Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy should we accelerate @ school or continue @ home?

So, really long story short: my son is being accelerated from 2nd grade to 5th grade math. He is supposed to begin next week. I met with the 5th grade teacher today. She gave me about 100 reasons why it will not work. These include: the extensive writing requirements found in the 5th grade Everyday Math (sigh, I know) curriculum, the "adolescent talk" that goes on during math class, the fact that he will be a 7 year old among 10-11 year olds, the fact that he is partially homeschooled, the fact that he has to master timed tests and the various methods of multiplication.

Do we just pull out now and say, no thanks? Or do we go ahead and try it out for a few weeks? My chief concern is that if my son tries it, and fails miserably, will he be ok? Will I have allowed some kind of damage to happen to him that I could have avoided?

Thoughts from all of you wise ones out there please!

First, I don't think that your son will be damaged if he tries 5th grade math and it doesn't work out, provided that you don't leave him for months in the situation if it ends up turning toxic. Given that you are already thinking ahead about this, I don't think that will happen.

Who were the people involved in making this decision and were they supportive? If the principal was supportive of the move, perhaps you can talk, maybe informally, about your concerns with the 5th grade math teacher. Having that math teacher at least receptive to the idea is definitely preferable.

Do you sense that the teacher was downright hostile to the idea of your DS being in her math class, or is she just highly doubtful that it is going to work? She probably has never seen a child like yours before and can't imagine that this placement could actually work, but it could be an opportunity for her eyes to be opened. I know that happened with my DD. The teachers didn't think the acceleration would work, but within a few weeks their minds changed and, not only that, the minds of many of the teachers in the school were opened up a bit to the possibilities.

About EDM, I don't think that the writing requirements are extensive at any level, including 5th grade. Virtually all the homework is worksheets on which you don't even have to write the units down. This would not be a concern of mine at all.

As far as adolescent talk, sure, it might happen. Hopefully it won't happen a lot since your DS is only going to be in there for math and, hopefully, the kids will be focused on math and not chatting. Still, even if it does come up, it is a good opportunity for you to open lines of communication with your DS and have discussions about how your family feels about certain topics. It's not like you are dropping him on an island with preteens and leaving him to his own devices!

And finally, if your DS is ready to be accelerated three grades in math, you should have no doubt that he has the mental capacity to master all the various methods of multiplication. He is probably even smart enough to realize how silly it is to have to solve the same multiplication problem three different ways!

Make sure the teacher doesn't make it not work.

Who were the people involved in making this decision and were they supportive? If the principal was supportive of the move, perhaps you can talk, maybe informally, about your concerns with the 5th grade math teacher. Having that math teacher at least receptive to the idea is definitely preferable.


The people involved were DS's tester (psych who specializes in gifted and 2E), principal is supportive (mainly because she thinks we will stop complaining) and us (me and DH). The teacher is not hostile...just a little incredulous that this will work.

And finally, if your DS is ready to be accelerated three grades in math, you should have no doubt that he has the mental capacity to master all the various methods of multiplication. He is probably even smart enough to realize how silly it is to have to solve the same multiplication problem three different ways! smile

DS learned the various methods of multiplication last year. Don't worry - he already knows that it's ridiculous and refuses to do any other way than the way he has already mastered. I'm concerned that when he refuses to do the different ways, that the teacher is going to label this a "failure".

This is great. I think that DS will rise to the "challenge". The challenge is not the math. It's all the other stuff. Really the only reason that he is in 5th grade math at school is because this is the highest grade in the school. (Side note, a local private school has offered to allow him to go there for 6th grade math. The timing is bad, so we aren't doing it.)

We don't care about grades at all. This is something the school doesn't understand. When the teacher remarked that she didn't know how to give him a math grade given the crazy logistics, I told her not to worry about it. We don't care if he doesn't get any grade. She didn't understand that.

THIS is what I am worried about. I think there are a lot of teachers who are secretly hoping that he will fail.

DD8 skipped a full grade against the school's wishes, and we saw evidence of attempted sabotage on the school's part when she began the year at the right grade level. Every problem that came up, they wanted to pin on the grade skip, as a "See, I told you so" exercise.

Given that this is a more dramatic change for your DS, and that the teacher expects it to fail, I would expect to see more of this in your case.

Don't get me started on Everyday Math.

