I recently had parent teacher confrence. It was probably one of the saddest I have ever had. DD has always been very happy, until the last three weeks. She has been moody and sullen. I thought it was just occuring at home. The teacher informed me that she has been displaying this in school also. DD is very frustrated at the mind games the girls are playing(2nd grade). The teacher fully admitts there are 4 girls that are doing this in the class. She snapped at one of the girls in a very moody way. Now she is constantly appoligizing everytime i correct an innapproprate behavior, and alwys seems very sad. Add to this that we have been begging for math gt services all year(functions at a 5th grade math level without any instruction), the subject of her gt needs were ignored. The worst and saddest part was they said she needed to see a psychologist.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be most helpful.

Oh klh,

I'm so sorry. Girls can be SO mean. My DD is in third grade and the girls are already becoming petty and clique-y. It seems like it was junior high school when it began with me.

It sounds like you have several things going on that have come together to make a really miserable situation for your DD. If she's already frustrated with boredom and slow pace in the classroom the petty girl behavior probably just pushed her over the edge of what she can deal with (and rightly so!).

I don't think she needs a psychologist in the sense that she's troubled or unstable but perhaps she could use a psychologist as an advocate for getting her gt services. Turn it around on them and use it to your advantage!

Seriously, I imagine her sadness would be relieved if she felt the school was addressing her needs. How frustrating. And those little girls should be punished and monitored for their behavior.

Good luck and keep us posted on how things work out. I'm anxious to see what others suggest.

It seems that the lack of accommodations for her is colliding with the social aspects. It really is scary to see how clich-ish kids are getting in the early years which just makes it that much harder on the kids that don't fit in.

I know your concern about the suggestion of a psychologist is that it implies it is all your daughter and nothing to do with the environment the school is providing but if you feel that your daughter is really headed down a path of depression than don't hesitate to seek advice from a psychologist.

And I think elizabeth was dead on about using it to your advantage.

So the big question is ... does your district start GT programs at 3rd grade? If they do it might be just what your daughter needs.