Should I be concerned?

[bigdog]

My daughter is 4 yrs 5 months old and is starting f/t school next week - where has the time gone? She has been identified as G&T at Nursery (attached to the school) due to her having a reading and comprehension age of 12 - her numeracy isn't too bad either, apparently she's currently working at a class 2 level. Hopefully she won't be bored as there are plently of other things to do at school, but I'm more concerned about her behaviour.
She really is a delightful girl, but can be very highly strung if you don't deal with her right. She is quite hypersensitive, doesn't like loud noises and will quite often need to zone out with a book in order is chill out - not something you can easily do in a class of goodness knows how many! Quite often she appears to not be listening as she is engrossed in something, but in fact it all goes in. Do you think her teachers will make any allowances? I'm a secondary teacher so know very little about Early Years.

Hi bigdog
It's natural to worry, but I'm sure your DD wont exhibit any behaviour the teacher hasn't seen before, or doesn't know how to deal with. Don't forget she will have at least one TA with her too.
I would leave things to the teacher - if (s)he's concerned about anything, (s)he will contact you and ask you to come in for a chat.

I just read that back and it sounds like I expect them to make 'allowances' and I don't think that at all! I do have faith in her teachers, it's just...I don't know...I feel like I should be doing a bit more, iyswim?

Thanks suedpantsoffem

my DD is exactly the same

likes rules and order, doesn't like noise and chaos and can get very upset by it
she also turns into a 'zombie' if she is listening intently

I have only ever had a problem in yr 3 but a quick chat with the teacher sorted it out, and she is now on her way up to high school

if you have a good primary they will be able to 'handle' (if that's the right word, sorry if not) your DD

She'll be fine! It's natural to have a few tears for the first few days, but as soon as she's made some friends I'm sure all will be fine. And if it's not - well you can sort things out if and when they happen.
If primary school has one thing, it's routine, and from what you say, she will like that. I'm sure the teacher will pick up quite quickly that she needs to be stretched when reading, and for anything else too. They are trained you know!

We had very similar issues with DD, who is now just about to go into Year 1, and not only have we all survived the year, but she came out of it liking school.

The needing to zone out with a book won't be a problem; for much of the day the children can choose an activity, and the classroom will have some kind of book corner. DD spent most of the first term in there as a coping strategy, and then ventured out a bit more. Even though she was reading chapter books at home, she seemed quite content to read picture books there.

The loud noise/chaos was more of a problem, most of all at playtime, and it took a while to sort this out (the playtimes weren't very well run, but that's another story). This is quite a common thing with gifted children - have a look on Google for Dabrowski's Overexcitabilities - so it may be worth mentioning to the teacher if she is finding it hard.

But overall, there is such a range of children in Reception that they will be making allowances for every single one of them in some way, so I am sure your DD will be fine.

Onesandwichshort- you beat me to it- I was about to suggest Dabrowski's Overexcitables too... I hope this will help bigdog!

Hi. Any chance you can chat to or email the teacher and get them to allow her to read for a few minutes if nec. I think it's worth mentioning the sensitivity to noise. Are there quieter areas at lunch etc? I'm sure they can cope with her behaviour!

You sound a lot like us - I am also a secondary teacher and DD is also very sensitive to stuff; particularly loud noises etc. It is definitely worse when she is tired (isn't everything). She did art therapy for most of the last year - made a big difference to her toleration of previously difficult stimuli. Helped a lot to have the psych report for teacher - up till then I think she thought I was looking down on primary and totally over exaggerating DDs abilities.

How do you know she has a reading comprehension age of 12 years? It seems awfully high for a child who has only been using words for a couple of years.