School, School, School: Preschool

School is my obsession lately.  What to do about Vivian and school?

Preschool was much easier. I fell into a knowledgeable group of fellow parents of gifted kids on a parenting forum I frequent, and found that other gifted kids had done best in either play-based preschools or Montessori preschools. Play-based preschools are very light on academics, so kids who were already ahead in the subject material wouldn't feel bogged down and could spend their time socializing and learning about the world through play.  Montessori preschools are learning-based, but incredibly flexible in their approach to teaching, so kids who were ahead could move ahead at their own pace regardless of their peers levels and abilities.

We tired playschool when Vivian was 2; it didn't go well. Vivian's sensory issues meant that a loud, disorganized room of chaotic freeplay was miserable for her.  She couldn't deal with it. So I spent the summer when she was 2 1/2 calling Montessori schools and asking about their programs.  Eventually we found a lovely Montessori that, as a bonus, is a stone's throw from our house and the directress agreed to admit her even though she wasn't yet 3.  She still had some trouble at first, but the teachers were great and she loved the "works" in her classroom, and she's been very happy there.

At our last parent/teacher conference, Vivian was the best reader in the school (with 1.5 years left in her 3-year cycle), and doing very well in math.  Not as well as reading, because she likes reading better (and also, the math works are more fun to mess around with, I've heard).  The great thing about the program is that the math work in the classroom can be used flexibly, and she shouldn't run out of work.  I'm not sure how high-level the reading work goes, but since it's a bilingual program they can always start her on Spanish if they run out of English stuff.

What I worry about now is what she'll do after preschool.  The third year in a Montessori preschool is considered to be Kindergarten, except that our district only recognizes private Kindergartens in private schools that go through 3rd grade; and Vivian isn't old enough to be placed into first in the fall of 2011. And yet I cannot, just canNOT, imagine her sitting politely and twiddling her thumbs in the 2011-2012 school year while the other kids learn the letter sounds.  So that is our next hurdle, the next thing I'm worrying about and working on. And believe me, I spend a lot of time worrying...