Sorry, I forgot to clarify. She's currently in a half day preschool program. It's public, but she's had the same excellent teacher both years. The teacher is also a family friend who we see occasionally outside of school. I only know based on her assessments done for preschool. Each year they do a beginning of school assessment to see where the kids are at. Last year, she didn't answer things that she knew pretty well at home. For example, she missed half of the letters and was reading CVC words a month or 2 later. At home she knew all of her letters. Also, with counting she tends to rush on 1:1 correspondence and stop counting when she can keep going most times. It's only from those assessments that I think she gets a little nervous being quizzed. Or if someone asks her quiz like questions such as "wow can you count to 100 for me?" She usually will refuse. She's also a perfectionist and somewhat shy. So doesn't do as well with people she doesn't know well.

I plan to test her for advanced K, but don't know that we'd actually send her. Only 8 schools offer advanced K classes and it's normally 1 per school. Also, none of the schools are ones I'd keep her at for 1st grade. The thing with Colorado is that it's a choice system. So you can choice into any school in your district or even the state. It is like a massive school choice lottery. Your best time to get into a school is Kinder since most spots are open to all students then. In 1st, you're only filling the seats made void by K students who didn't stay at that school. the classical school offers gifted and 2e services, but doesn't have specific classes for gifted. There are a lot of enrichment activities though.

The school we are looking at does not have a specific pull out program. But they work closely with gifted kids to ensure they're thriving. I don't know that we'd put her in gifted magnet school at any point. I don't really like the exclusiveness of them especially if she's not having issues due to not being challenged. And she may be gifted, she may not (test wise). The K test is done in small groups and seems to be done as centers that kids work at. I may still do this. It is just for entrance into advanced K. Only 8 schools offer an advanced K. It normally works a grade or so ahead of level and it seems kids mah or may not go from advanced K into magnet programs. I think I tend to think of gifted as the incredibly bright child who seems to intuit reading and math. Or is working well above level. I know that's not always the case and that PG is not the only level of giftedness.

I'd honestly be surprised if she is around the 95th percentile. Our district has a pretty extensive advanced kinder if we decide to go with that. Kids must score a 90% or above on just K level concepts. It isn't a gifted test that is accepted beyond K level. So the student retests in 1st for any magnet gifted programs. For the school we plan to have her attend, she would need a qualitative gifted test, not just the K one. I'm trying to decide if it is worth it right now. DD doesn't like being quizzed and tends to not do as well on assessments as she does at home. Testing also would happen this fall since our school system uses a choice process for selecting schools.

I imagine this will change. Right now we do phonics daily. Dd goes to half day preschool and while they have kids who are reading, it's not fully phonics based. I'm not even sure what reading instruction they get! We also do some math, but not daily yet. I imagine that once Dd is reading fluently we will do math daily if needed. Her school uses Singapore and if that's a fit then I would do interest led afterschooling. Give her lots of resources to explore STEM interests or art. We always read aloud and I don't count it as afterschooling yet.

Thanks! Fortunately the school we plan to use seems to have a great gifted coordinated and program. It's an inclusion model, but they really work to help students thrive. Honestly I think testing would just help us to know and react to Dd better. She sounds similar to your kiddos as far as level and issues. She is sensory sensitive and prone to meltdowns. But the second we seek services for the sensory meltdowns, she's acting fine again and regulating herself. Definitely some come and go sensory/autism things. I do feel a bit pretentious requesting testing haha. Her teacher knows she is bright. And Dd is more academically minded. Loves to do math and write. But, as far as needing special services for gifted, I'm not sure she would.

The school told me that they use the district to do the testing. So our school district will conduct the gifted testing. We have a pretty extensive gifted and talented department in our public schools. They'll do the assessment and testing for giftedness and I believe 2e issues. The school does specify that their gifted and talented coordinator is experienced with 2e students and seeks to work closely with them. If we want to pursue testing we have to go through the district and then submit the results to the school. My concern is that I don't know how it will differ things for Dd. She is not exceptionally gifted and probably only moderately so. However, she does have some sensory things (not spd) that Come and go. She also probably wouldn't advocate for herself. I could see her not learning anything new, but complying with the teacher and doing her work or drawing/reading if she's bored. She'd never act out if bored. And she does love school for the art and science components.

Thanks, I just looked over them. I honestly don't think DD needs to skip a grade. I personally would rather her not. I had looked into it briefly and the school told me that they rarely grade skip and that even if she tested into K, they most likely would deny her early entrance. I am going to look into more what the benefit of the testing is. They differentiate for reading and math regardless of giftedness, so I am unsure of what the benefit is. DD is definitely not highly gifted. I am not even sure if she would test as gifted. She is bright, but doesn't seem abnormally so.

Dd is in public preschool this year and we after school reading and math. She's possibly a grade ahead in these areas? Next year (2017/18) she will go to a classical charter school. We love the school and it is an inclusion model. They differentiate learning within the class and every class has two teachers (one is certified special Ed). They do have in house psychologist, OT, and speech and a GT Coordinator. However, they do their gifted testing through the local school district. Yesterday they called me about next years enrollment and asked if I had any questions. I asked about differentiated reading and they asked if I had Dd tested for gifted. I said I hadn't and asked if that was something I did before she got enrolled or that they did. They said I could do it before in order to have it done before she starts in case she requires services. My question is, has anyone seen benefits to pursuing testing this young? Our district does test before K to see who qualifies for advanced Kindy (kids who have mastered K concepts). But the parent has to request it. Dd doesn't test extremely well. She's shy and tends towards perfectionism and usually misses things that she does know. Which isn't an issue, I'm just not sure I want to put her through testing for no reason.

