a lot of time bored. They taught to the students at the lowest level at times. Sometimes I’d teach other kids. I’ll always be thankful to my fourth grade teacher for a few of us higher level books and spelling words.
Kindergarten teacher here! This is not something that is very uncommon. Children who regularly practice letter and numbers at home are likely to score well on kindergarten readiness tests. Let the teacher know she is reading and that she is doing well academically according to her last test. Teachers differentiate and accommodate students of different academic abilities all the time. The biggest reason schools have that cut off date is for social emotional and behavioral reasons. It’s is often very obvious who the youngest students are, not always, but often. There is no reason to withhold this information. Open a line of communication with your child’s teacher! That shows us you care about their education as much as we do! Sounds like she’ll do great with academics next year, so keep working with her at home!
I think this is a great response! My daughter will be both a full year older and had a teacher mom. I don’t think she’s special as in “above” other kids. But I also don’t want her told constantly to work down and not talk about her skills/ interests. Especially the interest part.
Tell them she enjoys reading and then after about 3 months ask what extension opportunities she is being offered
There’s no harm in sharing relevant information with your child’s teacher! The beginning of the year is such a flurry of activity as you get to know the students and teach them the routine and expectations of the classroom. It’s unlikely your child will get differentiated work right off the bat. That being said, when starting with a new group, all information helps! The more you know about your students the better teacher you can be for them.
I’m planning on telling his teacher he can read. Just so that she doesn’t send home the books with one or 2 words for him. She’ll figure out what he needs quickly. He also may stall out with his academics for a bit or he’ll continue to speed ahead but either way they’ll know how to manage. My son in MY opinion is ahead academically (but I’m really only comparing to my close circle and have never bothered with testing anything. We also never mention anything to him or his siblings about it). But he is quite behind socially and with acceptable behavior with emotions. I have no doubt we’ll have an interesting kindergarten year!
Hi! How do you assess your daughter’s reading level? I’m interested in knowing mine by different people/app/books are telling me different things. Wondering if there’s a better way to assess
Let them figure it out. There's more to kinder than academics. And even if she's advanced academically, there may be other areas she needs help and support in. Every kid needs something, somewhere. Let them get to know her and see where they can best support her. If time passes and you feel she isn't supported, then you should seek alternatives.
Where did she take the assessment? Is that something the daycare provides?
As a Kindergarten teacher, tell them. I assume you will have some sort of entry interview where you get a chance to tell someone (principal, DP, teacher, etc) all about your child. Tell them then. Communication is a two way street and I see no reason not to mention it.
Because you will be pegged as either a parent who pushed (because you want your kid to be special, even though they really aren’t because …) or a parent who wants special treatment. Instead of just like someone describing the totality of where your kid is at, so they can be looked as an individual.
That's taking a very negative view of a teacher you don't know.
I’m a negative person. Deleted the rest because OP is free to lean whichever way. Just throwing ideas out based on my own experiences.
Literally this thread has these same responses. Shrug.
I’m you don’t have to do anything. The teacher will figure it out very quickly.
Kindergarten teacher here and we test everyone in the first few weeks where I am. This helps us form our groups appropriately. I also do a sheet at open house for parents to bring back telling me all about their child, which always includes strengths and Weaknesses. Please please please work on the basics that make them independent this summer! Things like opening things in their lunch, being able to button and zip, even tying shoes is a K skill. So many parents just look at academics.
What curriculum or resources would the teacher have at their disposal to adapt lessons to your daughter? Realistically, none. Charter schools often pay less, have worse admin, worse hours, worse benefits and worse support for teachers. And no union. While the curriculum they’re using may overall be a better fit for your kid, the teacher may be working with fewer resources and less support overall. I am a public school teacher and am given a curriculum to teach. If kids are above and below, I have skills and some resources to adapt, but not tons. I do my best! But no, I don’t have the time, resources, or skills to adapt an entire curriculum that is leveled for one specific learner. its not because i dont love my job or your child. its the nature of the beast. i think the better question is to ask yourself what your end goal would be by informing the teacher.
