"So you are better than proofing your post than I am, that proves nothing to no one, except that you put more value on posting here than I do." I'm resisting the urge...

The irony here is that not only does our school district refuse to test prior to kindergarten commencement, but so does the adjacent school district (that my kids would have been in), and the school district adjacent on the west (that I considered while reviewing private schools). In short, there seems to be a movement in our entire area against providing any testing prior to commencement of kindergarten. And, it is very common for school districts to establish how many children will be in each class and how many classrooms they can accommodate at any given grade level. So, while you have tried to establish a credibility gap on my part, the argument is specious.

Another consideration here is that, with the "no child left behind" theories, it inures to the school's benefit to hold children back from where they legitimately belong since my children will be testing as "kindergarten" kids reading at a 2.8 grade level, performing math at similar levels, etc. If I keep working with them, my children will continue to raise the marks while not actually learning much of anything at school. While this is an interesting impact of this program, it provides absolutely no proof that the schools are somehow doing a better job at teaching.

If your idea of helping was to tell me that I am stupid and failed to have my children tested before school -- and, then try to say that my children should somehow be in the third grade -- well, thank you for your help. I just didn't get that warm fuzzy feeling that you were interested in helping. Instead, it seemed to me that you were busy trying to accuse me of "bragging about how perfect 'my' children are..."

It is interesting to me that on this forum the only problems that are seen as being legitimate are those where we are having problems that identify our children as somehow below the curve. I, too, have had problems of this nature, and note that those were viewed with compassion -- except for by people who wanted to take a shot by "noting" that my children "are not as perfect as previously suggested."

For everyone who provided helpful input and understood that the issues raised in this post ARE legitimate concerns, thank you so much. And, for those who simply wanted to take an opportunity to lift a leg and take a whiz, knock yourselves out. You've identified yourselves for precisely what you are.

Cat w/3 Kittens
Caidan, Carina and Caeleigh
Born at 31 weeks, 1/8/04.