Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Help placing HG 5 year old twins ...

Hello everyone. I am new here but I am very happy to have found you. I am starting out on this incredible journey with two amazing HG kids and whew, do my husband and I ever need some straight-up advice!

Here's the situation: we couldn't get anyone to take us seriously at our local school system (supposed to be one of the best around! ha ha!!!) so we had our 5 year old son, CJ, evaluated independently in October. Another reason to evaluate is that our son has told us he "isn't learning anything new for the second year in a row." Through testing we learned that he is is indeed exceptional and is reading at an 8th grade level with the verbal portion or his brain (for a shorter way to put it) firing at the equivalent of a 14 year old. He is delayed in his fine motor and upper body gross motor skills. He is currently in K. Our plan for the moment is to stay the course at the K we're in and give him 3 days of OT to help bring the writing in balance.

For next year we obviously need a much better school. We live in Fairfield County, Connecticut. There are a host of schools that claim to tailor their program to GT but it is hard to separate the real ones from the "dabblers." We have the added pressure on us to have the school also work for CJ's twin sister TA. She's also HG by all informal accounts and will be tested next year. Plus, we do not want to seperate our twins by GRADE because we feel it would harm one or the other emotionally. We want them in different classrooms at the same school. We may be unrealistic but if there's a way to do it so they are both in first grade but getting what they need, we think that would be best. Sooooo ... we need the benefit of your good advice since we are just starting the schooling of these HG twins and we need any advice you may have about schools in our area ... we will do private but we would also consider moving towns. Thanks

I really think a skip to 1st grade is inconsequential. At least where I live, not much is done in kindergarten. Even though my son (who is 5) was able to do 2nd & 3rd grade stuff, a single grade skip has been terrific because he's developing nice handwriting, meeting older kids (he's a very young 5, there's an 8 yr old in his class), and learning quite a bit (surprisingly)--nouns, verbs, adjectives, synonyms, homonyms, antonyms, punctuation, etc.

Maybe see if both twins could skip, even without the documentation for your daughter. Sometimes the Iowa Acceleration Scale and in-school testing (STAR math & early literacy benchmarks) may be adequate to demonstrate mastery. Spend second semester in 1st grade and it gives you half a year to figure out what more to do.

My son spent 1st semester in 1st grade without an IEP in place (thanks to a brave principal) and even though he's the very youngest in the class, he's the top performer. In January, we switch him to a self-contained gifted class with 5 kids in K-2. My heart breaks because he's really enjoyed his 1st grade class, but I keep telling myself that it's better to give him opportunities to progress (the 1st grade math curriculum is stuff he was doing 2 yrs ago and in the new class he will be able to work at a more challenging level). I also didn't like that everyone in the class would tell him (and me, when I visited) how smart he was. "He's so smart--he's the smartest one in our class", over and over, and then I'd hear him reiterate it (yuck). I hope that having him in a class of his "peers" he'll understand that there are other smart kids out there and not to make a big deal of it, but to make something of it.

Hi and welcome! I came here not too long ago looking for the same thing and have found wonderful advice and support. I'm sure you'll find the same!

Cym: great advice! I agree, as my own 5 year old was accelerated into first grade, skipping kindergarten altogether, after the school saw the private test results. He, too, is the top performer in the class, in spite of being the youngest.

I don't have any info on schools in your area, but perhaps you could check on www.gifteddevelopment.com
This is Linda Silverman's website and I've heard it maintains a list of good schools that specialize in working with gifted kids. Also, I believe Trinity is from your area, and I'm sure she'll have some suggestions

Good luck in your search. You are on the right track with being here and advocating for your children. Hang in there and keep coming back for support/advice!

HG 5 year old twins! You must be exhausted!

I don't have any specific advice for your situation, but I can only imagine how difficult your circumstances are.

Most likely, your daughter is also gifted. In my experience, girls are not as obvious in their differences than young boys.

Good luck. I hope someone else can give you better advice regarding the best school in your area.

Emme,
Hello, and welcome! I have brother, 6 years my juniors who are fraternal twins, and so I have many warm memories of the anitcs they used to get into. I would urge you not to be so quick to decide to keep them apart during school, as they may be the only children around that they can relate to! Ideally they would be able to be seperate during part of the day, each doing what they love best at their own "Readiness Level."

I too have seen many parents "tricked" by their daughters into thinking that the girls are "less" gifted, in part because the females are usually more skilled at "fitting in" and "tuning in to other people." Huge generalizations I know, but it the shoe fits....

I would reccomend you read Dr. Deb Ruf's Losing Our Minds, Gifted Children left behind. This book addresses both the levels of giftedness and their various needs as well as the various types of schools that are availble. I also liked reading the "Picky Parents Guide" which addresses choosing a school for children of all academic abilities, so isn't specialized on "Gifted" but I would take what they offer with a grain of salt.

I know Fairfield County pretty well, so can give opinions on specific school if you want. When your son was evaluated, was it done locally? If so, the evaluator my have some school suggestions.

I can also speak very highly of Connecticut's gifted association, CAG! The saturday programs may be a fun way for your twins to do some enrichemnt and you to met some other Mothers, IRL (in real life) There is also a Fairfield Mother's of Multiples group that is very active and has wonderful tag sales.

Best Wishes,
Trinity