Jamie B: Glad to hear the conference went well.

m2gts and Jamie B: Agree with you. It really does feel like this major roller coaster ride. Every time I have a good experience and feel like someone is listening and going to help, what we discuss doesn't happen. While your guys act out from boredom, mine just lets it slide off his shoulders and then tells me about it. One of my friends told my husband last week that I worry too much and should just let it go.

For instance, follow up to library yesterday: DS comes home with One Duck Stuck. I ask if the librarian showed him the dino books he wanted. He said, No, he was only allowed to pick from the table and he didn't want to/think he could ask for something else. GRRR. It should be so simple. Plus, the reading specialist who was supposed to retest him last week hasn't gotten back to me. I sent a follow-up e-mail today, so back to the waiting game.

We've got PT conference on Nov. 11 and I need to figure out how to address this all. A friend's mom who navigated this path in our school 8 years ago under a different principal is giving me advice and has told me I can use her daughter's name to make the point that the school has appropriately dealt with this before.

What's sad is I live a county that many rank as one of the tops in the country. But only if you're a round peg in a round hole. Sigh.

Did your friend's daughter skip a grade? I can't believe that after talking to them they still didn't let him pick another book from the library! They should have guided him to the dino books.

I know that personally I can't let this go. I want to give up sometimes but I can't. I know that my friends with kids that fit in well in the normal classrooms don't understand why I get so upset and worry and why I want to make my son "different". I'm so glad that I can come here

I hope that you get an email back very soon from the specialist. It seems like here, at least, nobody gets back with you...you have to go find them.

That is really unfair that they aren't letting him get books at his level

On the other hand at least they can take books home from the library there. K kids aren't allowed to bring books home at our school so we just get them from the library instead.

We use our library a lot too. I don't know what I'd do without it!

Just have to type this out before I leave work

The principal finally called me back. She said that she meets with a team and she wants to talk to them about this. She's never grade skipped a kid before but said that she's not saying that she won't do it. One of the members of her team is the counselor that's been observing him (the one that said that she thinks he needs to be moved up) so that's good, right? She told me to give her until Monday to observe and talk to her team.

So today has been an up date in the battle for a proper education What will tomorrow bring?

I observed/volunteered in class with DS5 today. It was a good day, I think. They were counting the number of kids in the class who were/weren't excited about dressing up for Halloween and recording the results of the survey. The vote was 21 to 2. They counted the two "no" votes aloud. Then DS5 raised his hand and informed the class that 21 kids voted "yes."

"How did you know that?" the teacher asked.

"Because there are 23 kids in the class, and 21 and 2 make 23."

"Okay! Well, class, let's see if DS5 is right." They then counted all 21 hash marks.

I was THRILLED that he's taking the initiative to show his true colors in a way that isn't disruptive. That's not easy under the circumstances, and it's SOOOOOO much more effective than my having to advocate from zero. So that's Good Thing #1.

Good Thing #2 is that there wasn't much work for me to do, and the reading buddies from the 2nd grade were keeping the class occupied for the last 15 minutes I was there. That gave the teacher and me time to chat casually.

I asked her how she was adjusting to having K instead of 2nd grade and we chatted about her for a bit. It was cheerful and friendly. She had nice things to say about DS5, and I had nice things to say about the class. She shifted the conversation to DS5.

I brought up his sensitivity and that I hoped he wouldn't cry when I left class today, as he did last time. She was worried I was fearing for his well-being, I think, and I replied that no, I tend not to buy into all the drama of my emotional son. I like logic.

Score!

She replied, seeming to not want to step on my toes, but appearing to worry that I didn't get him, "Well, he's quite a logical thinker, too."

Me: "Oh, well, yes, when it comes to math. He's really excited about math. He loves it! And chess. That's his big thing lately. He's getting pretty good."

The chess surprised her, but it was good to mention it, I think. It got her attention, and since she was the one pushing ME to see his talents, I felt like it was a very effective casual conversation that didn't box her into a corner unintentionally.

I don't know how this will play out over time or if we'll try to keep him in the school long term. But she seems to be on the right track, though she's not differentiating for him yet. The K teachers still seem to be evaluating though, so I'm being patient. And really, if we can make this year work for him, that'll be enough.

So, yeah, a good day...

Excellent! I think this illustrates that at the 5yo age K can work for some GT kids. (We're often looking back and wondering what if we had this exact experience.)

Good to hear!

JB

Indeed. So much depends on the personalities of child and teacher, of the level of work, of the abilities of the peers in the classroom...

I am convinced that if it were full-day, he'd be a wreck. He is a lot more weepy now than he was over the summer, and I worry that it's lack of challenge. He's my sensitive kid, and he's been sick lately, so it's hard to tell what's affecting his moods. Is it school or is it just him?

*sigh*

Kriston - sounds good that he's starting to show his teacher what he can do! I wonder if she'll work with him on chess!

She told me she doesn't know how to play. So sadly, no.

But it's okay. He plays a friend on the Internet, plays against the computer, and plays family members.