Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments What do you wish your school knew about your child

I wish that my DD's school could truly wrap their heads around the idea that noooooooooo, "leaving the GT kids alone" isn't the same thing (at all) as providing them with "appropriate" education.

My DD is PG. Yes, thank you-- but wait, I have something important to add and which school staffers seem to be thinking is incompatible with this statement...

She is NOT an "autodidact" who learns best in a vacuum with occasional mediocre or incomplete 'resources' tossed her direction.

She needs TEACHING. Not "benign" neglect.

She also needs to be allowed to work at a level that feels truly meaningful to her. So quit asking my daughter for plot summaries in AP literature, quit asking for "timelines" in history class, quit asking for ten of the same simple math problem on homework.

Ask her to solve THORNY problems, to write about interpretation below the surface text of a novel, ask her to tell you about racial biases and foreign policy...

Grr. If you do, I guarantee you that she will knock your sock off.

Provide a floor-- and a stepladder, if you please. And then-- get rid of the ceiling.

Yes. This. My son just asked to order a Neil Degrasse Tyson book on black holes this morning. When asked to set his own AR goal for this term, he picked a FAR higher goal for himself than I would have chosen. (Gotta love his teacher for thinking of that). When given no ceiling, he astounds me EVERY SINGLE DAY. When given a worksheet? He does the worksheet. Sigh.

Diamondblue - we've on our 3rd reading of Death By Black Hole with DS. It is his favorite although I have to say the vocabulary in it is quite challenging and there are times where I really wonder what he is getting out of it (he's 7.5). The George's Secret Key to the Universe series (Lucy & Stephen Hawking) and The Cosmic Menagerie have been the only thing that can compete (can you sense a theme.....). The George series is fantastic for younger kids, the Cosmic one has spectacular pictures (sort of a coffee table book but with a PhD providing content) and has shorter write ups about everything in the universe.

Chat and Diamondblue, I have a 6.5 year old who is really into understanding the universe. Those book recommendations are a great help! I don't want to sidetrack the discussion, but thanks for posting those. We are always looking for options for him.

chay and apm221, I sent you a private message.

Yes! The sense of justice in gifted children is very intense at times.

I would want them to know it's OK to contact me if they are struggling to accommodate in the classroom. I am a partner in my child's education and expect to be kept in the loop. I'd rather get a call to brainstorm about ideas than notes home about excessive talking in class (probably because he's bored.)

This topic should be a book! I could see these responses as chapters, actually.

I actually wish the school and the teachers to know that all my kids need at school is free time. They have a lot of things that they can learn through independent study. We are not even asking the school to provide any additional instruction. If they can once in a while exempt my kids from the repetitive and extremely boring work sheets and requirements, that would be the best we can hope for.

My DD9 is generally happy at school because she is much more willing to go with the flow than her brother. She has lots of friends and doesn't mind reading simple books and doing all those math sheets even though she is a few grade levels above. But the other day she looked really worried and asked me what she would do when the school's musical instrument program starts in a couple of years. The program starts from scratch and assumes that students have no exposure to instruments, whereas DD has been playing in very competitive orchestras with high schoolers and middle schoolers since 2rd grade. I'm planning to talk to the school and see whether they will allow DD to be exempted----but I highly doubt.

Ah, free time! I wish my son's teacher (who's one of the better ones we've had), knew that yesterday DS8 said he wished he could just sit with a an extraordinarily THICK BOOK all day and read.

I wish my son's teacher understood how much my son detests AR tests. AND... that since he's more than met his yearly goal of 100 (he's pushing 400 points now, lady!), he should not have to continue testing.

I wish the school understood that racing to/from the gifted pullout each day chops DS' lunch time down to 15 minutes, and that he's tired of finishing his food in class.

I wish my son's teacher was not walking around the room during standardized testing this week engaging in "encouraging" talk while the kids are testing!

I wish she had not told him yesterday (during said test) that she "hopes the principal can put his name on the wall next to students who've gotten perfect scores on FCAT." No pressure! I have worked so hard to keep DS focused on tasks so he minimizes careless mistakes. He's come a looong way... Please, please do not talk to my kid while he's concentrating.

I wish the school could understand that my son's lack of confidence is at least half their fault and limiting access to extension classes to those who were confident enough to nominate themselves is unfair. My child has just turned 7 and should not be put in the position of deciding his own education when he is not confident. And the less challenge he has the more risk averse he becomes.