As for adolescent talk, I've actually heard dumber excuses from a teaching professional, who bewilderingly worried about DD's mental state if her classmates grew breasts before her. In your case, would assure the teacher that my child is not being raised in a bubble, and regularly interacts with members of all age groups.

At some level, your DS will be doubting himself, as well, and getting feedback from the teacher that fuels his doubt will make it tougher. He'll need a lot of support at home to power through that doubt.

DD8 has finished her first quarter, and done very well, so it seems those doubts are melting away, and she's being accepted as a 4th grader.

As for adolescent talk, I've actually heard dumber excuses from a teaching professional, who bewilderingly worried about DD's mental state if her classmates grew breasts before her.

OK, I just laughed out loud at this! WOW! When this teacher talked to me this morning about "adolescent talk" - she said, "you know some of them might know a little bit about the birds and bees". I let her know that DS knows all about human reproduction actually. He would be happy to clarify things for the other students if they aren't clear about how it works. I gave her a wink of course, but DS would actually be surprised if 5th graders DIDN'T know about reproduction because he's in 2nd grade and knows exactly how it works - the science part of it.

Thanks, Dude for the rest of your feedback. I will be sure to give him extra mental support.

My main concern would be the teacher - although I don't know the teacher (and I suspect you don't really know her either). What you're hearing might be a teacher who is convinced this isn't going to work, or it could simply be a teacher who states all the reasons that could be issues up front and then falls in love with your ds and he'll have a wonderful experience and you'll never hear another potential negative statement again. My ds has had a teacher with a personality like that - when ds wanted to try something new and challenging she will spill out all the reasons it might not work - it would sound really intimidating and negative (to me) but not to dh - he was used to her style from being in her classroom, and he listened to what she had to say, and then moved forward - it was her way of preparing him for challenges he might face, rather than intended to discourage.


I don't understand that at all, unless there are different grading systems for early elementary and 5th grade (like O/S/etc vs A/B/C)?

polarbear

I agree that the worries over kids developing breasts or having knowledge of the birds and bees aren't reasons to think through the age difference, but there are things that I would think through re the age split, based both on what other parents I know have experienced with this particular set of age combinations as well as what I have seen in my own children's classes and based on what we're living through with a 6th grader who was a 5th grade girl last year. Please know, none of this would stop me from placing my 2nd grader in a 5th grade math class for one period a day - I would just want to be aware of it going in. I think the potential issues that could arise would be much more likely to occur in a topic-driven discussion based class like social studies, for example, where kids were spending less time listening to having a lesson explained followed by working on math problems. (OTOH, this is EM, so um, all bets are off - it might all be project-based and all about teams working together lol... ooops... I'm diverging....) Anyway, back to the topic, a class of 5th graders is going to have some kids who are going through puberty or who are on the verge. Puberty isn't all about growing breasts - it's a lot about changes in hormones, changes in what kids are thinking about and find fun to talk about etc. So there can be a lot of *emotion* that comes into the classroom.

Re the teacher's concern about writing demands and EM, in our school district EM required a *ton* of explain your work as well as "do this problem three different ways and explain all of them". While I would have no concerns about sending my child to an upper-grade classroom to be appropriately challenged in math, I'm not entirely sure it's worth the time with an EM math or similar curriculum, and especially if your ds will be at this same school again next year and still unable to attend a higher-than-5th grade level math class. When you look past 5th grade math in 2nd grade, what happens in 3rd grade? Is he eventually going to have to be doing independent math study during the school day? If so, would it be better just to go there now?

polarbear

^This!

Go for it. Your child might surprise you by not having any of the problems that you ar worried about. Better to take this opportunity than to worry about hypothetical problems. You know, a mind is a terrible thing to waste and all that ...
Personally, my son (6 year old) is in an educational environment with 10-12 year olds 3 times a week for enrichment and he thrives there and enjoys it. It is like taking him to Disneyland when it is time for those classes - he did fail in the beginning due of lack of comprehension because the teacher was not used to teaching a 6 year old. But after the teacher adjusted his style of teaching there has been no looking back. We do not regret it and we are happy to have given him this opportunity.

ETA: went back to read that your son will only be in math with the older kids. So, he has plenty of opportunity to spend recess, lunch, activities etc with his peers.

So there can be a lot of *emotion* that comes into the classroom.

I don't like to talk about specifics of our family here - just to keep us a bit more anonymous. But with regard to the "emotion" concern - we have a 14 year old girl who lives in our house. DS is all too familiar with wild out-of-control emotion.

