Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Please help- 1st meeting with GT Coordinator!

Thank you everyone! I am taking notes right now to take to my meeting at noon. I have to admit to you all that I was one of those people who thought a grade skip was out of the question. I guess all my 'teacher' friends spoke to so negatively about the concept that that belief snuck into the way I see it too (without any research). But after reading A Nation Deceived last night and looking at all the research studies I agree that there is more harm in not accelerating at all.

I've printed out the "what we don't learn' article- its wonderful!

If anyone is around reading at this time of the day, what is the answer to the issue of learning gaps? I just know that it'll come up and I don't have a response. Should I say that we'll take care of the gaps (with what...ALEKS? Self Study?) or that the gaps are not really something to be concerned with.

I am thinking of enrolling my ds10 at Mathnasium this summer so he can finish up next year's math curriculum. Math seems to be everyone's biggest concern with a grade skip. The nearest one is a half hour away- dh is trying to get me to see that we should just open our own lol (my ds7 is an entire other post but he hates doing any type of schoolwork but can do multiplication in his head).

Thanks a lot for all your replies. It really means a lot to have your input and not feel like I am boasting. As you all know, this stuff can give you a headache and keep you up all night.

Will let you know how it goes!

Nadia

ps- Grinity I am going to go to FRoG's next seminar just to make some contacts!

Quick answer re: learning gaps. I would tend to be enthusiastic about it, because it is an opportunity for them to teach your child something. In my experience, the gaps are quickly filled. If your teacher is on board, usually they can pretest and if they find gaps, they can quickly go over that area - no need to hold back because of gaps. Many times it's just lack of exposure, not that the kid just never "got" it.

Sorry, no time to reflect more on this. Good luck!

Good luck Nadia!
Wow! You go girl for your quick assimilation of new facts!

As for 'gaps' they are a beloved cherished gem for the gifted child who has never had to work at school before. Usually.

If the gaps turn out to be too much, then you can deal with them after they are found out to be a problem. That does happen sometimes, and is the reason I like there to be a year or two before high school when grades 'count' when the skips start to happen.

If the acceleration is a single year, there is almost never a gap problem. We had a little issue when DS finished 4th grade math and entered 7th grade pre-Algrbra in one leap. It was beyond what he could do, and we had to watch closely and course correct. In retropsect one has to wonder what we were thinking, but the accomidation came so late that everyone was worried with undershooting. But no harm was done.

Keep saying: It's all about flexibility. No one can really know what a child's potential is until we try and make some changes and see how things go. Everyone has to be flexible.

Good Luck,
Grinity

Hi Nadia,
There is a lot of overlap in the elementary years. I would suggest telling the school that your family is committed to taking extra time for learning,if need be, to make sure that your son is caught up in any areas needed (there probably won't be much to catch up on- you will be surprised) and I agree that you can tell the school that you see any gaps as an opportunity to challenge your son.
Also, we found it helpful to remind the school that every child deserves to learn something new every day!
There is so many learning tools online that you can certainly find everything you need to fill any gaps.
I wish you the best at this meeting.
Also, a piece of advice keep the focus on your son so when the focus strays (on their part) bring it back to your son has the right to learn too.
Good luck!

Hi everyone,

Reporting back from my meeting- I went in with all my notes, test scores, talking points. Met with who I thought was the GT Coordinator at the middle school, but she is a teacher also. She teaches the GT literacy class and there is also a GT Math class. She said within those classes there are different levels, for example the math class can be working anywhere from 1 to 2 grade levels ahead (ds10 will be in 6th grade). I asked her what happens if that isn't enough of a challenge- she replied that they also have 8th graders who go to the high school for math class (it's pretty close by). She then said that she credits herself for a lot of the changes because in the past years they would have a child sitting in the back of the classroom doing work bc s/he 'knew it all' already. She said she said to admin "Hey, why not send this student to the high school for classes?" and they really resisted saying that it couldn't be done...but it was done.

She turned the subject around to talk about how a big focus of middle school is being organized and those types of skills (which ds is SEVERELY lacking in...) and I agreed but gently steered the conversation back to 'but he should still be challenged and learning'.

I showed her the EXPLORE test results but she also wanted to see the Otis Lennon test results as well as the IOWAS and some writing samples. At least she proactively asked me to send them in. At that school they use MAPS testing to figure out where students should be placed.

The big question that I didn't bring up was 'what if all your programs are not enough...have you sent a 6th grader to high school for math?" but I figured this was a good first meeting. I was just happy it wasn't all pullout.

Thanks to you all for educating me on the buzzwords bc they came up a lot in our conversation and it was nice not to have to ask her what they meant : )

Tell me what you think, I'm curious whether this meeting went well or if I'm deluded and they were just pacifying the crazy mama.

Nadia

Nadia,
I think that the meeting went well. The teacher is aware of LOG, and that is a minor miracle. The teacher knows what she wants to see in terms of scores, that's good too.

Did you get a chance to look at the text books for the gifted classes? It would be nice to see what the typical gifted 6th graders are doing, and what the +1 and +2 kids are doing.

As for organizational skills, good for you for steering the conversation back to 'he still needs to be growing' - you are so right. OTOH, now is a good time to ask yourself what kind of college experience you think would be best for you child, and what the expectations are for kids who go that route, in terms of grades.

Let's say that you are hoping to send your DS off to the Flagship State University Honor's program when the time is right. If that program is looking for 'straight A' kids, then you are in the unpleasant and delicate position of asking yourself if your son has the organizational skills to really get an A in an Honors High School class next year. If yes, then no problem, but some kids, no matter how gifted, really need those years to mature into students who can 'crank it out' and 'do school.' So if your 6th grader goes to do math at the high school, it's good to know how the grades show up on the high school transcript.

So it can be a tricky balance, at least it was in my house, KWIM?
love and More love,
Grinity

psssssssst Nadia.. I sent you a private message.. and wuld love to go with to the frogs seminar...

Nadia,

It sounds like it went quite well. The mere fact they have done some of this in the past, bodes well for you. No it may not be perfect, but at least you are not starting from scratch with the educational part of advocacy.

Cat

Hi Nadia,
It sounds like a good first meeting - good job! I agree with other posters that checking out their text books would be a good idea.
PS Good for you for keeping the focus on your son- that is what these meetings are about. : )