Last Wednesday I received a call from my mom after she picked up my daughter from school. I wait ever so impatiently by my phone at work at 12:55 to get a call from her to tell me how school was. I desperately wish I could be there to pick her up. I don't ever see that happening.
My mom told me that when she was let out of class the teacher motioned for her to come to the class room instead of waiting for Isabel by the gate like she had been since the second day of school (mind you, this was only the third day of school).
My reaction to her telling the story was the same as hers was. "Oh dear lord, what has my child done today.."
I don't give her enough credit.. You see, the teacher called my mom over so that she could talk to her about moving Isabel up to first grade. In fact, she believes that she would do well in second grade, however socially she should only be moved up a grade. She's already in the kindergarten/first grade split class so she would stay in the same class. She needed to find out how we felt about this before doing assessments with Isabel, speaking to the principal and having a psychological evaluation done.
We are, of course, ecstatic about this. Three days. That's all it took for the teacher to realize that she is advanced. It's incredible and beyond belief. Moving her up would do such great things for her educationally. And in all honesty, I think that she does better socially when she is with older kids as well.
That would be, what I like to call, my bad. I don't really think she knows how to act around kids her age who are just acting like normal 5 year old because she is so used to being around older kids (ages 9-13) and adults her entire life. Even when she was in preschool and pre-k she would often times read to the kids if the teachers were doing something else instead of playing with them.
I do not know how she got to be so smart. I rarely give myself any credit, usually putting focus on the age difference between Isabel and her cousin Emma. Since Rachel and I both work full-time it is our mom who does much of the child care while we are away. Because of this the girls were around each other a lot when Isabel was a baby. Emma was just starting kindergarten when Isabel was around one and I am a firm believer that children's minds are like sponges.
There is no doubt in my mind that Isabel learned a lot by listening to Emma do the alphabet and learn to read. She was there absorbing it all and I put the credit there. It is why Isabel can take a third grade spelling test and only miss one word.
Of course, I'm sure it has a lot to do with me as well. I mean, there has to be some scientific DNA mumbo jumbo involved. I can guarantee that it did not all come from her biological fathers side of the family, but then again I'm no braniac either.
I did read to her when she was younger. And when she wanted to learn how to read I did the first thing that came to mind. I pointed to the word, read it out loud and had her repeat the word. That's how we read books for awhile. It took us longer to get through the book but it was time well spent together. It really is no wonder she could pick up a book when she was two and read it cover to cover.
The important thing though was when we would ask her questions about the book and she could tell us what happened. She wasn't just memorizing, she was comprehending.
It didn't really hit us until her pre-k teacher pulled us aside after class one day and told us that she was "gifted" and that it would be a good idea to pick up a book about raising gifted children and have her tested. Testing = $$$ though, which was not an option at the time, but we started reading a book about it and did some research on the subject.
Our best option was to speak with her pediatrician when we took her for her check up before school started. She was quite taken away by how advanced she was and suggested speaking to the principal at the school to find out what the best route would be for her. I didn't want to be "that" parent that thinks her child is smarter than any other student in the school and I definitely didn't want to over step my boundaries, but it was a call I had to make.
I didn't receive much of a response other than the child could be moved up to a certain grade for certain subjects. If the child was advanced in reading then they would stay in kindergarten until reading time and then would be taken to the first grade class to read.
Then the principal moved to another school and a new principal came to our school. I briefly met him at orientation but didn't speak directly with him. It was a pleasant surprise when Isabel was placed in the kindergarten/first grade split class because I truly believed that it would help her in the long run. And it helped that her teacher was Emma's teacher when she was in kindergarten. She recognized both myself and my mom and I was able to mention to her that we were excited about her placement and that she has been reading for quite some time.
My fear was not that she wouldn't learn being in kindergarten, my fear would be that she would finish an assignment and get in trouble because she was bored. Thankfully that does not seem to be the case and I have heard that she sits at her desk while in class.
We are still waiting to hear if she will be moved up or not, but her teacher is 99% sure that she will be.
It took me almost a week to figure out my emotions and I'm still a little jumbled.
Basically I have gone from straight panic and fear to excitement to relief to panic again. I am her mother and I will always worry about her whether she's five and being moved up to the next grade or whether she is seventeen and having her heart broken for the first time. It's my job as her mom.
I think my main fear right now is regarding the friends she has made and trying to explain to her why she can't play with them anymore. Kindergartners are separated from the upper classes and she is used to going to a certain place and playing with certain people. Yes, I realize she's only been doing this for a week so it's not really logical for me to stress about that when she is a social butterfly and will make new friends, but still. That's what I'm concerned about.
And I know that education > friends, but it's still important to have those relationships. Some of the best friendships start at that young age. But there are plenty of other children who she can become friends with and I am worrying about absolutely nothing.
I just got used to the idea of having a child in kindergarten.. Now I have to get used to the idea of having a child in first grade.
Emotional... Roller coaster...
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