We're in week two of kindy at a small lottery charter with a focus on the GATE standards and other gifted stuff... But DD is still clearly way different than most of her classmates. I'm in that "we need to WAIT while they get going and get to know her" phase. We explained a bit about her on the get to know you forms and we won't wait TOO long but the fact that there's a sub for the first six weeks means it'll be even longer before we get really settled in... For now DD is learning how to be at school, and hasn't exploded on anyone yet, as far as I know. Going potty instead of worrying that she'll miss something we're still encouraging. But she's mentioned she's worried she'll be bored, it's all stuff she knows. They did let her go to first grade to pick a book but it was still below her level and she didn't want to read it the next day--novel choosing takes a little guidance! But not a bad sign. I'm trying not to worry that this is all just a huge waste of time. She wants to be learning literary devices like chiasmus and oxymoron. So... A bit more time and then a meeting. Dh is hoping she can go to second or third for LA in a bit...

So anyway, how are your littles doing as the year starts?

Badly. As usual.

The school still adamantly refuses to skip DD7 a grade, keeping her in an age-level classroom for most of the day except for 2 hours in separate gifted classes. Those gifted classes cover her language arts and math needs. Anyone care to guess what the regular class is doing while she's in that room? If you guessed LA and math... nailed it. DD's schedule provides her with no science, no social studies, and no art. DD is supposed to receive differentiated work in the regular classroom, and she's getting nothing.

The regular classroom teacher has already been notified of what a nonsensical disaster her schedule is. No changes have been made. We're notifying the principal this week.

DD is an extrovert who desperately craves friends (the more, the merrier), and she loves both of her gifted teachers. So it's with a lot of careful consideration that she has begun asking to forget about school and go back to homeschooling.

The next time the principal hears from us after this, it'll be to inform them that DD has been withdrawn from their institution.

I am sorry that things aren't going well, Dude.

Our son seems to be settling in nicely. Last year, he had a split day between kindergarten and first grade, and this year, he skipped first and is in second all day. His reading group is co-taught with the gifted specialist for two hours a day. we are a little worried about how math will go in the long run, but for right now, it is providing some challenge since he missed all of the symbolic representation of first grade.

the really big thing is that last year, he really fought going to school at all and this year, he is happily going into the building with minimal drama and no tears and stalling.

God, that sounds terrible, Dude. Today is DS7's first day back at the public school... crossing my fingers that this year will be better than the last two.

Dude, aren't there state standards about how much science a kid gets per week? There are in my state, I believe... That's appalling.

DeeDee

DD9 starts 4th in two days. Her class size, according to the list of names, will be 37! The teacher is supposedly experienced with gifted children.

Thing is, her 3rd grade teacher was terrific and experienced with gifted children, but even in that class DD was told things like "we're not teaching that yet."

My homeschooling trigger finger is itchy. If DD weren't such a happy extrovert it would be that much easier just to give up on the system, but nothing is simple in my experience.

Not only are there state standards about a number of hours for each subject... but we happen to live in a state that enacted legislation that extends the concept of FAPE (free and appropriate public education) to the gifted and talented. So yes, they're in violation of a number of laws.

Hey, JonLaw... interested in taking up a suit in SE Louisiana?

Ugh Dude how awful. I guess a lot of us are feeling the same, waiting to see, homeschooling in the wings if necessary...

Mom of 1 that sounds pretty good!

I'm trying to be philosophical about this year bc it's just k and the toddler brother keeps me QUITE busy, and it'd be great to have the kids in this school down the line, so I could even teach again... But man it's hard. It's hard knowing I'm going to totally have to advocate and it's weird bc I am generally delayed academics as an educator lol! But DD is the one begging to play guess the literary device at night. And at 6am.

This is totally awesome! Your DD sounds just great. There's a similar thread (IMO) going just right now entitled "NEWBIE NEEDS HELP!" in a slightly different area, but I think with the same general device.

(unless, of course, the thread gets hijacked by octopi

Best of luck--she sounds way beyond even grade skipping. I think she might benefit enormously from home/alternative schooling, if you can afford it.

Best of luck!

Can you file a formal complaint with the people above the principal if s/he ignores you? From my brief reading, it looks like Louisiana has some pretty good laws related to the rights of gifted students in public schools. Does your daughter have an IEP? Do they ignore it?