Is letter land a show type program? DD is reading and about half way through OPG which goes to a 4th grade level. I was hoping for a song we could play in the car to reinforce what she's learning in lessons. Ill have to look into letterland. It sounds interesting and fun.

I have once but it was about 13-15 years ago. I have no idea whether the eggs were local, but I doubt my mom bought organic or farm fresh eggs. I remember them being in a store carton. It was disturbing.

We are currently working through OPG with my almost 5 year old. I'm looking for music to reinforce the phonograms. I'd love a song or two that teaches the basic 26 phomograms and then more advanced ones. Does any such song exist? My kids love learning by song. Preferably looking for songs that I can find on iTunes or MP3 download.

Thanks! We're currently using Meads devotional on the Westminster. I really enjoy the memorizing of the catechism at this age.

Thanks everyone! We enjoy Starr Meads because of how short and quick it is. I've enjoyed doing the Westminster shorter catechism with her. She's memorized the answers to the couple we have done. I was originally trying to find a devotional to match what I'm studying. More for convenience and bonding time. Our church used the Jesus Storybook Bible curriculum. It's pretty decent from what I can tell. I don't have any say in the curriculum though. The older kids do The Gospel Project. I do like the idea of reading through the bible together though. That sounds like a great way to do it. Our devotions at night are based on the catechism question and not too scripture heavy

My 2nd grade (8yo) nephew is Autistic with a few other learning disabilities. He attends a program through a local public school that is specialized for autistic and similar LD students. He is close to reading and can read basic things, but still needs to sound out most words. We live 2,000 miles away, but my mom is looking for some iPad apps, games, or tools to help him grow as a reader. It seems that he needs to gain fluency.

I also agree with avoiding two schools if possible. My two will be in seperate schools for a while since DDs classical school will be K-12 With no preschool program.

My daughter will go to school for Kindergarten. She goes to half day preschool now at a public school. I have to do an internship for my masters degree and won't be able to homeschool until 1st. She'll go to a classical charter school for K. It aligns with our educational philosophy and I am pretty sure that it's one of the few schools that uses phonics rather than whole word methods for reading.

Okay that sounds amazing! My daughter has been germ and body obsessed. Were you able to borrow most of the books? And how expensive were the activities? And how do I ensure I get the PreK-2nd level? Also, would this work for after schooling? She goes to PreK for 3hrs a day 4/5 days a week. She has every other Friday off.

It's left to right. PEMDAS (parenthesis, exponents, multiply, divide, add, subtract) "PEMDAS is an acronym for the words parenthesis, exponents, multiplication, division, addition, subtraction. For any expression, all exponents should be simplified first, followed by multiplication and division from left to right and finally addition and subtraction from left to right"

Thanks. I am similar. Even when I am anxious, I am black and white about it and can easily align myself with reality again. We do put her fears in check by telling her it will be okay. Today she's moved on by saying "mom when I'm in kindergarten I will do math by myself and read by myself and I won't need a teacher or you" so maybe she's moving on. Haha. I'll make sure to put it to rest quickly next time she seems anxious about it

I switched to Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading after we did AAR Pre level. Dd did the pre level so fast and I really didn't want to invest hundreds when I could spend 20! I do supplement with readers (Bob, Nora gaydos, Usborne from the library) and I make my own games and use free teacherspayteachers.com printables. One game we use a lot is POP: a silent e game from teacherspayteachers. I edited the PDF so that I could print cards with review words on it. Between OPG and games I made, we are getting phonics done without spending hundreds!

Oh I missed about the rest Extracurricular Dd does dance (intro to ballet class) year round. Swim: did in the summer and plan to sign up for winter as well. Other Museums and zoo: we have passes to the zoo, science museum, and children's museum. We utilize the iMax, planetarium, and special exhibits Parks: we go to a lot of local parks and wildlife reserves Camping: we do several camping trips over the summer. Usually in national or state parks Road trips: we did California this year. Next year we will go to Mass and do Boston and possibly NYC. We plan to go to the ballet this winter. We do library story time and events there. They have kids concerts and magic shows and such. We do lots of seasonal science projects (bouncing eggs at Easter, dying flowers, etc.)

That's good to know. She is definitely more sensory sensitive and higher anxiety. Both of which were a bit more out of hand in July and August. It will be interesting if this pattern seems to be true. Do you do anything to help your kiddos through the emotional period? Or is it just something you cope with as it occurs?

We are currently doing volcanoes based on DDs interest. Reading about them, watching documentaries, doing volcano crafts, and volcano science experiments. We also have done a bit about the human body and immune system. Same approach as above. Very informal and totally led by DDs interests.

Like these base ten blocks? https://www.amazon.com/Learning-Resources-Base-Blocks-Smart/dp/B00IJC7VLC/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1473343698&sr=8-5&keywords=base+ten+blocks I just order c-rods, but could do base ten as well. Dd is really interested in place value