Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Elementary School 2nd/3rd Grade 2011-2012

lucouno, I hope you get some answers and they come up with a better plan for your DS soon!! I am sure that is quite frustrating! the more indepth adding and subtracting is quite annoying to you I am sure. I am all for enrichment and horizontal learning as well...but more when you are at the right level not several years behind. I am not sure why it is taking them that long to come up with a plan for him. Waiting until December 1st? That's just crazy!

Our DS7 is in 3rd and they have him go to 5th for math (because the school only goes up to 5th grade). In the class he also does a computer program and is finishing up 7th grade on that program. I go back and forth about what is best because while I would rather him be in a class with kids, I also realize that his pace is faster than one grade a year. So I am not sure if that is the answer either. Last year in 2nd he went to a 4th grade class but they told me he completed 5th grade that year too so I am confused about the repetition. He is doing fine in 5th grade now, but it's annoying because he isn't learning anything really. I guess we will see what they say at his conference coming up next week. Regarding online programs our DS7 enjoys khan academy...but it's not really a curriculum. We also did EPGY and that was good too.

Good luck to you!

Sounds great! Yay for DD! I hear you about the focus being emotional and social....that is typically what comes up at our conferences too. Thankfully this has been getting better but it is still the one area in which there is room for growth.

shellymos, that sounds like a dream arrangement compared to ours. It doesn't make much sense for your son to sit in a fifth grade class if he's not doing the normal fifth grade work, but at least he has the in-class computer program to stretch himself a bit more (what is it, btw? we have to evaluate a few this month).

What you say about the faster pace seems to be the hardest thing for some of the administrators to understand. It does unfortunately impose a set of tradeoffs in normal schooling situations, that can only be resolved perfectly by appropriately-paced instruction with similarly fast-paced learners at a similar knowledge level in each subject. I can only dream about some of the gifted schools I've read about with high entry requirements.

I agree about Khan Academy. We use it for learning about astronomy, etc. and I know it has some math, but it's not the best "spine", as they say.

I totally agree and am very thankful for our school's willingness to think outside the box and allow him to even have a full grade skip and go 2 more grades up for math. Plus they give him 5th grade ELA and spelling in his 3rd grade class. Still below his level but a great start! I really can't complain and he is not complaining at all. They have a math program they use with kids called successmaker through Pearsons. I think they use it with all the kids, but DS seems to use it more. He is almost at 8th grade level though and it only goes up to 8th so not sure what to do after that. We will be discussing it at our conference hopefully!

We had conferences earlier this week, and DD8 is doing well in math. She's enjoying her weekly GT pullout and wishes it was every day. She's also reading above grade level. Her writing isn't so good, but we're working on it.

(Sorry for being incommunicado for a while. I like this site and get a lot of valuable info here; it's just been one emergency after another lately. I'm worried that I may now have to look elsewhere when I wish to purchase handbags, SPAM, or MBT shoes, but there are still plenty of pluses that keep me coming back.)

We had another TAT meeting. Nobody had spoken to the district math consultant yet. A suggestion was made to give DS more breadth of knowledge by doing projects, perhaps having him do reports, etc.; it was more of the same, and it didn't seem like any progress had been made. We'd reviewed four online programs at the suggestion of the team, including EPGY and ALEKS, and presented our findings, but the principal said that they would prefer to use something called Odyssey Math. I afterward checked this out, and it seems to present info in an overly cutesy way. Though it is claimed to be able to be used as a primary resource, I wouldn't feel comfortable using it that way for several reasons, not least of which is that DS seems to really like having some sort of textbook to flip through. A follow-up meeting was scheduled for a month later.

We've now followed up and requested either a math pull-out to fourth (even this would not be ideal IMHO because they use a somewhat poor curriculum here and we're in a Title I district, but it'd be better than what's happening now, which is fourth-grade worksheets at home and in math class), or that we be allowed to partially homeschool/afterschool, and send written work in to be done during math class to minimize time spent at home on this. He's shown the ability to go quickly through Singapore Math lessons with very good retention, and this would solve the pacing problem, so hopefully this scheme will work and be acceptable to everyone. If they don't go for either of these options, we may have to escalate to the superintendent and beyond, with the idea of being able to pick a school elsewhere in the state. We feel like we've been very patient, but we can't let things go on forever.

Another option is to consider homeschooling. DS already learns science out of interest at home, and essentially self-develops in reading and writing, so I'm pretty much unconcerned with those areas (and to the school's credit, they've done their best with language arts differentiation). I'm really loath to homeschool and lose the social aspects of school just to properly teach math, though. We may be more likely to just give up on advocating with the school, and afterschool math a bit more rigorously, though we're loath to do that too due to infringement on family time.

Social time at school in the elementary grades is pretty much limited to recess and lunch. Homeschool group park days, field trips, and community-based extracurricular sports and clubs can provide social opportunities. Depending on what the laws are like where you live, your child might even be allowed to continue with school "specials" (intramural sports, music, drama, clubs, etc.) while homeschooling.

It sounds like you are currently at least two-thirds of the way to homeschooling full-time - your child is self-developing in reading and language arts, and you are accelerating at home in science and math already. If you look at the amount of time and resources you are using trying to compensate for a poor academic fit with enrichment and instruction at home, and trying to convince the school to meet your child's needs, you are probably already expending more energy than it would take if you were actually just homeschooling and arranging afterschool and weekend playdates to help your son maintain contact with his friends.

One of the best things about homeschooling for our family is that it is just plain easier than trying to fight constantly to ensure that the education being provided is even close to appropriate, and if it becomes clear that our son needs more challenge, or a different instructional program, we can change it right away.

[/pro-homeschooling rant]

YES! Sometimes this is the main thing that keeps us home schooling!

We're considering home schooling, but it'd make things tough financially.

Update: he's to be moved to another second grade room that has several children who sound possibly MG, for whom the teacher is doing real differentiation. He will theoretically get work at his level and interaction with the teacher, though I'm unclear of what lessons he'll get or from what curriculum. Computer learning will happen via Odyssey Math and Khan Academy as well. They refused a skip to fourth most likely based on maturity concerns or their no-double-acceleration rule, but didn't say in the letter (his MAP scores and ability levels show that 4-5th is appropriate right now, and he's been doing 4th worksheets in school and for homework).

Our offer of partial homeschooling was rejected without any real discussion. This is a Title I district for math, and I think they're worried about how it might look.

The move to a teacher who does real differentiation, along with some other GT kids, sounds like an improvement. It must be very frustrating for your kiddo (and you too). That's too bad that they wouldn't even discuss the partial homeschooling. But with a new teacher, maybe there is new hope for at least some appropriate learning?

ETA - I haven't updated in awhile. I feel sort of guilty, because things are going really well for DS7 in 3rd at the HG school. The teacher is great at giving the kids challenging and fun materials. DS still complains about school, and wishes that it was never invented, but he has made many friends and I know he likes being with them at school. (I now understand that my DS will always complain about school unless it involved unlimited access to his choice of computer games.)