I'm so sorry to those of you are experiencing a very rocky start to the year already.

DD is happy as a clam on this first day of school as an 11th grader. She has a new best friend who is 16 and is so like-minded that the two of them are spending every mutually free moment on Chatango and together (no, not romantic... it's more like they share the same basic brain or something). If only the bestie were also a study buddy. Ahh, well, we can't have everything I suppose.

She is excited about German and both of her AP classes (Physics and Lit), and has even expressed some interest in American Govt. since this is an election year.

Now, of course, it's early days yet. But I saw some very positive signs today that I've not seen in a loooooooonnnnnng time. She voluntarily took notes from her US History reading, voluntarily wrote everything out and took notes for Physics-- she even did practice problems without any reminders!! No stalling, almost no time off task. It was amazing.

We went to purchase novels for her AP Lit class and it was as though Christmas had come early. Her smile could have lit up Manhattan as I piled on the Camus, Hardy, Melville, and Austen.

None of this would be possible if she were in 7th grade right now. :shudders: I really can't imagine. Or maybe I just don't want to.

So sorry some of you are having trouble already. Sigh. 4 weeks into Kindy and ds is bored to tears. He begged for homework this weekend. He got his first "real" homework today which was to write his name 3 times and count 20. Ugh. I made him write his first and last name (he has a really short first). Then we counted to 20 by ones, twos, threes (and so forth) and then backward. I am trying to keep him enthused - but he keeps telling me it's like preschool. I think he's getting "aim tested" (does that sound familiar?), so really REALLY hoping we can get some help soon.

Well, dd#2 just had a math assessment and was tested on things she should know by now, things she shouldn't necessarily know yet, and then challenge questions. She didn't miss any and I'm hoping this means they will start grouping them according to ability soon to work at a higher level. For the past 2 weeks they have been working on the number line and dd is bored with it.

I skimmed that thread and do mean to read/respond. But what the heck is with the octopi etc lately? Lol. I must not have been paying attention to the right threads

I am kind of waiting to see if it's totally unrealistic to expect a semi-appropriate education for DD. It is a charter through the biggest homeschool umbrella here, so I teach her every Friday and some extras so about 27%. But it'll be interesting to see if they can accommodate her at all, if she loves going to this school, or if we just switch to the umbrella and homeschool... They do have a one day enrichment program at the same site on Fridays. And tons of support. I think this is why I feel so anxious right now--which way might it go? Having read so much I tend to expect problems but then again there are lots of gifted teachers there, but then AGAIN maybe we are fooling ourselves about what's possible and how crazy her focus is... Times like these I'd love to have any assessment done on her.

Anyway! Sorry for those of you struggling already, happy for the good parts!

::::::: sigh :::::::: dd8 third grade had her first round of MAP testing today. Its not looking good. She has gone from the 99th percentile to (if the score she gave me today is correct) the 72nd percentile in reading. Her score dropped 10 points from the spring as is now where it was at the end of first grade! She had a lot of anxiety this morning when I reminded her that she had a MAP test this afternoon. I am at a loss... with this score (198) she will be dropped from the gifted program which she needs. Our district does not take outside testing and her WISC was 130. She is defiantely under achieving and we are looking for root causes. I am wondering if maybe there is a LD in there. Her processing speed and working memory scores were significantly lower then her Verbal and PRI.

DS6 first grade starts MAP testing tomorrow. I fully expect his reading and math scores to be higher then hers. Math was the same in the spring. So far his homework has been rather boring to him. For math, they have them practicing writing their numbers and tick tallies. This is the kids doing 2 and 3 digit multiplication and showing an interest in long division! They have started reading pull outs and his reading level I think is at a guided reading level 'm' according to the book they are reading in class.

It all depends on which class. Science? All 100's and a teacher who informed me "the kid is brilliant". Literature? Three zeros in two weeks, all for work already completed but overlooked or forgotten to turn in, and his one test score (correcting grammar and spelling on sentences copied from the board) is a 61%. The rest are a mix of those two.

Dude, hope Jon takes you up on it. That is ridiculous.