They don't really get formal grades in K-4. In 5th grade they start to get real grades. I could care less about any grade really. I just want to hear that DS is: learning, not too bored, being stretched and generally happy.

I would be worried if "adolescent talk" were going on during the maths lesson but I don't think it would harm your son.

My son is accelerated three grades in math. He was homeschooled until the the beginning of last year and then went to a small private school. At the time he was 5th grade age but took all 6th/7th grade classes (it was a combined class) and Algebra I, which had kids ranging in age from 12-16 (and he was 10). He had no trouble with the material or the kids and ended up being one of the top students in the class. He has a brother who is 6 years older, so he is used to teenagers, which I am sure helped.

However, even though he is still attending the same school, we have decided to homeschool math from now on. The level that the classes are taught to (procedural understanding only--"here is an example, follow it" type of teaching) is not appropriate for a gifted student. Nor is the pace--last year they spent a whole semester on the first three chapters of an 11 chapter book (and the first two chapters were review!).

All of this is to say that if your son is that advanced in math and you're already homeschooling some subjects, I don't think that placement in a regular ed math classroom (as opposed to a gifted classroom) three grades up is the best answer. And that they're using Everyday Math makes it worse. Unless you're planning to use the classroom experience as supplemental while you do the primary teaching at home using a solid program (like Singapore math or AoPS), I would pass on this opportunity.

All of this is to say that if your son is that advanced in math and you're already homeschooling some subjects, I don't think that placement in a regular ed math classroom (as opposed to a gifted classroom) three grades up is the best answer. And that they're using Everyday Math makes it worse. Unless you're planning to use the classroom experience as supplemental while you do the primary teaching at home using a solid program (like Singapore math or AoPS), I would pass on this opportunity.

We are using this class as a supplement to what we are doing at home. Basically our situation is: DS does not want to homeschool full time. We are looking for ways to make his mornings at school a little more interesting. He has all specials and math in the mornings. The afternoons he comes home. Up until now, I was sending in math work for him to work on by himself during math time. He strongly preferred to work with other children, so we were looking for a way to do that. We are also hoping to give him a bit of a "resting" point as he tears through the curriculum at lightning speed. At his current rate, he will doing algebra probably next year, so we are looking at this 5th grade math class as a way to make sure he's really got all of his gaps filled. He will NOT continue with this group next year. And this class will stop learning topics in April as they spend a month preparing for state test review. So, we are looking at about 6 months with this class.

If you have him in school for social reasons and he's doing math with you at home then I'd keep him with the younger kids. I don't think that 5th grade Everyday Math is going to fill any holes if he's going to be ready for algebra next year--you'd need 7th grade math/prealgebra for that.

There are 3 to 4 people born every second. There are people of all ages out there in the world. Kids know that. There's no reason not to be in a room with people of different ages.

But the difference here is that the OP's son will be the only one of a different age.

I tend to agree with Kai.

I'd make a list of what you WANT your child to get out of: a) school in general, b) math class (at school) in particular.

Then look at placement options available, and list the pro's and con's of each.

I'm guessing that there are relatively few things about this placement that make it superior to the non-accelerated version.

Kai has done a great job pointing out some of those issues-- that the instructional pace WON'T be suitable for a PG learner anyway, even if it is more challenging material, that the EDM curriculum is likely to be frustrating for all, etc.

I'd also like to point out something that we've found to be more damaging than the more obvious social issues that teachers/administrators tend to think about and caution parents about. My DD found that being with academic "peers" who were 3-7 years older than herself, in a non-differentiated setting, actually made her feel LONELY and ALIEN. MORE lonely and alien than a non-differentiated setting with agemates did. Of course, it wound up (for us, anyway) still being a matter of least-worst placement, but we did shift things into the higher "honors" track as often as we could... which helped, but didn't entirely eliminate the problem.

Why? Well, I don't know for sure, but the explanations that DD has given indicate that she was able to process her differences from agemates as "I'm older in my brain development." Until she encountered those older peers, and then it became painfully obvious that THEY aren't her peers either. Not really. She still has to hide a great deal of her ability on a daily basis for social reasons. Ergo, she is a singularity, belonging nowhere.

