Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy And YET another meeting....

This time with Mrs Teacher and Mrs. Support Teacher and maybe MRs Assistant Teacher.

We will discuss the reading and I will tell them your suggestion of putting sight words in her room as a motivator.

We will suggest as well that DD uses rainforestmaths in the classroom, even if it is in English and to teach her next year curriculum anyway, since at home she is already doing multiplications!

I want to ask them about enrichment in other areas, like natural or social sciences.

They are quite willing to meet DD's needs, only no experience whatsoever with HG+ children, combined with the typical Dutch fear of 'pushing' children too much. If you think that regular US curriculum/standards are low, you should see the Dutch ones for the primary schools.

Anyway, wish us luck!

I hope it goes well, Isa!

Good luck Isa! Keep us posted...

Sooooo..... I have mixed feelings about the meeting.
The very good thing is that they are more than willing to meet DD's needs.
The not so good thing is that they confessed that they are quite lost with her and realize that they are not getting the full potential out of her.

About reading: I told the idea of the words in the wall and they thought it was an excellent idea. We will communicate regularly about the Dutch ones.

It seems that the children read twice a week by pairs, first one reads and the other follows and vice versa and DD is simply not interested in reading.

As well, last week they had sort of a test, kind of 'comprehension/discrimination' test in which they are shown three pictures and have to pick up the right one from a question. The questions were VERY easy, like a bird besides a next, a bird feeding the little ones and a bird sitting on the nest and they were asked in which picture they see a bird nesting.
Well, guess what; DD did lest than optimal in the test. Why? Is it that she understands less Dutch than she wants to admit? (she claims that she understands everything) Or she found it boring and did not put attention? Teacher says that she looked as trying her best, very concentrated.... was she? or was she with her mind in Ponyland or Narnia or who knows where?

Maths: she will be given end of the year exercises and next year ones. I told them about rainforestmaths and they look very interested. The fact that was in English did not seem to bother them. I only hope that it will not take months before DD is allowed to 'play' at the classroom.

At home, I asked DD why she did not want to read with other children. Her answer: because I do not want to learn Dutch. I do not like 1st grade, it is all too easy and I am bored.
She looked quite distressed about it

I told her that she needs to read before she can do more interesting things but she looked unconvinced...

Tonight I asked DD again about the school. She bursted into tears and she told me: 'I do not like first grade, I do not do anything right but it is all very boring. I want to stay at home and learn with you.'

I told her that unfortunately, homeschool is not an option in this country

I am not certain if I did right, but I told her as well, that if she does the effort to learn to read in Dutch I can advocate for her to be put in second grade, otherwise she is stuck in first grade. She looked half stressed out, half hopeful. I told her to sleep now and tomorrow when we are well rested we talked about the issue.

I knew she was getting bored, but I did not realize how bad it is....

Oh, I'm so sorry, Isa! {{{Hugs}}} I hope things improve for her!

Best!

sorry..I misunderstood. I was thinking your DD didn't know Dutch, but she knows it and just can't read it. (The Rosetta Stone software might make some sight words easier, like girl, boy, car, etc. - I dunno what those words are in Dutch).

Sorry again for the useless post, and best of luck to your DD.

Too bad there isn't an underground homeschool railroad for dutch children who hate school.

Will the teachers let you go in and work with DD? It could be like homeschooling in school.

I don't have much to add, but just wanted to say i'm sorry too. Sending e-hugs to you and your DD.

I personally would think learning Dutch would be very hard - the only thing i can remember from vacation last year was "biesluk" (chives), and i'm sure i've got that wrong. but there is hope in her half-hopeful look, and I'll add my good wishes from across the globe.

Thanks a lot for the support - I needed it !

I have been talking to DD. Apparently she is very frustrated because she reads very slowly and cannot finish any book during her reading time.

So I told her that because she finds it difficult she does not want to try and becomes frustrated, then it becomes more and more difficult... I told her as well that she has too look at what she CAN do. One page? Ok, then next time, one page and half, next time a little bit more...
I remind her that a few months ago she could spell at all and now she is a champion.

I got her as well some very nice but very easy books to read and we read them together. She actually start recognizing some words and read them, which made her very happy.

She has told me as well which wall in her room is for the Spanish words and which one is for the Dutch words.

Before we read those books she told me that 'maybe she should be in Kindergarten'... I have the impression that she has the impostor syndrome.

I wonder if I should look for professional help.

It is really a pity that I cannot even apply to the Davidson Institute
(it is only for US residents).

This reminds me of the days I would get little notes from the teacher that DS had acted out at school. They always seemed to come on days when the children would exchange work with the child next to them to grade each other's work. Who thought that this was a good idea? On one occasion, a little girl wrote on DS's paper: Very Messy - You write like a Baby.

OK it was 2nd grade, so tact isn't fully developed, but it didn't encourage DS to work on his handwriting, just to 'give up' and 'avoid.'

From what I remember, perfectionism is an issue for your DD, I can't imagine her wanting to read aloud with an agemate if she is less good that what she considers good. Perhaps to ask her what she thinks a 1st grader should be able to do when reading aloud.

I am happy that the school is on your side. Perhaps they can find a regional resource for HG kids and call in some help? Would they conside looking internationally for an expert to consult? I am also happy that there is some progress, and that the word wall is motivating for her. My feeling is that she will probably 'blossom' very soon. Keep telling her the story of the Bamboo tree that grows a very strong root system for three years and then shoots up 30 feet tall. Perhaps it is even time to explain that bilingual (+) kids are growing a stronger root system than single-language kids, and that soon she will have what my son calls 'Mad Skills' and be able to read in so many languages!

Love and More Love,
Grinity

A totally irrelevant sidenote: I spent a month in the Netherlands with my then-boyfriend who was on a Fulbright there. All the Dutch I learned was from watching American soap operas in English with Dutch subtitles. I couldn't say anything, but I could read things like "I hate you!" and "It's not your baby!" really, really well!



Oh, and I learned my numbers from the sex chat line commercials that were on all the time. They said the phone numbers over and over while they showed the numbers. Very educational!

LOL! And I'll bet curses sound really good in Dutch. Not quite as good as German, perhaps, but still really gutteral and heartfelt!

My sister and I learned both French and German, so we always used to say that if French is the language of love, then German is the language of phlegm.

Acht! What does that make Hebrew?

Hmmm... Good question! Any ideas?