My daughter has an IEP, but honestly, it's a joke. The only obligations in it are ones they wrote themselves. For example, earlier this year it said she'd get X minutes in a gifted class, because that's how many they'd scheduled. Later on they cut back the minutes, so they sent a new IEP for us to sign.

There's a section for the parents, but it's merely "comments." I got to put two sentences in there, and they say that DD working at grade level is inappropriate (note my reference to FAPE there), and significant accommodations are necessary in the regular classroom to meet her needs. Obviously, those "comments" are being ignored.

There's such an imbalance of power in this process it's ridiculous.

You call a discussion of the sources of the power imbalance -- tenured teachers working in a quasi-monopoly (yes you can go elsewhere, but only government schools are "free") "hilarious".

Dude, were I in your shoes, I really would get a lawyer and send the principal and district superintendent a letter that shows how they are out of compliance with state law. Your DD deserves better than she is getting. These problems can be solved.

We have had some rocky times with our public school in the past, but we are on track for the best year ever for DS10. They are showing a huge commitment to making the scheduling and content challenges of DS's education work well. His math (subject-accelerated) is more appropriate than it's ever been, and he's happy with it. There are signs that he's going to get individualized and meaningful science education ths year, which means a serious investment on the part of the school, initiated by them. He is placed with a teacher who is equipped to deal with all his interesting and unusual needs. I have the feeling that this public school is really, truly making a heroic effort for my kid.

That's why I know it's possible.

DeeDee

For us, it's so far so good.
DD12 is in 7th grade. She finally started Algebra even though she's been ready for at least a year. She said that the pace is on the slow end of the acceptable range but at least it's in the acceptable range for the FIRST TIME EVER. Keeping our fingers crossed that it will stay that way.

DD10 is in 5th grade. We had a great 504 meeting. I think that this year's teacher gets "it" as she was making suggestions for improvements to the plan that we had not considered. DD is adjusting to the increased work load that comes in 5th grade.

DS7 is in 2nd. He says that his teacher is is best yet.

I am guardedly optimistic.

DD9 seems to be off to a good start in 5th grade, although we've had less than two weeks of school, so it's really too early to tell. The principal and all three teachers have assured me that she'll be challenged, but AFAICT they're still working on beginning-of-year assessments, and aren't doing any actual work yet. OTOH, no actual work = no complaints the work is boring.

Swimming every night seems to be helping with mood / sleep / time management. She's got team practice for an hour twice a week, stroke class for 45 minutes twice a week, and a leveled class for 30 minutes on Monday (which has historically been the day she's had the least energy left for sports).

I've heard no stories of sitting sullenly alone on the curb at recess (which does not mean it's not happening, but at least she's not complaining). The girl who sits next to her in homeroom appears to be becoming a close friend. Fifth graders do Safety Patrol, which is an opportunity to get to know other kids better in a one-on-one or small group environment, which DD finds easier than in the classroom or on the playground. Lunch is coming home mostly eaten.

DD had an appointment with an anxiety specialist last week; too soon to know if that's helping, but we all liked him. He had all sorts of cool toys in his office, and DD ordered a Ball of Whacks and a 2x2 speed cube over the weekend after playing with them during her session.

My kids start school today. Here is a general question. If you are trying to get some new accommodation made for your child (not something that has been previously agreed or is on an IEP, which MA does not have for gifted students), how long should you wait for the teacher and school to "settle in". In our case the request will be for subject acceleration in math. I am thinking of waiting perhaps two weeks. Before that, teachers and administrators have lots of logistical issues to deal with.

I actually found that the "welcome to my kid" email sent on the first day of school worked quite well. The teachers were aware of his needs, and it has helped make the transition easier than last year. If it were me, I'd send a hello, I know you're busy, but wanted to give you a head's up that you may notice ... It would lay the groundwork for the request for acceleration in another couple of weeks.

Good luck!

It would also depend on how old the child is, and what the acceleration will entail. the older the child and the more complicated the acceleration, the sooner to request it.

We are in the third week of school here, and they are doing MAP testing today and Friday for our son's grade, so if you request it too soon for a little one, the school won't have the data they need to make a decision.

