Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy What do we bring to school meeting?

Hi everyone,

We are starting the process of finding a school willing to help us with our DS4 (turning 4 on Monday). It got suggested to me in another one of my posts that we should bring "proof" of DS's advanced level. A great idea that I hadn't thought of. We all know no one believes a parent saying their child is gifted....:-) I am trying to advocate for him to jump into Kindergarten a year early (he has already been accelerated in his current school to PreK, would be a shame for him to have to re do it). Also I would like to see him subject accelerated in math and reading.

What would you experienced parents suggest to bring to the meetings?

I have print outs of DS's stories he writes off top of his head on the computer, the books he is currently reading, some math work sheets, hand written letters....any other ideas and tips of what to bring or what to say will be greatly appreciated.

Annie

One of the things I brought when we were in a similar situation was a letter from the preschool (in your case, pre-K) teacher going into a little bit of detail about both academic and social readiness for K and their thoughts that my child would do well going to K early.

Another thing that might be useful would be for you to get ahold of the district guidelines for skills readiness for K as well as curriculum goals for each grade level. Often, these can be found on the district's website. That way, you show knowledge of the curriculum and can show were your DS's skills lie within the curriculum.

Also, one thing that helped both me and the school was for my child to visit a K classroom at the school for a morning or afternoon to gauge whether your child has the ability to separate from you, listen to directions, engage himself appropriately during free time, and compare him to the other kids that are, admittedly, a year ahead in school. But, if he compares favorably, this can go a long way in alaying any fears.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

One other thing I think a few of us have found helpful is if both parents attend the meeting together. It's slightly harder for the school to discount you as "just a crazy parent" if there are two of you there and you're presenting a united front.

EXCELLENT ideas, thank you!

I will for sure have his teacher write a letter. She is somewhat aware of his advanced level. (Although she is still surprised when he will write a simple sentence not knowing he sits and writes "novels" on the computer....)

I will print out the KG curriculum ASAP. Although the schools we are visiting are private so they might say something like, our school is more advanced than that. Oh well then, bring it on...lol! (Won't say THAT of course....)

About the maturity. This is when I think we have an advantage since he WILL HAVE been with older kids for the full year. The teacher can vouch that he gets along very well with his classmates. He is a very mature kid, and like most of you know with gifted kids, he enjoys hanging out with adults much more than kids.

I am sure they will want to meet him. Might wait on this until we have an understanding from them about what he needs academically. He tends to be quiet and shy when first meeting new people.

Also, having DS attend a KG class is something I will bring up. That way they can see for themselves.

And both my husband and I are going to all meetings. Good point there. I am just not this nutty mom then....:-)