Your daughter’s adjustment and love of her new school environment are sure signs that she’s gradually branching out and is less dependent on you. While you might enjoy having your daughter back at home with you regularly, it’s better for her to become accustomed to sharing attention and learning from others. Her attendance five mornings a week next year continues to provide you with time in the afternoon and evenings to be with her and enjoy her company. If the gifted school provides a good program with plenty of enrichment and play, as well as some academic learning, why not keep your daughter with the children she’s only beginning to get to know? If she’s way ahead in a regular program, that will only give her a false sense of confidence and cause her to think she’s smarter than everyone and doesn’t have to work hard.

To help her with her social skills, let your daughter choose a friend to invite home for a play date. Observe the children playing together and notice what social skills your daughter may need to learn. Then you can role-play together so she can become accustomed to being a hostess and sharing her toys or initiating activities. Although I suggest one play date at a time, she could invite a friend once every few weeks, which would give her good practice in socializing and would prevent her from having “left out” feelings.

You admitted that your daughter was with no one else during her first three years of life. That didn’t give her preparation for socializing but, of course, it’s not too late. Children thrive on gradually learning how to play and learn with other children, and your daughter’s school opportunity sounds ideal for both intellectual and social learning.