Despite how well things are going, I am not impressed at the moment with our new gifted specialist, who bumped into me in the hallway this morning and requested a parent conference because of "concerns" and midway through the conversation, she admitted she hadn't even read his file. since this is only his second year in school, the file can only be so big.

thankfully, my partner bumped into last year's literacy teacher on her way to work (the teacher had a doctor's appointment scheduled and was therefore not at school today) and the teacher immediately offered to go speak to the gifted specialist first thing tomorrow to give her a better understanding of our kid.

the specialist has transferred from the surrounding suburb where the gifted program is mainly filled with highly motivated, high achievers who may or may not be gifted.

So, I'm going to throw this out, though it doesn't relate to where most of you are at it may provide future insight down the line to many of you.

DS 19 is in his third week as a Freshman in college, I know, doesn't seem relevant to most of you but yours will get there sooner than you think so it may be worth a read.

The vast majority of his general education requirements he completed in HS so he's full bore 1st semester into core classes for his major of Physics. He's not sure that's the track he'll continue on, his first inclination was Bio-Medical, however, the Physics Dept. offered him a considerable scholarship, he also was blessed to receive the President's scholarship. There are a lot of common starting core classes between the two majors, Physics I & II, Chem. I & II, Calc. I & II, and numerous others, so little lost if he majors in Physics for the first year or two and decides to switch to Bio-Medical.

Of course with all such blessings come some expectations, maintain a 3.0 for the Physics Scholarship, which should be completely doable, and a 3.5 for the President's scholarship which is much more demanding. The classes he says are actually a little easier than he expected them to be, however, as he well knows, it's not like you get a lot of chances at this and the stakes are pretty high. He knows school comes first.

It’s been over 3 decades since I’ve been on a college campus, I hadn’t stopped to consider before now the stress put on a first semester Freshman in college. A completely new environment, living with someone new, sharing a sleeping quarters with someone on a regular basis for the first time, being completely responsible for everything you do or don’t do, time management, eating different foods on their schedule instead of the one you’re accustomed to, away from the vast majority of the friends you’re accustomed to seeing regularly, the lure of a new tempting social environment, community bathroom facilities….it’s a lot to transition into. Then throw the perfectionism and sensitivity that often accompanies a GT student with the pressure of performance and you’ve got quite a test on your hands.

The good news is he seems to be making the transition okay, not without trial mind you but I’m proud of him. If there is anything he needs to adjust it’s the same thing as the vast majority of new college students, time management. He’s accustomed to getting into the gym about 5 times a week, that physical release is important to both his physical AND mental well being. He’s putting school first alright, so much so that by the time he’s done with assignments the gym at school is closed. He needs to trust himself to take a break late afternoon and train, release some endorphins and get rid of some stress, then have at it again.

He says the honors course he's taking is really interesting, most of the honors courses are largely discussion based and he says it's opening his mind up to new thought patterns which he's excited about. It's really nice to see him excited about learning again after having often been bored through much of MS and HS.

I sent that email the first week of school, because that's when the opportunity arose. I'd emailed all the teachers to let them know that DD would be out of class for an appointment to deal with anxiety issues, and one of the teachers emailed me back to say she'd noticed a specific incident had made DD worry. I knew (from a prior conversation with DD that had made zero sense to me at the time, but perfect sense in light of the teacher's comment) that the underlying issue there wasn't anxiety, but "DD's brain works really differently sometimes."

So I emailed all the teachers to explain what the "brain works differently" issue was, because it's something that can really interfere with DD's ability to demonstrate what she knows. And added in that she was way ahead in math (as demonstrated by testing on the end-of-current-grade test) and was really excited that all of the teachers had expressed commitment to challenging all the kids.

Too soon to know what will come of it, in large part because the settling in hasn't finished. But it at least gives them a heads-up that she's ahead and that we expect them to live up to their statements.

Thanks, Bostonian, for your question (and the responses).

My ds is in his 4th week of Kindy. He just turned 6 (ugh, just missed the cut-off) so he's ahead AND older. He's fitting in well socially (he probably errs on the young side) but super bored. I have waited to talk to his teacher because of the beginning of the year + a near teacher's strike. I believe he will also be ahead for first grade as he is reading maybe 3rd grade (guessing) and doing multiplication/division. They are taking Aimsweb (?) testing this week. Do you think next week is the right time to discuss this? Should I start with the teacher no matter that I don't think she's seen ds' abilities? Help.