This is a powerful reason, IMO, to not place a child into a non-differentiated and multiply accelerated environment. It's neither intellectually nurturing nor socially so, all too often. The only thing that my DD has gotten out of it (again, generalizing) is being treated like everyone's favorite sideshow or a weird kid sister. She puts up with that rather well, but only a fool confuses being treated like a kid sister with genuine friendship. HG+ kids are nobody's fools, generally speaking. This is most painful in early adolescence.

HTH.

This has been our experience as well. My son is now accelerated two whole grades and it's still not enough. I am currently trying to figure out if he has any real friends in this placement or if they're just politely tolerating him.

Social/emotional things that have affected our DS (placed 2 grades ahead in math, which is not enough):

--Expectations for organizational skills are much higher for the older kids; DS is truly expected to have those skills in place, even though he cannot possibly meet that expectation. That he does not have the note-taking skills and is still working on the skill of showing work for problems he does successfully in his head does affect his grade; this mystifies him.

--We have had several bouts of "circus kid"-- older kids coming up to him and asking him to show off by giving him some hard (to them) math problem to solve in his head. IMO this is not socially good for DS (or for the older kids). The math teacher is perhaps unaware that this kind of treatment is an issue.

--DS also finds it appealing to think about how "smart" he is (not something we emphasize at home). I do not really want his sense of his human value tied to his math skills. That the 8th graders are struggling when he is kind of bored is not helpful in this regard; but there are good reasons not to accelerate him further (to the point where the work would actually be difficult, assuming there is such a point). It would be much nicer if there were a gifted math section, but the school does not offer this.

All that said, it is still the least-worst placement we can find, and I'm not sorry we did it-- it just requires continued attention to the details. (No matter where he was, he would require this.)

DeeDee

You guys are scaring me. I can't wrap my head around accelerating my ds another grade. Hoping that one and done is enough for him.

I get scared every time I read one of these threads. The reality for my son is that he will probably get zero skips and precious little else unless I can come up with a way to home school. His teacher this year says he needs extension but the bit of paper saying he is gifted doesn't mean anything. He gets to do the harder stuff with one girl after the easy stuff and is getting quite big headed about his maths ability (although he does admit he is not the best always - he will say y did this better or x got more right in this test). I have got him into the private one day a week differentiation programme (with a big subsidy) and the teacher says as will enjoy it but he is not convinced it is worthwhile.

Eta. I got Sidetracked. As a previous poster said the teacher might be a "think of all the problems and then get on with it" kind of person - I am and it can really annoy people. Just keep an eye on things and have a plan B.

I would keep my DD with age-mates too if it is for social purposes. It's one thing to be the youngest in a multiple-age setting but another thing to be a Doogie Howser among 5th graders. If I had to do it because I cannot homeschool or cannot find an appropriate 1-6 open Montessori classroom setting, then I might consider it but it won't be my favorite solution.

To give you another perspective, our DS is also a (young) second grader and is now in fourth grade for math only. It's working well. The teacher was supportive but a bit concerned about how he would fare given the maturity differences, etc. She's fully supportive after about a month of this acceleration. He enjoys the class, although he still gets frustrated with some of the methods (lots of drawing out diagrams to show how the numbers work, etc.) when he knows the answers in his head or through traditional steps. According to the teacher (confirmed by DS, though not in as much detail), one of the girls watches out for him and he gets along very well with the other students. He's helped some of them with some concepts and they think that's cool.

On the other hand, at the start of the year, he was in third grade math with a less supportive teacher and wasn't nearly as happy about being in that class. (Liked the kids, complained a lot about the work/homework.)

The two teachers my son was grade skipped to were given no heads up at all about the move...he just suddenly was placed in their room(s) one day. He had to prove himself and he has. The teachers didn't have time to tell me the possible negatives and thankfully he hasn't given them any reason to be negative about the skip after the fact.

Writing is hard for him but all the kids in the class have an area that they need to work on...if not what would be the point?

Here are my two cents:

We went through something similar with DS last spring, when he was in 2nd grade. We had been asking for math acceleration since the spring of 1st grade, and a year later (after the school tested him) we finally got it. He was placed in a 4th grade "gifted" class for math.

It did not work, for many reasons:

-The change didn't happen until the end of March, so he was essentially walking into the end of a class, and had numerous gaps.

-All the kids in the class were 2 years older. His new classmates apparently doted on him (he's so cute! he's so smart!) But this set up expectations for DS that he would instantly understand and excel at what was being taught. He didn't.

