Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Got IQ Results - Best Possible Options?

My wife and I requested that our son, 7 years old and in 2nd grade, take the IQ Test typically given to 3rd graders. So he took the test a while back and we received the results this past week.

A couple days after receiving the results I was cc'ed on an email from the 'Lead AIG Person' for the public schools in my area to my son's teacher, principal, and another person that basically stated that significant differentiation needs to be given to him immediately.

So I assume they will meet, come up with viable options to best meet his educational needs, and then discuss those options with my wife and I.

So, for those who have been through this:

1) what options do you feel they may come up with?

2) what options worked best for your child?

3) what options did you find that didn't work very well for your child?

4) I'm not sure if it is one of the options they will come up with, but what are the positives and negatives of moving him up to 3rd grade?*

* to be honest I'm not sure if I would want this. I'm a teacher and have seen a couple students who have been moved up a grade level and when they reached the middle school level their maturity level just wasn't where it should have been and they don't excel like the year older AIG students. My son is very mature for his age but when I think of him as a 7th grader at the middle school when he's only the age of a 6th grader (if they bumped him up a grade) it concerns me.

Thank you for any and all input you can give!!

My wife and I are so proud of him but at the same time are seriously worried because, by our own admission, are neither one near as smart as he is and worry that we may actually impede his potential...therefore I've got five or so books I'm going to read on raising a gifted child and am searching everywhere for advice

TripleB

They may present a subset of the ideas listed in these articles from the Davidson Database:
Basic educational options for gifted students in schools
Types of Acceleration

Meanwhile, be aware of program buzzwords. You may wish to ask gently probing questions to determine "who, what, where, when, why, and how" of any proposals presented.

The Iowa Acceleration Scale (IAS) covers this well. Hoagies has a page on the IAS, and Institute for Research and Policy on Acceleration (IRPA) has information on both IAS and "A Nation Deceived".

There is also a current thread on "Grade skipping trade offs" which may be of interest.

This may be a common concern, however bear in mind that few (if any) people have the ideal conditions to reach their full potential, as there are always tradeoffs, and "opportunity cost". IMO, as long as parents are supportive and encouraging (not communicating that the child ought not to exceed the parents), and as long as the child is respectful despite surpassing the parents in knowledge and achievement, this can work out wonderfully.

Hi, Triple B! Welcome. I have 2 DC who have been tested, and the school has tried various modifications to meet their educational needs. We cannot speak to the issue of full grade acceleration, because we have not tried this (yet). Hopefully, others can speak to this option.

Because you are a teacher, you are probably already more aware of some of these options than are most parents.

Does your school have a G&T program? If so, what does it consist of?

One issue with grade acceleration: how old is your child for grade? I do think this makes a difference, as it gives you an idea of how much older the students are that your DS's future peers. Also, is red-shirting common in your area? If it is, your DS could be dealing with MUCH older children in the case of a single-grade skip.

As to other methods of accommodation:

*In class differentiation (teacher tries to teach children at various levels): this has NEVER seemed to work well for us.

*Leveled/Whole Class Differentiation: Switch for classes and grouped with other children of most similar level, and each class has its own teacher. This works better if there are many students per grade. If done well, this can provide some increased challenge.

*GATE/G&T Classes: Just having a program will unfortunately not necessarily cure all of your son's need for challenge. It really depends upon the quality of the program. Sometimes, G&T programs are more like "Leveled differentiation," which depending on your child, may not be enough challenge in the long run.

I am sure that other parents can speak to additional options used by their schools. Best of luck to you and your DS!

Thank you very much for the links as well as letting me know about the Pros/Cons of Grade Skipping. I will make sure I read each of those thoroughly!

I truly appreciate your words that I quoted above. Both my and I have been very upset (yes, at times there have been tears) since getting the news about his IQ Score and how his score related to all of the 3rd graders in the county. My wife and I thank you for what you said!!!

Have a wonderful holiday season!

TripleB

3B, you're very welcome. With your kiddo's scores being high, have you considered applying to the Davidson Young Scholars (DYS) program?

Well during second grade my son's teacher would get the rest of the class going on 5 daily review questions up on the smart board. During that time she taught my son the topic from the third grade book he was working on that day. Then he did his classwork and even home work while she worked with the rest of the class, he did the 5 review problems too, and he spent time on various math computer sites that the teacher assigned when he finished his work. She also came up with various math projects for him to complete. Granted my son doesn't need much explanation...he gets stuff very quickly.