Just a thought because my first kid's in pre-k so it's just a thought. Wouldn't you want to tell the teacher before the testing in case they want to do out of level testing?

Old dad, I was in a somewhat similar situation at my UC, I had a regent's scholarship that came with perks like early registration but a very high gpa requirement too. So I was the only freshman in what were supposed to be lower level survey classes that ended up being full of upperclassman finally able/willing to take them... Scary crash course the first term but it really helped me take off with college work and take full advantage of my time there. I worked HARD but also began dating my now husband so it couldn't have been too bad it sounds like your son is doing really well! Let him know you're supporting him but I bet he thrives. And make sure he takes some real breaks when he can

Not sure if you're referencing me or not...but that is a good point. I have no idea how the testing works here (the only way I even knew it was going to be done was b/c I got an email from the PTO requesting help getting the kids back and forth to the testing in the library). I hate feeling in the dark - and ds' teacher is not incredibly approachable.

Oh dear, I hate to be the one to break this to you but, at least in our district, there is no out-of-level testing. Our district uses Acuity. They only test at grade level because that is what they care about. Their only concern is whether your kid is on track to demonstrate proficiency on the state standardized/NCLB test. So our school district pays for regular testing where my kid regularly gets all questions correct on material that she learned 1-2 years ago. It tells us and them nothing about where my kid is or whether she has learned anything. It does allow them to check off their NCLB requirements.

In other districts, they regularly use resources, like MAP, that allow the kid to go beyond grade level. Celebrate if you are in one of those districts. Our district declined to use MAP because it is too expensive.

Well, yeah, but only because I've seen it mentioned here that a good advocacy strategy is to ask for out of level testing and a good way to ask for subject acceleration is to ask to group your kids with others who have a similar MAP test score.
I don't know if we use MAP. I only know it by name from here. I know we use the heck out of some TAKS tests though because every year I see kids wearing shirts that say "attack the TAKS".
My oldest kid's just starting school for the first time. The only decision I had for starting pre-k is whether to tell the teacher or let her discover your child is advanced. My hubby hadn't read that and I guess I hadn't mentioned that part so he proudly told the teacher our kid can read at the meet the teacher event. So the next day I sent in "Flap Your Wings" by PD Eastman and a few days later he said he read it to the teacher. I've heard positive responses back. She hasn't seen his handwriting yet but it's in his backpack so she'll see it sometime this week.
There's not much to ask for. It's a little rural public school. The teacher told everybody she expects the pre-k kids to start reading by the end of the year and she has materials for up to 2nd grade. My sister lives in Florida and says that's super great, she says their public pre-k doesn't do that. She homeschools anyway.

I remember my kid looking at song lyrics at his musical theater practice and happily pointing out examples of alliteration, assonance, onomatopoeia, etc.
I think he was around six years old at the time. None of the other kids in his class were doing this and he was one of the youngest kids there. When he was five and in kindergarten I volunteered at the school and found a 3rd grade language arts worksheet in the trash. I took it home and with my husband watching, had my son read and do the worksheet. It was easy for him. But there was no grade skipping or anything like that at our school.

He hated reading books that were predictable or redundant or just didn't use enough interesting new vocabulary. He wouldn't even read Magic Treehouse books after he turned five. He liked them at three and four but refused to read them after that, preferring to read his science encyclopedia, how it works type books, and DK books, and classic stories with high level vocabulary. He was disappointed that he didn't really learn anything new in kindergarten and all they wanted him to do was color and do crafts that he had trouble doing because he has a disability that affects fine motor skills.

We had to homeschool for my son to get an appropriate education. He is 14 now and has to work around chronic pain issues. He wakes up in pain every morning. It slows him down. It affects the amount of work he can get done. We never had time to waste on "learning" things he already knew. We are hoping and praying that he will be finished growing soon so that he can stop wearing a painful scoliosis brace and have a normal life again instead of watching other people have fun.

