GT questions please help

[IloveAllMyBabies]

My son is starting preschool this august he is 3yrs old and the only reason he is going to school at such a young age is cause he asked to go

he is bored at home and he finshed 2 preschool books he knows the alphabet and the sounds they make he can spell 10 different words and read them and we r working on 10 new words

he knows his phone number his address he knows how to spell his name his brothers name dads name and mine he also knows his dads number and his uncles number

and iam just at a lost on what to do with him and in the preschool they said they r going to put him in regural preschool class with his age group but the problem is he knows everything they will be learning

but the teacher said well then he can learn to be around other kids I dont have that problem he loves being around kids without me i take him to the gym daycare and he is there for 2hrs and when it is time to go he crys and says nooo go away momma plus he goes to sports class at the little gym 2 times a week for 1hr play dates every day with lots of kids

but the question is how do i test to to see if my son is GT gifted? i mean like at home testing

iam worried he will go to school and get bored and start acting up which i know he will do

[mom2ponygirl]

For a gifted kid, often a creative, play-based preschool will be a better fit than one that emphasizes early academics. I would seek a pre-school that doesn't do letter of the week type stuff, but instead concentrates on play and exploration of art materials and the outdoors. That way he gets the social fun of his agemates but doesn't have to sit through activities that he will find unengaging.

[IloveAllMyBabies]

ohh my son loves loves just sitting down and doing school work he will throw a fit if i get tired and stop and this is after 1hr he never gets tired of school work

but i like ur idea were can i find a school like that

[AndrewsMother]

I had the same problem with my DS. At the age of one he was moved to the 2 year old class. We assumed over the summer that the other children caught up with him or that his development slowed to a normal pace, so he began the year in a class with 2 year olds. Within a month, it was obvious that he needed to move to join the three-year-old class.
The school was play based. Letters, numbers, colors, and the basic concepts that a child should know were covered. If the fruit of the week was apple they learned about apples, and ate different kinds of apples and painted with apples, etc, etc, etc.
DS enjoyed the activities, but the other children did move at a slower pace, and it was apparent to the instructor that he needed to move. There were behavior problems that did not appear after the classroom move.
The activities were more of a challenge.
This year DS will attend a school with more focus on academics. All the children read and write by the end of kindergarten. I am positive that this is what DS needs. Playing bores him after awhile and leads to mischief.

[joensally]

I don't believe that there's any way to test for giftedness at home, at least in a way that's going to qualify a child for a specific program. Test results at 3 are also highly unreliable, even with a full psych-ed administered by a psychologist.

You could look for montessori, although not all montessori schools are created equal. Also, I really believe that in addition to the method (ie montessori, play based etc), the instructors are key to success with preschool.

I think it's pretty hard to find a rigorous academic preschool for a 3 year old. I'd be looking for a dynamic preschool instructor, regardless of method, who wants to have the challenge of making preschool a positive experience for a precocious boy who likes seat work.

[The Hidden Life]

Originally Posted by joensally

I think it's pretty hard to find a rigorous academic preschool for a 3 year old.

Although if you can find a French-American school, the kind that are certified by the education ministry of France, the "ecole maternelle" program for 3-year-olds is supposed to be fairly academic and rigorous in comparison to typical American preschools.

I have a friend who attended language school in France while preparing for a missionary assignment. Her children all attended the French schools while she was studying. The 3yo class was doing plenty of seat work including learning to write their names, according to her.

As a bonus, your child would start learning French! I took a similar sort of tack when my gifted oldest child was preschool age. She could read and write already so I sent her to a German-language preschool where she would be challenged to learn something new while getting to still engage in age-appropriate play.

[AndrewsMother]

Originally Posted by The Hidden Life

Although if you can find a French-American school, the kind that are certified by the education ministry of France, the "ecole maternelle" program for 3-year-olds is supposed to be fairly academic and rigorous in comparison to typical American preschools.

DS will attend a French-American school in the fall. I looked on the school site for the Ministry of France website, but of course it is in French. :LOL:

He will learn French in a 50/50 immersion setting. I would guess that a majority of what he learns will consist of new material.

As a PP suggested, Montessori also works well for students of both above and average intelligence.

I had to decide between Montessori and Foreign Language Immersion. A combination of both would have been WONDERFUL!

[IloveAllMyBabies]

ty u all for the help my son is going to a islamic private school but it is only for this yr then we r moving to Lebanon and he will be going to the TOP school in Lebanon and i know i wont be worried about him getting a good challange there cause they r very challanging,