Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy When to push acceleration

Our DS6 (just turned) is in 1st grade. He is advanced in reading and math. He is enjoying school this year but says the work is soooo easy. He actually said he likes it being easy. I know he is ready for more. He is interested in parts of speech, spelling and grammar but his class is so far from any of these topics it will be months or next year before he is exposed. He brought home a math worksheet that was about finishing patterns and counting objects and I asked him how he liked the math. He looked puzzled and said, "is that math? I thought it was more like art," and he started laughing. We do EPGY at home about once a week and he is about to hit the 3.0 level.

My question is... do I push for more complex material at school even though he seems completely content with it being easy? My thoughts are- I don't think his contentedness will last forever. His teacher recognizes his ability and would probably be willing to work with him. I don't want him to become intellectually lazy, but at the same time don't want to push him into resentment.


Two last thoughts- he has an amazing teacher who has a unique teaching style and he is learning a LOT of other things about the world. I'm wondering if he is getting enough in the other areas that he is content when he has to do the easy stuff. And, after students finish their literacy work in the morning they can read a book or go to one of the activity centers in the classroom. I'm wondering if he likes the easy work so he can go and play with the Legos.

Do I lead him in the direction I think he's ready for, or let him indicate he's ready for more and then advocate for him?


I hope this made sense. Guidance and suggestions are appreciated!
Eleanor05

We were in your same shoes a few yrs. back. At the time, I tried working with the teacher, who agreed more was needed but her idea of WHAT was needed was different than mine. Like you child, there was so much DC was getting out of the class besides the academics that I let it go for that year and continued to "after-school" where needed. The following yr. DC couldn't take it any more and we finally pushed for accel. and it was granted this past yr. and we are having a wonderful transition, though DC still claims it's easy (imagine how easy it would have been without the accel. though! TORTURE!) BUT, again, there are plenty of other things right now that take the load of the "easy" and are making this yr. worthwhile. That's not to say that at some point more accel. won't be needed, or maybe even subject at that point but I am pretty sure you'll hit a wall soon and know when you need to push the issue! If your child is content, you are still good. That's not to say it wouldn't be successful if you went with it now though. Just saying, you're right, the issue of being content won't last forever. DC will hit a wall and you'll have to be ready to move on it! I would still talk to the teacher and try and get something done within the class though so the wall isn't hit sooner.

I think you are on the right track. I can share our experience: ds7 was never content even in pk3. He also has adhd, so maybe it was the pace that drove him nuts. At 7, he's not going to sit in a desk and work quietly all day. At 3, that was certainly out of the question.

Anyway, I think we probably should have pushed for acceleration of some kind in pk4. Instead the school requested that we repeat pk4 a second time due to maturity issues. I now know that a lot of what was perceived as immaturity was actually boredom and inability to relate to same age peers. Imagine spending a second year doing the same thing with ZERO progress. He still has self esteem issues from having to stay back with the "babies".

I feel terrible for not being more sure of myself as a parent and allowing this to happen. I allowed him to underachieve for years, so now we are struggling with reversing underachievement.

I think it's important not to push your child excessively, but you can certainly find a happy medium. You want him to enjoy learning, but in my opinion in makes sense to request at least some acceleration if he's already telling you the work is "soooo easy." It's like pulling teeth to get my son to try something he can't master immediately. He's "addicted" to "easy". I would definitely caution against allowing him to become accustomed to easy work.

I think it's great that he is learning other things in the classroom, but why not learn it all if you're capable? You'll be able to gauge what is too easy and what is too hard. It sounds as if he's able to communicate this fairly well. I would start now before you start seeing him become not-so-content. You can just do a little at a time. Start with math maybe, and then once he's used to doing more challenging math, throw in language arts, etc.

When a child becomes used to not being challenged, it's really hard to undo. I know if you are on this forum you probably already know most of this, but I thought I'd share my two cents. I definitely don't think it's ever too early to push for acceleration (at least subject acceleration) if it's appropriate. And it certainly sounds like it is in your case.

So glad you have a teacher you love and who would be willing to work with you!

My experience is that happy children are a good thing. While kids experience boredom and frustration in different ways, some kids really are happy, even without adequate challenge at school.

Along with let sleeping dogs lie and never wake a sleeping baby, I'd add let happy children coast . When/if they become unhappy children, advocate!

Thank you all for sharing your experiences. It really helped. I've decided to take the "if it's not broke, don't fix it" approach and not push acceleration until it is more obviously needed. Also, I want to give the teacher a chance to come up with more appropriate material since the first month of school is often a time to assess where each student is in their achievement. I had a brief conversation with her on Friday and she is already thinking of new things for him. We have a parent/teacher conference in mid-October so we are going to wait until then to discuss. Thank you all for your valuable advice. I'm much more confident now in my plan. Eleanor05

Hi Eleanor - I think the decision depends on the kid and the family. I have a DS6 who just skipped 1st. He refuses to ever learn anything at home, along with not complaining while he's in school. We hear about how easy things are at home. We have seen evidence that he would rather pick the easy route if given a choice at school. Since our DS6 won't do anything that appears to be learning at home, we rely on the school. Luckily, they are willing to work with us. They are giving him pretests and are trying to give him work at his level (it's not perfect yet). Last year, in kindergarten, he was given 2nd grade math. If my son were in your situation, I would worry about him becoming complacent in school, and thinking that school is not for learning. But your DS is getting some work at his level at home, so maybe that's not a concern.

Thanks, st. pauli girl. I am still worried! I've just decided to bring up acceleration for him at the parent teacher conference in three weeks. We live in a school district with a highly educated population so there are other smart kids in his class, hence the work presented is already above national standard norms, it's just not high above enough. I'm keeping a very close eye on it.