Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums THINKING BIG About Gifted Education The Ultimate Small Victory Thread

I was thinking that it might be a nice idea to create a thread devoted to small victories. Many of us write about frustrations with schools and our advocacy struggles, and I think it would be good to have a place where we can catalogue stuff that worked out.

I'll start.

DS11 had to change schools this year when his old school moved far away. The old school was wonderful in many ways, as it was run by a giftie who hired very capable teachers. Last year in 7th grade, DS finished half of a high school geometry course and did very well in it.

This year, his new school put him in a slow-moving geometry course. They just finished Chapter 2 [out of 12] on Friday, 2.5 months into the school year! It looks like they won't finish the course this year ---- they didn't finish the algebra course last year and had to go over square roots in August, which is one reason why the class is so far behind. DS was going nuts.

I had been trying to get an appropriate math placement for DS since the summer with little luck. I had a talk with him ten days ago, and suggested that HE say something. I told him that the message would probably carry more weight if it came from him instead of a person who could be seen as a pushy mom.

Well, he said something the next day and they agreed to let him study independently. He's thrilled. In one week, he finished reviewing all the material he did last year and started on a new chapter, and he's finally happy in math class again. I'm proud of him for standing up for himself, and for doing it in such a way that the adults listened to him.

Any other stories?

I got my DD8 to tell the counselor HERSELF that she is totally unhappy at her school and she wants to leave. That is actually HUGE for her.

We left that same day (Friday) and couldn't be happier!

Last year the combination of kindergarten and first was very challenging for my son. I had pretty much given up hope by the end of the year that anything other than homeschooling could work for him. However, he's going between first and second this year, and he's doing well. Although there isn't really an academic challenge, he finds second more interesting academically and has fun with his first grade buddies at lunch and recess. He is much less anxious than last year. He's enjoying school, reading books he loves for fun at night, and fascinated with the piano lessons he recently began. I know at some point I will probably need to push for some type of academic challenge to happen at school, but after a stressful year last year, I'm enjoying seeing him in a happy place in life.

2gift and lynn,

That's great!

I think that learning to speak up (and when to do so) is a wonderful lesson for kids to learn.

I also agree that second grade is more interesting than first; primarily because the kids read real stories and do a bit of science. Even though the level may be an underchallenge, when the story is new, it can at least be fun to read.

This is great!

My DS7 had been having a terrible time getting started on homework (the majority of which is reading & writing.) I finally wrote the teacher last week and asked her if there was anything special about the book she had assigned him, and if not, could he choose his own book? She apparently talked to him that day and asked him if he'd like to choose another book for homework and he said yes, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. So she let him switch to that! He did 3 nights of homework in one evening. HORAAY

Butter has been home on "contract" all week and it's going well. Today though, she did a math worksheet totally on her own! Not impressed? Well, just know that this included BOTH her nemesis, "explain how you got the answer" and "Write a word problem". That is HUGE for her and I am SO PROUD of her!

I wonder if removing the stress of school makes it easier for her to do things she doesn't like, such as showing her work.

Keep us posted on how you're both doing!

DDalmost 4 was able to tell me she wanted to be good in the middle of a screaming fit/timeout/meltdown disaster last night for the first time ever. We've been working on her telling us her feelings rather than lashing out when she is upset about something. I was so proud of her because it allowed me to calm her down more quickly and easily.

Sounds like more of a medium victory to me. That's great that a little kid can be so self-aware....

I have been wanting to share my story because like many others we have had to work and fight so hard to get my son challenged. We started last September with a request to have him tested to understand exactly where he was at. Of course nobody really wanted to share or cooperate with this request even though I believe by the State of Ohio they must do this if requested. After much push we were able to have him tested. Of course the test results came back good but there was a high discrepancy between the sub categories on the IQ test which made the results less meaningful. The next step was requesting that he be accelerated by one grade level in Math. We decided to just do Math because we felt for the most part he could continue to be challenged independently in reading my increasing the book levels as we went along.

There was a committee formed and 3 meetings along with evaluations from his current teachers. We new we were up against something because as far as we know our school had not done this before or at least not since the current principle had been in the school. We don't think much has been done at the district level at the lower age groups at all. Of course the evaluation came back that he was a borderline case although they said many of the questions on the Iowa identification for acceleration were geared toward older children. They didn't want to do it. Never giving us a good reason except they didn't think it was good for children to be accelerated. The gap statement was mentioned. I had read the Nation Deceived so I was very prepared to speak to much of what they brought up. In the end the principle could tell we weren't going to back down and said we could do it. Although I am positive that she thought we would do for less then a month and move him back.

We are now more then 1/2 way through the first year of my second grader going to 3rd grade math and it has been a HUGE success. He hit the ground running day 1 of his class. He is now at the very top of his accelerated class. The teachers have been so supportive that they made this work. Everything they are telling the principle is positive so she can't back out. The teacher has told me multiple times that my son impresses her everyday. She is even giving him 3rd grade enrichment work. He is so engaged this year and LOVES school. He was so bored last year and it is so nice to see him excited about Math and learning again.