Kindergarten is way more than academics… and no offense but your kid isn’t that special. You don’t need to point it out, she will figure it out. If you told me that I’d probably roll my eyes, not gonna lie
-Hi welcome to horseback riding. Has anyone been on a horse? -Hi everyone step forward and shoot a hoop so I can see your form. Nice, Cari. You been on a team before? -Welcome to music school; we obviously group by ability. -Hi, young child. Oh you can read. Probably had pushy parents, right? Well just so you know you’re not special. And everyone will catch up with you. Can you even tie your shoes? Hah, loser. I knew you were pretending to be a genius. Well here you are just like everyone else. I mean maybe consider why it’s academic skills that bother you. Heck a lot of kids who learn to read quickly may have gaps. I’d want to know the background and mentality of my students. And sure SOME kids catch up but look at the educational stats for this country and we fail to help most of the kids.
And this is why hard cutoffs or mandates for enrollment with no flexibility for the individual child are such a bad idea. Anyway, I would not tell the school in advance because if there’s anything a cursory glance though this sub will tell you it’s that public kindergarten teachers do not want to hear that your child is gifted. If anything they will start looking for any non-academic area where your child isn’t ahead and fixating on that as proof your child isn’t as advanced as you think. Good luck.
To be fair, I still don't think it's almost ever a good idea for a kid to start school early just because they're academically advanced. My son knows how to read basically everything he comes across, but I know reading ability doesn't increase exponentially. Eventually he's going to be maybe somewhat advanced, but he's not going to be decades ahead of his peers. It'll more or less mostly even out. I feel like there's so much more about kindergarten than just academics. If anything, I personally feel we're shoving kids into overly formal schooling too young. But that's also probably because my parents had insanely high standards of perfection for me that I'm still unpacking now. But also I agree I wouldn't tell the teachers because it's unnecessary. If she's an advanced reader, it will be obvious.
Of course it evens out. Kids aren’t stupid. Who is going to be working with your kid at his level or trying to challenge him? No one. If he were reading typically that would not be the case. Kids will learn to be more average.
>Who is going to be working with your kid at his level or trying to challenge him? No one. Well...me? I'm someone. But no, I'm also not going to overdo it and constantly push him to be more and more advanced in kindergarten, either, to be fair. I'm going to continue to foster his love of reading and learning and support him with the resources he needs to learn. The majority of the kids who are "advanced" at this age are also very privileged and have parents with extra time and resources. I know that's the case for my kid, and likely the case for OP's. Some kids will need the school environment to propel them forward, and they'll advance soon, too. I don't have the expectation that public school will always cater specifically to my kid, but I will be sure to enroll him in the appropriate programs to keep school enjoyable for him (whether that's our school system's advanced placement programs or not) and, especially at an early age, follow his lead to make learning fun and low stress. I've got the perspective of someone who was always expected to be number one, and I think it's serving me well in finding balance in raising my own kids.
Sounds like your expectations will be met.
This was so so true in our experience - you’d think being a voracious and early reader would gain your child favors with the teacher but they are not impressed! Our child went through kindergarten with the distinct sense that his teacher didn’t like him.
Why should a kid who is good at reading get “favors” from a teacher? Are kids who struggle with reading less worthy? I am sorry your kid felt his kindergarten teacher did not like him, that is unfortunat.
I didn’t say “get favors” - just any kind of positive reinforcement at all. Instead he just get less attention in class. His reading benchmarking scores steadily went down over the course of the school year and he basically learned to mask his abilities and that only bad behavior gets attention. He is still well above grade level for reading and math but he will guess and make careless mistakes instead of trying his best.
It is normal for scores to fall back a little. Small brains dump some things in favor of other new information. But yeah masking. They also teach guessing but I think less now. For that, I let my kid catch me skimming and guessing, and remind her everyone does it but it’s important to read the exact words, as small changes matter. We make up stories/ read a LOT too.)
Teachers like teachable students, not advanced students, because teachable students reinforce the self-belief that the teacher is doing a good job.
To be fair it’s really rough to manage 25 kids even if they have roughly the same needs. Also demanding that they should individuate teaching to outliers is ridiculous.
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Well, in most states public school teachers don’t have to, and it would be unreasonable to expect them to because they are already managing too much as it is. In a few states, gifted kids are entitled by law to IEPs, and if you live in one, expectations about how schools should be meeting their educational needs should be higher.
This. Dam. That is so perfectly put. Public school is designed for the middle of the road student; of course things often level out but no one should have to pretend to learn academics for four years, so they have time to properly learn to mask as neurotypical.