Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums THINKING BIG About Gifted Education What NOW?

My DD9 (gr 4) has been recently tested with the WISC-IV and scored 137 overall. She also received the WIAT-III test and scored into 12th grade for all LA areas and ranged between 6-8th grade for Math. Our small school does not really have a G&T program. We had her grade accelerated once years ago but she is still looking to be challenged. What can I do to help my child get her academic needs met? How does curriculum compacting work? Should I look into an IEP or ILP? I don't know what to do next and there is little guidance from the school. All ideas are welcome!

If she is currently 9 in 4th grade, was she on the older end for grade pre-skip? Both of my girls started 4th shortly before their 9th bds b/c they had those bds that put them on the younger end. My oldest also skipped 5th.

I mention this b/c it sounds like the one skip wasn't enough for your dd and, if she was on the older end for grade, that wouldn't be surprising given how able she is. Have you considered having her skip another grade or at least pursued subject acceleration?

Given that she's rather advanced in both LA and Math, I'd be kind of leaning toward considering another grade skip over subject acceleration b/c it sounds like she'd need to subject accelerate in multiple subjects anyway.

In re to curriculum compacting, that would enable her to do two years of a subject in one year. I've honestly never seen a school offer it for just one student or a small group, though. What I've seen happen is a school offer, say, a 5th grade math class that compacts the 5th & 6th grade curriculum into one year if they have a lot of students who can handle that pace. Those students would then go on to take 7th grade math the next year.

I would recommend looking into another grade skip.

My DD, with an IQ right around your DDs, skipped 2nd and later 6th grade. Next year (8th) she'll be taking 3 classes for high school credit (two of them at the HS, one at her middle school). Our daughters, while not quite at the profoundly gifted level, are highly gifted and learn MUCH faster than the material is presented at most schools. If your school does not have a great GT program, skipping might be the best way to keep her challenged.
-S.F.

We are in the same boat. My DD8 (birthday yesterday) in grade 3 and she is doing 5th-6th grade level Math using Khan academy in school. We had to advocate for a while to make that happens. The school suggested grade skipping (she skipped once to 1st grade) but we do not want to send our DD to college too soon.

So, we made radical decision. We are moving to another district that promotes Gifted educaton. So the half of the students from the class will be pulled every morning for accelerated Math and language arts in elementary school. Middle school has regular/ accelerated and Gifted Math curriculum and the school will recommend the kid to go to High school for subject accleration if needed. And my DD will get IB diplopma or up to 2 years dual credit during High School. I will be commuting 65 miles each way but I do not have to worry about their middle and High school anymore.

If you do not have a choice, grade skipping may be the way to go. Check your middle and High school to see if they have pre-AP and AP classes and if they do, ask DD to take those instead of skipping. Your DD will take PSAT in High School and if she skipped too much, her PSAT score may be not as high as it should be and she may miss out on National Merit Scholarship, etc...

Possibly, but the impact of being undereducated for years could be the same. My dd, who started 9th grade shortly before her 13th bd this year, is in the top few percent of her class and has won academic competitions and awards even when compared with grade peers although some of the others with whom she is being compared are two yrs or more older.

Maybe she would do better on tests like the SAT/ACT/PSAT if older but I'm not sure. Overall, it is still better for her to be accelerated b/c it is a closer academic fit than a lower grade would be. It is a consideration, but I wouldn't choose not to accelerate b/c it might cause test scores to be a bit lower than if the child was older for grade.

This is an interesting comment.

But PSAT scores are a function of IQ and mastery of a good basic curriculum.

With this in mind, if a kid loses interest in school due to a poor fit, would this then depress their scores?

IMHO it would Austin, at least assuming the child has lost interest in learning all together. Sometimes if a child is on the fence at school but you can keep the learning going at home to learn and prepare for these test I think it could be okay (in theory). But if they are getting dragged down with interest in learning and not working at home either, I could see it depressing their scores.