We mostly unschooled until now. I did make him do some math and I did make him practice handwriting when he was younger but the rest of the time I let him choose what he learned. This worked for him because he was interested in so many things and compared to other kids he always seemed to be very well read. He was always very interested in current events and the newest technology and science news and even politics. He liked to do online quizzes. He reminds me a little of my mother who read all the time and could answer more Jeopardy questions than anyone I knew--until complications from surgery left her with severe brain damage. When this happened we read a lot of wikipedia articles about the human brain and neuroplasticity. He became very interested in neuroscience because of my mother. He learned a lot about cancer when his dad went through cancer treatment. When he later developed his own difficult medical issues at eleven it was too much so he took a break from reading about medical things. He and I both developed a really bad case of medical or white coat anxiety. Last year was very difficult and he didn't do much math of any kind. My son watched his grandmother die and saw his grandfather go through the pain of losing his wife. He then saw his grandfather recovering from the multiple surgeries that were put off because my dad was providing 24 hour, seven day a week care for my mother. My dad didn't tell anyone that he was in so much pain because he didn't want my mother to go into a nursing home.

So my dad got through his painful surgeries and I got through the pain of watching him and helping him (he lives next door) while also helping my son deal with his brace pain and isolation in a town where he doesn't fit in and with unsupportive extended family that we need to limit our contact with to maintain our sanity, and I am still determined to provide my son with a better education than our local public school and to prepare him for college. We are dealing with challenges that nobody can help us with because nobody else has any experience with this particular set of challenges.

Okay, so we survived last year. It didn't kills us, but I can't say that we feel stronger. We are just too stubborn to quit. And that thing I read about cortisol and belly fat is true. On top of everything else, I now have to work on that. I have to stay healthy so that we can keep homeschooling.

My son, who has always liked taking online quizzes anyway, has been taking AP practice tests on biology and history and getting about half the questions right without having read the books so we are going to figure out what he needs to learn and just learn those things. Because the pain issues eat up so much of his time he will have to do it this way. We just don't have time to waste.

DD9 is having a great start to school - a combo of 7th grade in school and 8th grade via virtual school. She is flying through virtual school classes, and she loves that she can do that instead of having to wait for everyone else in class. She just started playing the clarinet and was put in the intermediate band, so that is her challenge right now - learning to play in a band with kids who learned how to follow and keep up last year.

DD4 started pre-k this year and loves it. We told her teachers that she is beyond what they will be teaching in class, and were told that they are stuck to teaching state standards, so they can't make an entire curriculum for 1 child. (Sounds bad, but...)In the next breath, this same teacher told us that when she asked DD what she wanted to learn this year her response was "monkeys", so the teacher asked her to be more specific - what about monkeys did she want to learn. DD's response: "I want to learn how monkeys hang from their tails."
So, while it seems like she is opposed to doing different stuff for DD, she is actually trying to do more, so we'll see.

In our district there is a fixed procedure for requesting subject acceleration or whole-grade acceleration. They do end-of-grade testing for the receiving grade, might do some other testing if it's a whole-grade request, do an Iowa Acceleration Scale, and hold a meeting to decide whether to accelerate the child. So the timing isn't really strategic-- you request the testing and get it done.

DeeDee

Not that well. DD's teacher is strict this year and DD seems very unmotivated. She is doing the bare minimum and no more. Phoning it in, bigtime. Says she wishes it were still summer. All this might seem typical, but she is such a schooly kid. MInd you, she doesn't have any actual complaints about the teacher--doesn't say she is mean or unfair or anything. I'm hoping she just needs a little more time. Also, she is struggling a little with the math (they have really ramped them up this year--she is at a GT magnet)--not big-time, but she's actually having to think. She isn't used to it and she's panicking.

(I'm telling myself over and over that these nightly math homework freakouts are a good thing in the long run. Sense of perspective! Please! Now!)

DS is rocking preschool, though. I was a little worried, but he's loving it. I just hope the shine doesn't wear off the penny after a few more weeks. This place is like kindergarten was when we were kids--block corner, housekeeping, fingerpainting, daily jobs, puppets. They know he can read and seem to find it sweet. Academics seem pretty brief (I was worried about this)--mostly letter of the week and writing practice (which is fine for him). This is his first structured environment and I just didn't know, but his teachers seem to think he is the cat's pajamas and he's gotten a smiley face for "good behavior" every day. Another reason to consider skipping K...

