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I have a 5 year old DS who's in kindergarten in catholic school. He's been reading since he was 2, can add, subtract and multiply in his head, can add and subtract fractions, loves geography, is obsessed with buses and subways (we're in NYC) and knows all the lines and can tell you how to get anywhere, and just has alot of interests.
I enrolled him last year in pre-K in the catholic school because it was a full day and it's a fairly good school. The public school pre-K was only 2.5 hours a day. When it was time for K, I had him tested and he made it into one of the citywide gifted schools, but it's so far from us that it would have involved a 1.5-2 hour commute by bus and subway each day that was unacceptable and our local public school doesn't really have a gifted program. They just take the children who score highest on the grade and group them all in one class and then call it a gifted class regardless of the level the children are actually at.
His kindergarten class is actually pretty rigorous if you go by what they're learning in the public schools, but they're still working on reading and math skills that he's mastered 2 or 3 years ago. They do have other subjects he enjoys like social studies and science, art and music classes, computer and science lab, etc. But a good part of each day is spent working on skills he doesn't need to learn. But he loves school and doesn't seem to be bored at all. I was in a similar situation when I was in 1st grade and was bored to tears and acted out horribly until I was moved to a gifted program. But he's fine.
When I first registered him at the school, the principal assured me that they could give him differentiated work. I haven't seen this really except in a few rare instances. Should I be pushing to have him be challenged if he seems content? I have parent teacher conferences coming up in December and had figured I'd wait to talk to his teacher then, but I'm not sure if I should be pushing this sooner. I think alot of it is that my DS thrives on routine and the social aspects of school. He's also essentially lazy and I think for him school is this wonderful place where he doesn't have to work hard and where he gets to socialize all day. Almost of the real exploration and learning are things I work with him on at home, or my mom who used to be a teacher works with him.
Concerning the things you work with him at home: Par for the course if he stays in public school. There are pros and cons for all the situations you mentioned, you really might want to decide what is best for your family. There really is no perfect ideal solution for gifted children in terms of educating them. Think of it more in terms of ala carte. Get what you need for them where and when you can. Kindergarten is great for kids to learn how to socialize and deal with different people than those withing your family which is great. I'm not sure if you can expect him to have his intellectual needs met there, but good luck. By the way, if your public school is willing to ability group, consider yourself lucky. Good for you for trying to meet his interest outside of school. I would keep doing that. Good luck.
Hi Laura, the fact that they put the top quartile together is good, IF they will give you a single grade skip and then subject accelerate as needed. I would also reccomend: 1)IQ/achievement test with Julia Osborne, and read her Assessing Gifted Children at http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/assessing_gifted.htm
2)consider moving to be near the gifted school, if it would work for your kid, or organizing a carpool if a taxi would get your child there more quickly.
3) Apply to private schools, even if it means needing financial aid.
We faced a similar commute to get to a decent gifted program and opted for the local public school, which stated it provided individualized education in a heterogeneous classroom.
I would advise:
1.Get information about what is REALLY happening in class.
Talk to your child about what happens at school: Daily routines, who he sits with, who he works with, who misbehaves, how the teacher handles it. What they do at morning meeting, circle time, after lunch, etc.
Talk to parents of other kids at school to find out how much your child ISN'T telling you. I found out a lot that way.
2. Go in and talk to your teacher ASAP. It won't always help, but it sometimes does, and from DS's experience and my observations of what kids of pain in the a$$ parents get, I think it's worthwhile to go in and talk to teachers A LOT.
What worked for me: I talked to DS�s 2nd grade teacher about DS�s thirst for knowledge and sponge-like ability to remember everything from just hearing or reading it. I talked about how sad he was on days when he learned nothing new, and how he came bounding home on days that he did learn something new. I explained that he had gotten so tired of never getting called on that he never bothered to raise his hand any more. I got her a copy of �Teaching Gifted Kids in the Regular Classroom� by Susan Winebrenner. I told her that with so many bright kids in class, this book was bound to be a help, and I explained that it was written by a teacher, and that it talked about practical classroom strategies for differentiation and even how to handle issues like the gifted kids who wants to answer every question.
