Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy First Brush With Public Schools

Hi all! I am new to the board, thus far DD5 has flown under the radar because we homeschool, but this past week we had our first encounter with our public school.

DD hasn't been formally tested apart from the Dial-4, but started reading at age 2 and has not slowed down her learning since then. She wanted to learn more so we began homeschooling at 3 and this year started keeping official records of hours completed.

Our public schools offer STEAM based summer courses and DD really wants to attend one of these- and our school has open enrollment so we're able to attend even though we will continue homeschooling in the fall. The problem is that K is not doing STEAM- they're doing kindergarten readiness...which isn't something DD needs. 1. Because she won't be attending kindergarten in the fall. and 2. Because it's a good 3-4 grade levels below what we're working on in each subject. But, those are her agemates so the school is insisting that's where she should go.

We're in MO so education law says that they don't have to attend kindergarten if they've already done it (even in a homeschool setting as long as it's well documented) and homeschool law says a year is 1000 hours with 600 in core subjects. So legally all of our ducks are in a row, but we're dealing with an area where a lot of people "homeschool", don't keep any records or teach anything, and then pass their kids back to the public school to catch up not to mention that acceleration still seems to be a dirty word here.

We have been very polite, because my husband works in the district at the high school, and we don't need to strain his relationships with administration. They tell us that their main concern is putting her in with bigger kids and socializing, but DD is as extroverted as they come and has never been in a room for more than 3 minutes without making a friend.

It's frustrating to feel like we're getting easy perfunctory answers without them actually showing interest in where she should be placed based on readiness. We're not trying to put her in with 3rd graders even though she could probably keep up there- we want to keep her with kids similar-ish in age, but with a topic that she could at least delve into more deeply if she wanted...instead of shapes and numbers and letters.

We still haven't gotten official word on whether or not they will allow DD to attend 1st grade summer school. Last week we were told that they'd make a decision last week and this week we've been told it will be this week...so fingers crossed.

Are there things that we can do in the future that will make life easier with less-than-cooperative administrators? Or will it be easier once she's away from K-1 where everyone seems so age obsessed? I don't necessarily feel a need for official giftedness testing until she's a little older at least, but is it easier to advocate once you have that under your belt? TIA

Welcome!

It looks like you've done due diligence in researching your State laws, etc. Basic advocacy info, meeting prep, school fit info here (but you may have already seen that post).

My thoughts for going forward and helping your daughter gain placement in the appropriate summer class:

1. At this point, proof of achievement may be more useful than an IQ test per se. For example, do you have a list of books your child has read, or can you create one? Be prepared in case the powers-that-be wish to have a small interview with your child... for example, they may want to surprise her by asking her to read to them, without preparation, a page of one of the books from the reading list you provide.

2. To speak to her social readiness, would you be able to get a brief letter of recommendation from any non-relative adult, such as a ballet teacher, swim instructor, play group supervisor, church youth leader, etc?

3. Understanding that "acceleration" may be a bad word... possibly it is so simply because the district does not have a strong background in acceleration such as that provided by research of the acceleration institute... and the tool called Iowa Acceleration Scale (which helps place all pertinent discussion points on the table to assess a child for readiness to accelerate).

4. At some point, whether now or later, you may need to acquaint the district with the fact that children need both:
- appropriate academic/intellectual challenge
- academic/intellectual peers
Gifted children need both of these things as well... it just takes a bit more effort to arrange for providing to meet these needs.

5. Lastly, there may be some teachers to whom you could mention the Davidson Educators Guild (your husband may also wish to join).

Thank you for the information and links to the other posts!

1. I do keep a reading list, and was able to give this to them. They immediately took her for a reading and comprehension assessment while I met with the principal and she scored well above grade level. Though they did try to tell me before they took her that I was probably mistaken, she really wasn't able to read...she just picked up on the context and pictures.

2. This is a great idea! She does gymnastics and dance and we have mixed age groups at our church that have never been an issue.

3. I do think it's just lack of experience so I did mention the research put out by the acceleration institute in a hope that it will at least begin some conversations at the schools.

4 and 5. We will start looking into these things. The educators guild looks like a wonderful resource!

Thank you so much for your advice!