My youngest child was tested as gifted at three years old. She was able to talk about and read first grade books at four years old. Knowing this I was faced with a dilemma, should I allow her to go into kindergarten or not. I found that their were some important things to consider before sending her off to school.

The first thing I had to consider was her mental ability to enter school. I was told that she was because she could already do all the required activities for the kindergarten. She could tie her own shoes, spell her own name, read kindergarten appropriate books and say and write the alphabet. She also could do some small addition problems like 1+1 and so on.

Which led into problem two, she had the mental capacity to handle school, but how about the psychological capacity. She was a year and in some cases two years younger than all of the children in her class. Who would she play with and would she be teased as she got older. Would being called names like nerd and teachers pet be a hindrance to her education causing her to give up and start acting out. This was a big issue because children are known to be very cruel.

Would she maintain the gifted status she clearly showed in kindergarten when she is the youngest girl in the fourth or fifth grade. I have seen some children who were gifted in the younger years, are not quite as mentally prepared as they were earlier predicted to be. The question now was "Will she still be able to handle being ahead when she is in her higher grades, and how would she handle being left behind if that should happen.

Being gifted is a blessing, however as parents we should take the time to find out if it will cost our children their education by pushing them ahead while they are not ready.

Learn more about this author, Katherine Johnson.
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