She actually read it! DS got a little more differentiation and he was more satisfied in class because she used some of the book�s strategies, like asking questions that kids would answer and discuss in mini-groups, so he always got to share his opinions. She also developed creative activities that required more analysis, rather than just fact repetition. For example, he had to develop a board game based on a book he had read, and explain how it related to the book.
Differentiation for reading was easy because the school follows a reader�s workshop model, where students are assessed regularly for their Fountas-Pinnell reading level. I think this is a great reading program for smart kids because it is so flexible. All books in class have their reading level (A-Z) marked on them and kids are supposed to pick books at their reading level. She paid attention and always made sure there were plenty of books on DS�s level in the classroom that he hadn�t already read (unlike his teacher from the year before). If you�re looking at schools, I think picking a school that follows this model (pretty common in NYC schools) would help your DS.
Differentiation in other subjects has proved much more difficult. The school uses TERC math and DS just coasted along, mostly talking to friends during math workshop and barely finishing (if finishing) his problems before the end of workshop. He didn�t demonstrate anything exceptional, and he wasn�t given any differentiation.
I�m hoping that should change this year, since the school this year started giving prescriptive tests at the beginning of the year, and I�m assuming they�ll see he already knows a lot of the third grade curriculum. I plan on following up with the teacher to see how DS scored and what type of accommodation teacher will provide as a result. Your local public schools should also provide this type of testing, since it is now required for NYC schools (see and select periodic assessments) and helps schools figure out how ready students are for the state tests.
Also, I will need to follow up with the teacher to see what type of differentiation is actually being provided, perhaps make suggestions, and hand out Susan Winebrenner�s book again.
Also, a word on what I should not have said when I was talking to parents and teachers-- not because it wasn't true but because it was totally unproductive:
"DS is gifted": Many teachers (and other parents) are turned off by the word "gifted" and will want to say that "everybody is gifted in some way." That may be true, but your child is a gifted learner of academic material, who needs something more at school. People seem to have a reallyhard time hearing that kids have different intellectual abilities. Parents of kids in DS's class complained when K teacher called my son (and another child) "geniuses" because they thought it was hurtful to the other children in the class.
�My child could do x,y,z at two years.� Most teachers will not be moved to action or cooperation when they hear about your son's precociousness. Many think that children learn at different paces and will eventually even out in abilities. Or they will assume no child would actually develop these abilities on their own and you must be some kind of psycho mom who drilled her kid into learning to read or count or add. (We don�t think so:) ) I�ve heard this (in perhaps less exaggerated version) from teachers, parents and even the principal, about other precocious children at school.
It�s more helpful to talk to your child�s teacher. about what your child is doing now or ready for now. Ask them how they assess a child�s readiness and what do they do to assess for beyond-grade-level readiness. Some will say classroom observation. That�s the trap I fell into when DS was in 1st grade. DS rarely finished his math assignment (basic, one-digit addition and subtraction, which he did before he turned 3) so teacher determined he didn�t need anything more, and at that point, I had no testing to support my claim that he needed more. If the teacher says she�ll differentiate based on whatever needs she sees in classroom observation, ask what they do anything beyond grade level in class on a regular basis to really allow kids to demonstrate their abilities. If they aren�t doing anything, then you have to be bold and tell the teacher that classroom observation will not be enough, and that many bright kids who are bored with a task won�t finish it, and many who have gotten accustomed to work that is too easy will shy away from work that might make them feel less than smart.
At any rate, the bottom line is it will take a lot of advocacy whichever route you take. At least by middle school, there will be decent options at gifted magnet schools closer to home. And your child can take the Hunter test for 7th grade! Good luck.