Kcab -

Thanks for the input. I put on my big girl pants and emailed his teacher last night. I went through MANY drafts: am I saying too much? Too little? It was a nuerotic seizure of sorts. Not pretty. I erred on the side of minimalism (ie: this is what he can do...not the entire developmental history of my ds) and asked if the screenings would pick up advanced progress and if she had advice for me.

Hoping it's a good start to a conversation instead of "my ds is bored to tears and you need to fix it!". Anxiously awaiting her response.

My two find out who their new teachers are today. To say I'm eager to find out as well is the biggest understatement of the year. Not fair that they get to find out in the morning and I have to wait until 3:00!! LOL Unless... I go hang out at the school yard at recess... ha ha ha

(hmmm...)

Nice to read about everyone's experiences so far.

DD5 started half-day K yesterday. The class is small and she knew several kids already. Her friends all loved it, but DD was a bit grumpy. She said they did "like 50 crafts and only played outside for 5 minutes." I think it was more like 3 crafts but she doesn't love that kind of thing.

I'm a little anxious for them to get those beginning-of-the-year assessments done so she can hopefully start learning something. I know some schools in this area actually have the kids come in for an assessment appointment prior to school starting- I wish this school did that.

It's been a looooong wait for us to get past this initial 'start of K' phase. I hope your's isn't quite so drawn out. We don't do pre-assessments either. We're on week 4 and doing reading 'screen-outs' (essentially) to pick up kids who are BEHIND but not ahead. The teacher tells me things really won't get differentiated until end of September in some things and mid-October in others...eek. At least they DO end up getting differentiated. Hang in there! We started our own after-school homework last week, but I think I should've started earlier to keep ds from being so dissappointed. GL!

Thanks, Evemomma. DD has been homeschooled for preschool (and I'd love to continue but have to convince DH somehow!) Anyway she's used to learning at home so we'll keep that up for sure. I'm fine with her learning through play at school, but if the required crafting keeps up she's going to be enraged before long. (Not a fine-motor issue... she can cut & paste easily but she has a tolerance for maybe one project of that nature per day.)

One thing that sometimes helps with this in my DD is if she and I approach some things competitively. Her computational speed isn't that far off of mine. It's good for her to see that I make almost as many stupid errors as she does if I'm doing mental math or rushing, too. Not allowing a calculator really really evens the playing field.

DD is in AP physics this year and it is kicking her hiney (well, okay-- this is what it FEELS like to DD to not know everything without having to actually, you know, learn it from the class... LOL). She had a major freak-out yesterday over experimental uncertainty (which hasn't really been specifically addressed in previous coursework, so she was mixing up absolute undertainty with percent uncertainty, and wasn't sure how to work calculations while accounting for either one). Basically, she was certain that if the first week is this hard, she's way out of her league (yeah, okay... um... kinda crazy, but from her previous experience, I suppose...)

So I sympathize completely. I'm actually HAPPY about this, though, which is ticking my adolescent DD off a bit.

She beat me yesterday in a study game on unit conversions, though she did have to cheat to do it. LOL. All in good fun, though. It snapped her out of the "I cannnnnn't" mindset, at least. I think it also provided her with a reality check. I mean, I have a PhD in this area and have spent many, many years teaching this subjecct to college students... so. The fact that she has to actually (gasp) 'work' at this... is okay. Everyone has to work at it at least a little.

Yes. And since the issues at hand have nothing to do with tenure or unions, I stand by my word choice.

Thanks for trolling.

They're going to put him in the kindergarten class for the language arts block starting on Monday.   That was fast, no red tape.  I guess we got a school that likes to teach.

Wow-- that is fast, Tex!

That's great!

And re timing of differentiation, heck we had assessments the week before school but it still seems to be all the same beginning K stuff. They don't use parent volunteers in class for a few weeks, so hopefully then we'll get DD in some leveled groups for reading, etc.

I'm going crazy adapting her homeschool/homework today for her. The writing letters and numbers is great but the learning about them is annoying. And it's not inherent motivating so she doesn't want to write as much as when say she makes a graphic novel. But it's not terrible.

This is the first year that the school has agreed to do something for DS8 3rd grade, but they keep saying that they will schedule an SST (success team meeting). So far end of week three and we haven't even begun to discuss an accommodation.