-Because he had never been in a math class (or probably any other class) where he didn't already know the material, he was highly embarrassed and freaked out.

The end result was that he was asked to leave the 4th grade class (he started goofing off a lot), and he was placed in a 3rd grade math class. This wasn't much better, but this time because he already knew all of the material, so was bored.

End result: we wound up pulling him out of school completely. (Not just because of math, it was for a variety of reasons. But the math class experiment showed us that school was not going to work out.)

I feel that it's okay for kids to fail; it's a natural and healthy process. But in this case I think DS was almost set up to fail, since the circumstances were far from ideal. I'm still happy that we tried, since it could have worked out really well.

I appreciate everyone's input. DH and I have thought about it. We are going to let DS try it for a few weeks - he really wants to give it a shot. We've been up front with him about some of the things that may be difficult for him but he still wants to give it a shot. He knows that if it's doesn't work, we will try something else. As a parent, this makes it easier - that he wants to experiment with an unknown situation in a (relatively) safe place.

I will keep a very sharp eye on things and see how it goes. My gut says that it will be ok but he will be bored rather quickly (he has already done the homework for the class and he said, "THIS is what they are doing in 5th grade? When does it get hard?") We have an out for the situation (actually more than 1), so knowing that DS won't be DAMAGED even if he fails, makes this much easier to try. Thanks again for all the input! I couldn't do this advocacy alone!

DS7 is going up to 5th grade math (like you only because it is the highest grade in the school) and we had a reluctant teacher to start. At conferences, that same teacher was singing his praises. Saying how well he fit in, and how impressed he was at his ability to fail and learn from it (unlike most gifted kids he encounters in the 5th grade.) There doesn't seem to be too much adolescent talk during math class and the kids have accepted him as one of the class. He has had a few struggles with the organization needed but he is learning to do it.

I think there are social reasons against for doing this class. He can try out his skills at explaining math to the struggling older students.

I didn't mean to scare anyone. Our DS is much happier accelerated in math than he ever was at grade level, and in some ways it's good for him socially (as well as challenging socially).

It's just that any placement won't fit perfectly, and it's best to go into it knowing that so you're ready to see where advocacy needs to happen next.

DeeDee

A year ago I would have been scared too. It's taken me a while to really understand that my son has special learning needs. If we did nothing to intervene, it would have been disastrous for him. He was careening toward misery at school, despite being such an easy going kid.

The homeschooling option for us has saved us. Even though we only do it part time now, it has meant that my son doesn't have to do a full grade skip now. (Our tester actually recommended a full double skip now. She actually told us it would be "easy" for him to move up two full grades. She didn't recommend three because the executive functions are not quite there.)

Exactly-- and the issue that I pointed out is one that most educators don't see coming, either.

KnittingMama's post hints at this, too. My DD really struggles when she doesn't already know the course material, and tends to have minor freakouts when she has to learn. Luckily we've gotten a little bit of that dealt with prior to having her leave secondary. Hopefully it's enough.

A brief update. I got an email a couple of days ago from the 5th grade math teacher. She would like a big meeting with the principal and a few other people. The bottom line is: DS7 is finding the work challenging and is making an adjustment to the higher work level. He is - gasp - just barely struggling with the first 5-10 mins of each class.

The teacher is concerned because she has only heard the following about DS - that nothing is a struggle for him and he breezes through everything. So, the fact that he takes the first 10 mins of class to actually stop and learn something is evidence that it's a "tough" adjustment for him. When I responded in the email that: DS LOVES the class and we (his parents) are THRILLED to find out that something is causing him to stop and learn - for 10 mins! - per day, the response from the teacher is that they assumed that 5th grade would be just as easy for him as 2nd grade. The goal of the meeting is to figure out if DS should continue in 5th grade. After reading the email, I turned and asked DS about 5th grade math class. "Of course I want to stay in the class mom! I'm actually learning something in that class!"

What is wrong with these teachers?

As long as he is doing well on assignments and tests and understands the concepts after they are taught, there shouldn't be a problem. That's the hard thing about acceleration. People seem to think that the kid will still be at the very top of the class when the real goal is to get them to learn.

yep I have always said that I would rather my kid get a B (or C) that he has worked his butt off for than an easy A where he doesn't actually have to "work"/learn anything.

Even in our homeschooling I tend to make things harder and more complex for this exact reason.

