Gifted Child

Hi, My name is Ali and I have a dd who is 18 months old that is enrolled FT in a very good daycare.

I have lurked on this board for some time and really like your approach to supporting your children's development and navigating through the school system. As an insecure overachiever, I am always thinking that I am not doing enough to help my DD develop – you guys have reminded me that if she is smart, she will drive herself to learn and that my job is just to create the right environment, make sure she has good experiences, and simply spend time with her (flashcards are completely unnecessary lol)

Anni has always been a bit ahead of the curve beginning.. I expect that she is advanced, but highly doubt that she is HG /PG. I am going to try to avoid getting into a long list of accomplishments and just say that she appears to be meeting most of the developmental milestones for 24 months (e.g., starting to PT herself, starting to hold her crayon correctly). She also if full of energy and has quite an independence streak. We are very fortunate that her teachers in daycare recognize this and are working with her in a very positive manner.

When she was in the infants room, they started to talk about moving her to toddlers at around 11-12 months (most children move between 14-16 months) . At that time, I just thought she could still use the extra TLC in the infants and kept her there until 14 months. Her primary toddler teacher predicted that she would be happy in toddlers for ~6-7 months and then would get bored with the other kids, toys etc…Well she has been in toddlers for 4 months, she is one of the more advanced lo's and is starting to show a bit of restlessness. Many weeks, she gets to spend Fridays in the next room up and I understand that she actually does quite well. Lastly, the toddler teacher is quite good, but the two's teacher is absolutely fantastic.

I am thinking about suggesting that she spend a bit more time in the two's room. I was going to position it as Anni might enjoy spending time with older kids (modeling their behavior etc). I think they might be open to it given her history and the mix of children in her current room

My questions are as follows:
- should I encourage Anni to be moved to (or spend time in ) the next room?
- is there any downside to moving early?
- any suggestions on approaching the subject with the daycare?

Thanks Ali

It sounds at least like it's win-win whichever way you go. And I know it's early for her to want to have 'friends' yet. Can you try the older room FT and then drop back if need be? Or maybe increase the time she's there?

I didn't have to approach ds's daycare way back (he's 17 now) - they just put him where he fit. When he was 2 they had him with the 3/4 group (this was a Montessori-based envt) and he thrived. He stayed there til he turned 4 as there was no 5 year old group; he then switched to the 5 year old group at another daycare/preschool at 4 and thrived to the point of them telling us we had to enroll him in (regular) school the year he turned 5 despite the fact that the state changed the cutoff to before his birthday. We listened and it worked.

I honestly figured they'd know better than I would as that was their job and I had no other kids to compare with, and they and our great MO Parents as Teachers advocates were right; he was ready for K that year. If your teachers don't suggest more (can they at that place? I get the feeling some just want to stick to the numbers (age) so they don't upset anyone), and you feel she's ready for more, maybe you could make the suggestion, knowing that if it doesn't work out, the 2s teacher is still just fine.

Sue

Sue

Sue

Thanks for sharing your experience, I really appreciate it. It helps calm my fears of putting her with substantially older children

I actually have a feeling that within the next 1-3 months, they will suggest that she spend more time or transfer to the next room due to her general development, need to create room for younger children (general mix of ages), and the start of her being a little disruptive in class

I do not think is will be a bad thing as even her pedi suggested trying to get her move to older room. The mommy in me is just worried that she will lose confidence because the older kids are more advanced and that she will have difficulties fitting in(I know - I am likely projecting my own insecurities on her lol). Where she is now, she sort of rules the roost so to say.

Thanks for your response

Ali

My DD was always moved up to the next room early, always at the instigation of the staff.

Once one child's development is beyond a certain point, they begin to not "fit" the room so well, and it is harder for the staff to deal with them. At that point, the staff in our dc were very effective at organising the move to the next room with the administration. I liked that the staff were in-tune with each child's level and always felt that the system worked well for the children as well as the staff.

Just wanted to say thanks for responding. I know my concerns seem pretty small in the total realm of things, but your responses have helped to ease my mind.

I do think my dc is pretty responsive to these types of things and I am now more comfortable /prepared if they recommend a room change.

ali