My son is in fourth grade at a local public school. Our district has no gifted programming whatsoever. He's not had much testing -- he did achieve scores in the 9th stanine across the board in a second grade CogAT -- but I suspect him of being in the HG range. We've gotten by up until now with engaged teachers who've done various sorts of differentiation, and I've done some enrichment outside of school.
(Every time I come here for advice I feel awkward because we haven't tested, so I end up asking for advice on how to find testing resources. But despite all that, I still don't feel like testing would add a lot of value for us in understanding him. I know his traits because I was a gifted child, and I know he needs more than what standard pedagogy offers. His second grade CogAT confirms he's got above-average ability, and that's enough for now, you know?)
Anyway, our current issue is that the work load is higher in fourth grade so it's been hard to add enrichment. And although we discussed differentiation at the fall teacher conference, we haven't seen much of a change.
This week my math-talented little guy was crying over his math homework AGAIN, stressing out because it was so tedious but he kept making simple typos that caused the computer-adaptive program to add MORE problems to the already-excessive amount of practice, so I promised him that I would explore some alternatives that I can present to his teacher at spring conference time in a few weeks.
So I'm wondering, what does math differentiation, subject acceleration, or other accommodation look like for your math-loving HG public school student?
My son is very very reluctant to consider accelerating into the fifth grade classroom for math time, and anyway it would be tough to coordinate and wouldn't help him very much since the pacing would still be all wrong. He's willing to consider individual tutoring (since I have a math/science degree I'd be taking that on, pulling him out for one-on-one work during math time,) but he is concerned that even this would stand out too much among his peers.
What other options can I consider and suggest?