That's great news! There's certainly nothing wrong with a class being difficult for a kid, as long as he can rise to the challenge and work at it.

Update again: I had the meeting with the teacher today. DS7 is doing very well. She reports that he is at the top of the class already....he is "kind enough" to explain the math concepts to the rest of the class when they are struggling to understand something. He has blended in socially, with zero problems. In fact, another teacher commented that the only thing that gives him away as a 2nd grader is that he is smaller than everyone else.

So, he is not struggling. In fact, it sounds a bit like the content is too easy for him. But the executive demands ARE challenging for him, so we will keep him there. The teacher has completely fallen in love with him, which is amazing. I actually started to tear up because she had all these lovely things to say about him....and then continued saying that she could see how important it has been for us to advocate for this acceleration.

So we will stay with this grade in math for the rest of the year.

oh wow! It really sounds like you hit the jackpot with this teacher yay for a smooth transition!

Great. Now you can start worrying about next year.:-) Only half joking though.

"As for adolescent talk, I've actually heard dumber excuses from a teaching professional, who bewilderingly worried about DD's mental state if her classmates grew breasts before her. In your case, would assure the teacher that my child is not being raised in a bubble, and regularly interacts with members of all age groups."

I had to come back and post on this thread. The 5th grade teacher at our last meeting cited the following concern for DS. (He is in 2nd and going upstairs to the top floor to 5th grade math.) She is concerned that he is "on too many floors" throughout the school day. He attends 2nd grade on the 1st floor, attends 5th grade on the 2nd floor and then goes to the basement floor for lunch. It's too much "bouncing around" the building and they are concerned about some potential mental unbalancing that could happen to DS.

Where's that thread on this website about ridiculous things that administrators/teachers say?

One of the girls in DD's third grade class is very advanced in math and the school refuses to subject accelerate. One of the excuses she was given is that it's not safe for her to walk down the hallway by herself to the other class (and there aren't even any stairs involved!)

Two reasons not to send your kid to that school.

The whole district now is crazy with their safety protocol since the last school shooting. All doors locked (incl. classroom doors). Kids aren't supposed to be outside of the classroom unless they are accompanied by an adult.

When our DS was in 1st grade at a expensive, highly regarded private school, not only were all first graders on different floors, they were in at least two different BUILDINGS each day, sometimes three. Must have been some serious unbalancing happening.

Sounds like your ds is getting plenty of exercise.:)

This is just about the same story I would tell of my son who is now 10.

They were worried about gaps... LOL. he ended up getting the highest MAP scores in the district for 5th grade. He was in third 2 yrs accelerated in math.

The problem for us came in 4th grade. The school was on board with my ds going through AoPS pre algebra. They bailed on that idea shortly into the 4th grade year so we did it at home. The teacher says this is daunting and it totally fell apart. They also said it wasn't accredited by the school district so how can we grade him. This came from the Director of "High Ability". My son spent the whole day in a 4th grade class room, he had jumped from class to class since 1st grade.

He made it very tough on the teacher who was by the way the only teacher in the school with credentials for teaching gifted. He would bring stuff up like Euclid's algorithm, prime factorization during math and try to share stuff he had been working on at home. She would give him a worksheet to shut him up every now and then.

I certainly have worse problems then wondering what about next year.

"He made it very tough on the teacher who was by the way the only teacher in the school with credentials for teaching gifted. He would bring stuff up like Euclid's algorithm, prime factorization during math and try to share stuff he had been working on at home. She would give him a worksheet to shut him up every now and then."

The same is starting to happen with DS. He is questioning the teacher so much now. And they just hand him an iPad to shut him up.

This makes me so sad about public education.

In our meetings the teacher would hang her head at times. She wouldn't even look us in the eye. The school district ended up going overboard IMO and suggested we skip him and put him in middle school Honors Algebra 1. They had to accommodate us but I didn't have a good feeling about it.
I would ask "what is after that". These are the people who kept bringing up his not so stellar OLSAT scores.

There was one teacher at another elementary school in our system that sat in on one of our meetings. Her husband was the Principal at the High School. She was quiet but seemed to be on our side. We told her we were looking for a tutor to help once a week or so. She suggested a Senior boy who was one of the honor students at the high school. It ended up being one of the best experiences we could have hoped for. He made being smart at math very cool. Sometimes they just hang out and do a sudoku puzzle or play a game of checkers.