For some reason the 3rd grade teacher didn't want to do this same method. So different teachers will be more comfortable with this method than others.

Thank you and I appreciate you giving me several of the possible options they may have for my son.

As far as your questions:
I do not believe his school has a "GT" program. They have a 'nurturing teacher' who works with the gifted children in grades 3 and higher. Before we received the IQ scores I inquired about this person working with my son and was told they would check into it. I don't believe anything became of my inquiry but it may now.

My son turns 8 at the end of March...so I would say he is right in the middle of the youngest and the oldest in his class.

I have never heard of 'red shirting' so I don't believe it is common here.

I'm a middle school teacher (my son's school feeds into mine) and we do not have a GT program at my school. Students are basically grouped based on their Math ability...AIG students are usually in class with 12 to 20 other AIG students (total class size 30).

Three things I currently worry about (other than what I mentioned above):

1) if they say he should be moved ahead a grade do I say yes or no (again, I will take a close look at the post mentioned above)

2) from what I can tell there are not many students very close to his ability level at his school (his 3 teachers so far have been AMAZINGLY AWESOME and are a huge reason he is advanced as he is) so do I consider moving him to another local school, or a private school, that has more gifted students?

3) them putting him on a computer with a program that lets him progress at his own pace (he's got to have that interaction with other students as well as receive direct instruction from the teacher).

Again, thanks for your help and I appreciate you taking the time to respond.

TripleB

Hi!

I recommend reading up on gifted education -- I spent a summer plowing through about 10 books. Well worth the time!

It's so hard when your school doesn't differentiate... or pretends to! It is such a hard decision to make, even if it is on the table.

Our school was willing to grade skip 8th grade for our 13 yo. She balked. Socially, she is too into her friends and was not interested in the idea of graduating a year ahead of her peers. They told me that 8th grade is a great year to skip if you're going to because you don't miss much.

A skip for our son wasn't even on the table. They don't like to skip elementary kids because of worries about maturity.

One thing our school system does do for some gifted kids is allow them to split their time between two grades. Last year, our dd skipped the rest of 7th grade math and language arts and took algebra and the second half of 8th grade language arts, while keeping her in two classes with her age-mates. It was meant to bridge her over to a skip, plus it is what the small school could actually do to accommodate.

Our son.. that was another story. They said they'd differentiate, but that was not the reality.

We opted to homeschool this year because we couldn't sell our house last summer and move to a better district with more opportunities. She would also have practically been forced to skip because of what they could realistically do for her based on what they did to accommodate last year. She was devastated... and cried and cried.

How far do they want to skip? 1? 2? If it's 1, then you could ask about splitting time between his current grade and the next one up.

As an aside, our school did skip one kid that I know about and he struggles so much with maturity. His is super smart, but truly lacks maturity due to asynchronous development. Sometimes his behavior is more like a kindergartener and he's in 4th grade. It's a tough row to hoe for teachers and parents alike.

For our son, though, he picks up things quickly, especially math and science. The spiraling schools do can be torture. With Social Studies, at least, he gets new material that he hasn't seen before.

Good luck! My only other advice is to know your rights and know that when they meet with you to present a plan, you are not required to agree/disagree on the spot. Take it as it is --- an offer. You wouldn't pay full price for a used car without haggling and you should approach the meeting with the mindset that there is some negotiating on your part that you can do to advocate for your child to get your child the best deal possible.

TripleB, I can totally relate to the tears, and to wanting your kid to learn along with others, not alone.

If you feel comfortable sharing the approximate range of your son's score it would help. What is great for one child can be pathetic for another child, and a large part of the fit is found in the distance of their IQ score from the mean.

TripleB, our DD is turning out to be far more musically talented than both my SO and I put together. I freaked out and cried a few nights last summer because I was so sure DD would suffer because neither of us was competent enough as a musician to help her practice at home past intermediate level.

It turns out, she doesn't need or want help from us. We did find her wonderful teachers. We take care of parenting the best we can and we leave teaching to her teachers.

I just wanted to say, I know exactly how you're feeling but your DS is doing as well as he is now because of all the support his parents have given him thus far. His IQ test result is not going to change that.