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    Our daughter's Iowa, Cogat, and WISC scores have her functioning at the same level across the board. I had a meeting with her 3rd grade teacher the other day, and she mentioned A)a child in her class had been grade skipped into her classroom B)there was an option to put my daughter into a math class in the 4th grade this year. She said that she would email the AG teacher about all this.
    I just heard back from the AG teacher, and she suggested single subject acceleration for our daughter next year (the test to get that will be offered late Spring).We can do math OR language arts (who knows why you have to choose just one!!). She also stated that our daughter will be AIG for math and language arts next year no matter what. I didn't hear anything from the AG teacher about the options the grade school teacher mentioned.
    My question is, what about this year? We have until mid-June. Should I push for more enrichment this Spring? And then what about 4th grade? If she only gets single subject acceleration for math, how about language arts? My other daughter is in 4th AG math, and it doesn't seem to be very advanced so will the AG language arts class not be challenging as well? As stated, the younger one is in 3rd grade. Her teacher says that she is already giving her 4th and 5th grade work. It seems like I need to know if she could go even further if offered the opportunity.

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    There are a lot of interesting opportunities before you. You may wish to get your younger daughter's input on the decisions, to see what she may be most comfortable with. Having a child's buy-in can have a wonderful positive effect on their desire to make it a good experience.

    You may wish to look into the Iowa Acceleration Scale as a formal process with the school, possibly contemplating 2 grade skips...?

    You may also wish to read up on advocacy... having a general plan in mind with the school may ultimately be much more successful than reacting to each opportunity in a piecemeal manner (which can become a nuisance, like swatting at mosquitos.)

    Wish I had more definitive answers, but it truly is different for each child and learning environment.

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    If she's AIG for both for next year, does that mean she'll be in a gifted only classroom? We've found that there is much more awareness and flexibility in a gifted classroom to accomodate needs. Do they use other in class tests to accomodate reading levels (like AR)? Sometimes below level math is more frustrating because it can be pretty cut and dried for the kid ("yes, I know I know it.") Whereas language arts seem to have much fuzzier borders with the amount of subjectivity, and it is easier to get more advanced reading material into your kids hands.

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    Originally Posted by greenlotus
    I just heard back from the AG teacher, and she suggested single subject acceleration for our daughter next year...We can do math OR language arts (who knows why you have to choose just one!!).

    I'm sure it makes complete sense to the school, but if a child is gifted in both math AND language arts, why do you have to choose which one to accelerate in? It may take a little juggling of schedules, but it should not have to be either/or (though I suppose that is better than some peoples neither/nor option...). If it were me, I'd ask about a whole-grade acceleration evaluation so that you can maybe get both.

    --S.F.


    For gifted children, doing nothing is the wrong choice.
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    "You may also wish to read up on advocacy... having a general plan in mind"

    I have been reading about advocacy - thanks to this site and others. I feel paralyzed though. We haven't know for very long that our daughter was gifted so I am not yet comfortable with the idea of having these conversations with the school. It kind of feels unreal to be contemplating an acceleration. I really don't know what will be appropriate for our daughter.
    I tried to pin the teacher down as to what level she was doing and she had a very vague answer that it was a bit of 4th and 5th grade.
    What do people do to find out exactly where a child should be placed? Our child was 99th% on the Iowa and the Cogat, but that just tells me that she did well, but not what grade work she can do. Ideas?

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    "If she's AIG for both for next year, does that mean she'll be in a gifted only classroom?"

    Nope, just pulled out for math and l.arts. My older daughter gets pulled 2 weeks out of the month for AG math. This makes me realize that science and other classes will be not accelerated. She is already bored out of her mind in Chinese class where the teacher is doing stuff she learned in preschool. She liked science today, but said that she already had done the experiments. I just feel like I don't know enough to push a whole grade skip.
    What is AR?

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    if a child is gifted in both math AND language arts, why do you have to choose which one to accelerate in?

    That's the school district's policy. One or the other. The AG teacher recommended the math. If she could do either I guess it would make sense to move up a grade?

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    AR is Accelerated Reader, which is an adaptive computer based reading test that determines appropriate level of reading material. Classrooms that work with it inherently have differentiated reading.

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    Originally Posted by greenlotus
    We haven't know for very long that our daughter was gifted so I am not yet comfortable with the idea of having these conversations with the school. It kind of feels unreal to be contemplating an acceleration.
    Reading advocacy how-to guides helps many parents gather facts, prepare, and therefore feel comfortable with advocacy. They are written to help parents stop wondering or worrying and become empowered with facts which help explore and evaluate various options objectively.

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    I really don't know what will be appropriate for our daughter.
    There is great research which parents can become familiar with... get the kiddo's input... gather facts... then a bit of guesswork and discussion at meetings... a plan is made... reviewed at agreed-upon intervals.

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    I tried to pin the teacher down as to what level she was doing and she had a very vague answer that it was a bit of 4th and 5th grade.
    This does not sound vague, but rather very helpful. Children's abilities can be in a range.

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    What do people do to find out exactly where a child should be placed?
    Some may say that it is not an "exact" science... think of a range with some comfortable work and some challenge.

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    Our child was 99th% on the Iowa and the Cogat, but that just tells me that she did well, but not what grade work she can do. Ideas?
    - Knowing that each year most children are routinely promoted to the next grade with less than 100% mastery (as 76%-79% is often considering a "passing" grade) some families have successfully advocated for their gifted or high-achieving children to take the school's end-of-year tests early to grade-skip (one grade level or more).

    - Others have had success with out-of-level academic talent search tests and the accompanying results reports with suggested academic placement.

    - MAP tests give placement information.

    - Keeping a dated list of books your child has read, including lexile levels, can be helpful. Some parents have shared the idea of sharing only the dates and books with the school, not the lexile levels.

    - Keeping a portfolio of your child's best works, achievements, accomplishments.

    - Reviewing the end-of-grade-level outcomes for various grade levels and seeing which items your child has accomplished.

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    You have to choose either math or reading/language arts because if you want both, then it just makes more sense to simply grade-skip. There are going to be "costs" to both the school and to your child to subject accelerate that is simply not present when grade-skipping.


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