Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Has anyone accelerated during upper elementary?

Last year my son had a half hour where he was in a small group that was supposed to meet his gifted needs (not necessarily a gifted pull out but close...this was the 1/2 hour designated for intensive intervention and support and kids who didn't need that were grouped together for enrichment...were the other kids in his group HG/PG like my son? I doubt it. Bright? sure). So the enrichment group activity near the end of the year got a set of 20,000 leagues under the sea. This is a 10th grade level book (according to AR) and my son was in Heaven. He loved it. The rest of the group hated it and was in over their heads. The teacher dropped it and once again my son read the book all on his own with no one to discuss it with and share his enthusiasm. The teacher tried. But unless we accelerated him from 5th grade to his instructional level of 10th grade...there really is no differentiation/clustering that we could do for him.

Hopefully middle school will be better (his middle school is also a high school...it goes 6-12th grade...so we might actually have options for acceleration).

I hate to mention this-- but-- my DD16 recently noted that finally-- now that she is in upper division college literature coursework-- her classmates are on the same page with this stuff. Though she also rather rapidly noted that (while she hoped it didn't sound insufferably elitist or anything) that she was also going to make it a point to take such coursework as 'honors' where possible, to maximize the level and intensity of the in-class discussion and interactions. In other words, she was still well out in front of most other college sophomores when it came to analyzing sonnets, but it was a major step in the right direction. It was what she had HOPED that AP Literature would have provided back when she was 13 (and did not, quite honestly).

I'm not really sure that kids who are reading so far above level can be accommodated very well in terms of the discussion, analysis, and exploration that they need in history, social studies, and literature.

I wonder if there is a CTY course that could be used to fill in that gap for some of them? Or some way of setting up a closed message/meeting for the express purpose?

I really, really feel for other parents living through this. Those were a lot of very lonely years for DD, and she had a teacher that looped with her and understood her for a lot of them.

May I ask what was your motivation in seeking clarification from Howler Karma? I ask because, as the parent of a young rising elementary student, I'd like to be aware of the importance of linkages between the topics for the purpose of future advocacy. If you're starting a new thread, I'd be all ears there.

Thanks, indigo.

Yes... I anticipate locating and posting them shortly.

So that this diversion can be shut down, I will offer that upper division coursework can often be taken by lower division students in college, and that's how I interpreted HK's post. I personally was taking an upper-division history class during my first (full-time) semester in college, having satisfied the prerequisites via AP classes in high school.

I wish I could offer the OP some helpful advice, but I have none. I am fortunate enough to live is a very IQ-enriched area, so that my children have been getting adequate challenge at school without any acceleration.

Yeah, that was my experience, too. School was a drag until AP classes.

Thank you for sharing that model; I'm familiar with both the junior college & upper division college (as separate institutions) and also familiar with 4-year colleges which require two years of liberal arts prior to declaring a major, which then opens access to courses in that major.

staceychev - the promised resource links will be forthcoming.

Thank you!

"Upper division" in this context-- as in most contemporary usage in the US system, tends to mean course numbers 300-level or higher-- though this is dependent upon the institution/system (UC's system is notable for its idiosyncratic course sequence numbers, for example).

This means, yes, that such courses are predicated on having completed a year or more of college-level study at the discipline; those lower-division courses also serve as prerequisites for upper division coursework.

My daughter has a sufficient number of credits that she is nearing junior standing, by the way.

Dual enrollment was a good thing for her in high school. Middle school was probably where this problem was at its zenith/nadir, however-- staceychev (and other posters) definitely have my sympathies. A huge block of below-level instruction like that would have just been awful for my DD, I know.

Now I see your issue - that aspect didn't occur to me since our kids have had two-hour Language Arts blocks since first grade. It's definitely problematic if your DD has to spend two hours reading in Language Arts, especially in upper elementary. DS' 1st grade teacher previously taught GT 3rd grade so DS did go through almost her whole bookcase of mostly 3rd - 5th grade books in first grade due to completing assignments very quickly. I was okay with that for a first grader but by 5th grade the emphasis should be on writing.

By the way, as a former high school english teacher, you are likely more qualified than any elementary teacher in developing your DD's language arts skills. Perhaps if the adminstration is resistant to providing differentiation, you can get them to at least implement differentiation that you provide. This could be in the form of writing assignments for books that your DD is already reading.