The kicker is then the principle implied that next year enrichment would be available and that should work for him. However the issue would be that that meant he would have to take 3rd grade math again which was absolutely ridiculous and total opposite of what he needed. Once again I was very clear how that didn't make sense and she has agreed that if he continues doing well like he is he can continue to 4th grade math next year. I believe she thought this would go away and when it didn't she was unsure how to get out of it.

That is my story. Just remember to keep after what you believe in. Once you see the results you will realize how worth it it was.

EJ (6-kinder) asked his teacher for harder math work. He told her it was way too easy!

My 13-year-old son who has SPD and used to be distracted by clothing tags has worked up to wearing a painful scoliosis brace 14 hours a day and it has not stopped him from learning. He has a better attitude about this than I ever though possible for a kid with sensory issues. His intelligence and ability to research his options concerning the medical issues have helped him come to terms with the difficult physical challenges while he is in the brace. He has had to deal with a lot of pain and setbacks for the last few years and is not able to go out and enjoy doing things that most kids his age can do for at least the next few years. It threatens to take away his ability to do the one thing that he enjoyed doing in our small town--musical theater. But he is able to see that it could be much worse. He enjoys being able to learn as much as he wants to learn via the internet.

We are getting somewhere!! DS is now receiving a daily math pull out! he calls it "hallway math". This came from the gifted teacher (gifted services start in second grade and ds is in kinder).

Good morning!
I just wanted to touch base about the enrichment activities or work that will be provided for ds. I took ds's current RIT scores from his MAP tests and found the skills and concepts to develop and introduce to bring him to the next level. We will work on one goal strand at a time. I am starting with number sense and providing concepts and activities that deal with place value up 100,000, expanded and standard forms, fractional sets of a whole, etc. I hope that this will help ds obtain more success in math. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.


C A
GERT

DS 5 received a "you did great research. Your handwriting is wonderful" on last weeks homework assignment. The assignment was accomplished with only a bit of sighing, resisting and stalling. He slightly resembled a pufferfish after reading her comments, the most complementary of his handwriting ever, he was so proud. And we lavished him with how proud we are of how hard he is working at it. Quite a moment.

Irony: got the comment right after filling out the paperwork to have him evaluated for OT!

DeHe

I don't really know where to put this, but I feel like finally being on the same page with DH about DS2 is a small victory for our family. DH just had his "our son sure was/is different" aha! moment this week. We were hanging out with another family with a young child the other day and later DH told me, "That was more what I imagined when I thought of having kids. I expected it to be more like that."

It's as if we bought tickets for the merry-go-round but ended up on an endless roller coaster instead. DH had his eyes closed and was trying to convince himself that we were actually on the merry-go-round even though it didn't feel like it. It's nice for him to finally realize that we are on a different ride all together.

Somerdai - I know what you mean. I feel like my DH is finally coming around as well.

At our IEP meeting this year the school agreed to allow DS12 move ahead in Math and Science placements for next year. After our meeting, they started backing down from the Science placement. I believe some of it had to due with the High School guidance counselor. She clearly was not on board with any of our plans despite some of them already being approved by the principal. She kept going on and on about his age, what was the hurry, it's never been done before, this is the class for our top students, on and on …yada yada ya. She suggested DS could skip 8th grade Science if he took Biology in 8th grade but then would have to repeat it in 9th to get the Honors track. WHAT??? In her infinite wisdom, she decided to take DH and I down to the office of the head of the Science Dept. Her plan was to have the Dept. Head to "explain" to us "the moronic parents" why DS12 could not be in Honors Biology as 8th grader. The Head of the Science Dept. took one look at his ACT scores and said,"if he can test out of it I have no problem with it."

He took the test yesterday. He out scored the 8th and 9th graders trying to get into Honors Biology!!! HA! We definitively have Honors Biology and Honors Algebra 2 next year!!!

DD8's excellent public school teacher became so attached to her gifted/high achieving 3rd grade class that when the 4th grade gifted teacher DD was supposed to have announced his retirement, DD's teacher stepped up to the plate and asked to teach the 4th grade class. So in 4th grade DD gets the same great friends in class, and the same great teacher...

I doubt my e-mail to the principal had much influence, but it sure feels nice to be in a school where the principal and some of the teachers 'get it'.

Update: Sigh...found out yesterday that the district doesn't allow a teacher to teach the same students three years in a row, so DD is going to end up with a different 4th grade teacher with apparently no gifted teaching credentials. Here we go again...

Jtooit

It is so great to hear this! I understand so well how frustrating it can be with constantly advocating for your child to be challeneged and having teachers, and admin not objective or open to things. So glad to hear the teacher spoke up and gave it a shot!!

WooHOO!!! After nearly ten (yes, ten, count them... ten) weeks of waiting, we are the proud possessors of a Letter of Approval for Accommodations from the College Board!!

DD will be able to take breaks as needed with the clock stopped (which means that she'll be tested with just her in a room with a proctor!!) and she's got official authorization to keep medications with her at all times. (WHew!!!)

Hurray!

My DD can take the PSAT in the fall and hopefully make it really count!!

Our public schools have crazy age/grade rules and after many phone calls and meetings we are going to be able to get academic testing done before school starts yaaaay! Hopefully we can get things settled by the 2nd week of school... That will be the big victory =].

Congrats to everyone else and your children on your progress! Each step is a small sigh of relief. Hoping for no backward steps for all of us!