Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Recommended Resources School Shopping Tips?

So as not to hijack another thread, I thought I'd move Grinity's quote over here and hopefully add to her helpful list.



I, too, will be school-shopping soon (though not necessarily buying...), and since it's my first time to do so, I would love to know what to watch for and what to watch OUT for!

What are the key things that make a school work for you and your kids?

Thanks, all!

In shopping for teachers, I always look for the ones who see each kid as an individual with a specific learning profile. They do not see classes as "units" but as groups of individuals.

There was a kid a year ahead of DS who was gifted and also had autism spectrum disorder. I would ask the teachers who had just had him, how that worked out. I chose the ones who responded with a little excitement telling me what they had tried to get him to "click." I avoided the ones who rolled their eyes and said how disruptive they had been. The good teacher like to "figure out the puzzle" that each kid presents.

It would be nice if the school had two teachers at each grade for you to choose from, and let you help pick, even though they don't let most other parents pick. Sometimes having two rooms helps because there is another kid that your kid really needs to be away from.

It's good if the teachers are aware that they set the tone for the children in term of how accepting they are of'the weird kid,' since your child will either be weird, or highly sensitive to the treatment of 'the weird kid.'

It would be nice if sometimes the children get to choose what kind of final product. Do they prefer to write a paper, record a video presentation, make a powerpoint, create a diorama?

Don't look for any of our favorite 'catch phrases' as the school world uses differentiation and clustering and other positive-sounding words without any appreciation of LOG, so that they are basically meaningless. The big acception is this: If you ask point blank about what circumstances require subject acceleration or gradeskip and they talk about susie, bob and harry in great detail, that would help.

If the school expresses glee at gaps, I would be impressed.
If the school talkes to you about 'some kids are working 3+ years above agemates' and we find ways to make school work for them.' I would be impressed.
If they suggest that you hire tutors/mentors to visit the child at the school during the school day, at your expense, with the child being excused from the subject with their agemates, I would be impressed.

Just keep in mind how rare Level III and up kids are, even though its 'normal' here. (1:1000, that's rare) Also keep in mind that 2E and LOG are totally cutting edge and usually will usually not have filtered over to the school yet.

Be sure to sit quietly and observe the possible teachers.

I have learned more from the folks who interviewed my son for private schools and evaluated him, than I did from our local tester who did his WISC III. And at much less expense. So I think the idea of 'visiting schools' is a good one if it doesn't disrupt your life too much.

Good luck,
Grinity

Kriston-

Please pardon my nosiness!

I'm curious as to why you are shopping. Is it just so you'll be aware of the options, or are you less enchanted with homeschooling at this point? I know we were talking about craving time for yourself...

Thanks for the tips! Please, keep 'em coming!

Lorel: No problem. You know me--I'm an open book!

This year we were "emergency home schoolers," defaulting to HSing because trying to change schools without doing any research on them in late Sept. would have been disruptive and desperate and difficult. (And probably other negative "d" words, too...)

For this year, we have the luxury of time, so we want to be sure that we're making the best educational decisions for DS6 and for the family as a whole. We like HSing, but we want to fully consider all our options. I've never subscribed to any particular philosophy about educating my kids: whatever works at the time is what we're gonna' do!

To that end, we're doing a little school shopping. Basically I'm looking at the two gifted schools in town, but that's pretty much it. If they don't seem worth the high price tag, then we're HSing again next year. Public school--even with grade skips (that they hate to give!)--is not being seriously considered, though it's possible I might decide to meet with the school's GT coordinator just to see what our options with public school would be. <shrug> Let's just say public school is the dark horse in this race.

I *am* nervous about HSing next year because DS6's best buddy will be in public school all day, instead of just half-day K as he is this year. That could make my life significantly more difficult, and I do want to be sure that both DS6 and I (not to mention DS3 and DH!) are getting what we need.

At least one of the GT schools--and maybe both--allows part-time HSing, so we may try for that sort of arrangement. It might give DS6 the time with others that he needs and still allow me the alone time I need. Plus it wouldn't be quite as expensive as 5-day a week, full-time private school.

I also have to figure out what to do about pre-K for DS3 next year, so it's going to be a busy season...

So that's where we're at. Please keep coming those suggestions about what to look for in a school!

Thanks!

"At least one of the GT schools--and maybe both--allows part-time HSing"

I would love to have that situation.........We are hopeful we are accepted into a HS science club that meets in the afternoon every other week. We visited and both girls LOVED it. I am trying to ease DD7 into the possibility of HS.
If I could do both, I think it might be close to meeting our needs.

Yes, I think so, too. But so much depends upon the school and how they work it.

We shall see...

Well, that school that allows PT homeschooling sounds like it at least has potential to be very flexible! That sounds amazing. Let us know how it looks!

We are actually talking HS more and more at our house lately. We do not have any private GT schools in the area, or we'd be looking at them. There are plenty of high end prep type schools, but I've heard they are great for MG kids and not great for kids that need more than their out of the box curriculum. We have this public magnet which I am getting more and more disenchanted with since I can't get anyone to return an e-mail or a phone call.

Anyway - I think the flexibility thing is huge. And the attitude of individual teachers, which is so hard to know ahead of time.

I think you should definitely explore home schooling, Kim, if the schools in your area aren't giving your kids what they (and you!) need. The prep & parochial schools in our area have the same reputation as the ones near you, so I'm not even looking at them. No point in paying all that money only to have all the same problems we had for free at public school...

Home schooling is definitely a "plenty good enough!" option for us, far more than our public school was. (Oh, SO much more!) But I want to be sure that the grass isn't actually greener at one of the GT schools. At least there I think he'd have an easier time finding true peers, which will be a challenge for us next year, and I could also get more time alone to write.

Good things!

Oh, and the school I know the most about lets parents AND kids sit in on classes to get a feel for the place, so we could get at least some personal sense of the teachers and their attitudes. I've heard good things about that particular school in that regard, so fingers crossed!

Thanks for the input!

I am right there with you. We too will be looking at different schools and have meeting about next year with his current school. p/t homeschooling would be my dream right now but I don't know if any of the schools we are considering would be ok with it. p/t in a gifted school sounds wonderful.

At least DS' current school seems to realize that DS may be a little bit more than a regular student. The other day I called the office to make sure they had faxed his DYS form. I just introduced myself and they knew right away who my son was.

We too need to figure out DS3 and pre-K but so much depends on where DS5 ends up next year.