Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Elementary School Gifted and athletic

Looking for any advice. I have a gifted 10 year old 5th Grader. He is on the border of gifted/highly gifted. Until this year, we were able to meet his needs with small accomodations from individual teachers and through offering optional supplements at home, as he really didn't have much interest in doing more.

This year, however, it seems his learning and motivation have gone into overdrive. He wants to jump in and learn everything. He is begging for more complex work, acting out in class during reviews or when it moves too slow, refusing to work in groups with kids who can't keep up, and seeking new challenges on his own (such as learning Geometry along with his 9th grade sister).

We are meeting with teachers/counselor this week to discuss options for him, and I'm really torn on what we should ask for. My challenge is that he is already on the younger end of his grade, and he is also athletically talented. I am in discussion with the school, but am very cautious of a grade acceleration as I don't want to eliminate his chance of varsity/high level sports (which the age difference would do). To him, the athletics issue is a HUGE deal--he's already picked out where he wants to play college ball, etc. Has anyone else had a kid like this? What did you do?

I'd try to see the two things as being separate challenges.

One way to approach them is to do a grade skip if it's offered and do club sports, which are usually based on age. So, for example, my DD has a grade skip and does a competitive sport with a local gym with kids her age.

That said, your ability to do something like this depends on what kinds of sports your son likes. Sports that are often offered outside of schools include swimming, gymnastics, and soccer. If your son wants to play football, basketball, or baseball (which sounds like the case), it might be more difficult.

Has a grade skip been offered? If so, what's his opinion?

You've received excellent advice already, but the one thing I'd add is - middle school was hugely different for my kids than elementary in terms of being able to cope with being gifted and not being skipped (we didn't skip). Does middle school start in 6th or 7th grade where you're at? Once you are in middle school, having multiple classes allows for options to subject accelerate, as well as having language classes etc (depending on where you're at) - for something different. Our middle schools also grouped by ability, which didn't give EG kids a class full of other EG kids, but it did mean that all of the kids who were just barely treading water were no longer in the same class, and that can make a big difference.

If you can consider private school or charter schools, check out what's available in your area. It's possible that you might find a different school with a different set of teachers or different teaching philosophy works better for keeping your ds engaged in a way that would still allow you to avoid a grade skip.

I'd also consider whether or not a grade skip lands him in a mixed-ability classroom similar to where he's at now. The challenge for my kids, when they were subject-accelerated around the same age, was that the wide range of abilities in the classes they moved up presented issues that were similar to what they were frustrated with in their age-appropriate grade level class - the class had to work at the pace of the kids who didn't get it rather than let the kids who caught on easily fly.

So - a few things to consider if you're on the fence re the grade skip.

FWIW, I have one competitive athlete among my kids. She's lucky to be pursuing a sport that has competitive leagues up through high school (and where her chances of being challenged in the sport are better outside of playing high school sports)... but fwiw, I wouldn't want to let her skip ahead a year knowing that it's likely she can participate in her sport in college and might be eligible for a scholarship in it (totally knocking on wood here lol!)... that one extra year of prep and maturity will help her be ready for college competition in several ways, physically and psychologically.

Best wishes,

polarbear

ps - I wonder also - is it possible that part of the reason your ds is struggling much more this year with wanting something more in school is partly related to this year's teacher or class style or something other than only high ability? If he's been satisfied in previous years, it's possible he was just putting up with the status quo, but it might be that he also had teachers who understood how to connect with him and challenge him, and maybe this year's teacher just doesn't get it.

Thanks for the words--was feeling kind of alone with a kid that excels in athletics, too. He is in competitive soccer, and also loves football. AT 10, it's hard to say which direction will drive him, especially since we won't let him play tackle football until middle school. While a skip could be OK for soccer (based on his ability to play Club and access to DA teams), a grade skip would be devastating in football--thus, my dilemma.

To answer another questions, our schools run 1-4 (elem), 5-6 (intermediate), 7-8 (middle), 9-12 (HS).

I'm not 100% sure what changed with him, but it's been like a light switch came on. The teachers are supportive--don't get me wrong. But he's really changed his opinions on learning and seems to want the challenge where he previously was OK with school being easier. I don't think it's really driven by teacher change, as this started over the summer.

FWIW, Our school GT program is really in its infancy. Right now, he's in a pullout program and they "cluster" the GT Kids. Honestly, the cluster doesn't really do anything except make the parent feel good, as the classwork is the same as everyone else. He loves the pullout program and teacher, as well as the freedom it provides to explore and do more self-directed and in-depth research. Orr district's GT program is introducing more structure to acceleration opportunities, but much of the implementation is set for next year. I know they are looking at paths for full grade acceleration, as well as partial subject matter acceleration (telescoping). Unfortunately, I'm a year ahead of their plan.

I am meeting with the school later this week, and trying to put my head around how I want to go forward. While a skip hasn't been offered yet, I can easily see this heading that direction as it'll be easier for the school to just move him up and be done with it. My son, when asked, just says he wants more challenging work and a class that goes faster--he doesn't seem to really care if it's in his current grade or not.

I'll let you all know how the meeting goes....

Is subject acceleration an option for his area of strength? Would this buy you another year before figuring out if a full grade skip needed to be done?
Are there any gifted schools in your area?
Are club sports an option? In some areas, club sports are more important than school sports, but not all areas, and they play by age, not grade.

Since no one mentioned this yet, I am going to, although you may already be aware. Early athletic strength, before puberty, is not always an indicator of later success. Lots of coaches like to talk about athletic scholarships and so on, when very few athletes will get one. So this is just one factor to take into account.

We were in a similar situation and for us, we chose grade acceleration when subject proved not to be nearly enough and we do club sports. Later we moved to a gifted school when the grade acceleration was not enough. Still doing club sports.

Thanks for all the advice--nice to know I"m not alone with a gifted kid who is also very athletic. There is so little posted/discussed about these kids.

I am meeting with the school later this week to discuss options, so I'm just trying to get my head around the whole thing before I go in there. No skip has been offered, but I"m trying to get a grip on facts/opinions outside the school before I agree to anything. Based on the direction things are going, I suspect a full skip would be preferred by the school district as it's less work on them. My son really doesn't care what classroom he's in--he just says he wants harder work. I"m not on board with the skip right now.

Our district's GT program is really in it's infancy. They have traditionally had a pull-out program and they do cluster the kids (though the don't do much work differentiation in the clusters). They have announced plans to expand the program to offer more telescoping/compacting/acceleration next year, but the details are still fuzzy. In our case, I think waiting until next year to "see what they offer" would be a mistake, so we are pushing the envelope now.

We've been trying to figure out why this year is so different than previous years for him--it's light a light switch was turned on and he now sees that he is capable of alot more than the school expects. We can't pin it on one thing, but wonder if it's a combination of him maturing and that he expected more challenge entering intermediate school. At any rate, I'd rather focus on how to move forward and challenge him than why we got to this point.

He is already involved in Club soccer, but he also loves football and basketball. If he were to stay with soccer, the full skip would be fine, based on how select and DA work in our area. However, I do not want to deny him the opportunity to see what he can do with the other sports if he wants to pursue them. He's only 10, so we really don't know what the future holds, and we are trying to find a way to keep him balanced and keep his options open. Sports may lead to something bigger....or they may not....but as of now, they are a HUGE piece of his identity.