He loves school, and likes his new teacher but i hope they come to a useful and timely accommodation.

My DD6 is in first grade. We did not pursue a skip even though she tested at at least third grade in preschool at 4. Now she is in a public first grade with no gifted programming in first and a no skip policy. She started reading at 2.5 years old and is currently reading at the rate of an eighth grader etc. They may pull her out for math enrichment ONE HOUR ONCE a week starting in January, but that is a maybe. She has to sit through kids reading big books with sentences like "The cat sat on the mat" that she could read at 2. I met with her teacher and she has been placed in a class with at least two other gifted kids, one who seems to be extremely gifted, but they are both boys who are more mathy. I often wish she could meet a verbally gifted girl--I know there are tons of them out there. It is still the beginning of the school year but so far she is tracing the letters A and B.

The hubs said,
"It's like telling a running back not to run so fast every time he gets the ball".
I feel frustrated for you and your daughter whether or not you want acceleration at this point I feel frustrated for you right now.

Twinkletoes,

I know exactly what you are going through.

My DDs were the same like yours. At least we had the skip but gifted program is a joke. We supplemented with some Maths at home and let them read whatever (although I censor the contents before they read)they want.

I tried advocating for my kids and other gifted kids at school and the principal cooperated to some extent but we don't have much support. Finally we decided to move 1 hour away to Round Rock ISD. I had to commute 75 minutes each way to work but after 2 wks in school, it is worth it.

They have Gifted pull out program both Math and language arts EVERYDAY. 6th grade TAG Math starts with middle of 7th grade level. It still may not be challanging enough for my DD8 who is a HG 4th grader but she could do 6th grade Math. We'll see how it goes.

I do not recommend moving (took some loss selling the house) but meet with the gifted teacher and present ideas such as Khan's academy (good thing about this is they don't have to teach the kid. the kid use internet and learn themselves) and Stanford online Math, etc.... Who knows, it might work out.

Good luck.

Twinkletoes, that sounds just painful. Hopefully your DD can meet some other verbally gifted girls in some other way, are there library activities like a book club, or museum type classes local to you at all?

DS5 started back at his preschool which runs through K. He likes it there and they get free play for actual portions of the day, so it was the least worst option. But it's still disappointing there isn't an ideal option, the academic side of things is not right and the kids are almost all younger, and it's more of an expense than we'd planned for K. I worry he's missing out building friendships with kids he'll be with next year. He seems happy so far.

We're doing some homeschooling which he's just great with, I'd anticipated some sort of opposition from him somewhere along the line as most anything we ask of him he refuses, but it's been weeks now and he's still a model student at home. I can see why people homeschool, it's been fun and it's cool to get to have input into what he learns. It's the first time we've chosen topics versus just following his lead.

Also taking him to a class in a nearby town with mostly 7+8 year olds, he's barely able to manage socially/emotionally, but the instructional level is just SO nice, a real relief to have reached an age he can mix into an older group class well enough to have it work. The truly attentive look in his eyes watching the teacher is awesome to see, he participates with so few objections, it's really neat. And he's going to an occasional activity at a local homeschool coop, the library, starting sports. Still he seems to have oodles of time at home.

Pretty soon we'll start to work on getting a few minor accomodations with his school, figured we'd leave it alone for a while. Getting some books he might want to read out somewhere accessible to him is the biggest one.

Polly

Its going pretty good for us.

Mr W is homeschooling - Singapore math, reading, writing, etc. Doing about a weeks work every day. He is into set game, mahjong, cards, mazes, etc. He is MUCH happier and easy to get along with - and his sleep issues are gone.

Glad it's going well Austin. How is wombraider?

How long per day are you spending homeschooling? What do you fill the day up with besides it? I'd love to plan to homeschool next year but I think I'd kill DS by a few weeks in, if he's at home too long he starts licking me out of boredom. Or worse has nearly seizure like exponential plans involving wire and Home Depot.

I had a brief talk with both kids teachers today..


ds6 (first grade).. just completed MAP testing. We don't have the compiled scores (primary MAP) but we do know his math score is extremely high (probably in the 215- 225 range). He is in a multi grade classroom (entire school is multi grade). He is in guided reading with the top 2nd graders and reading at a level 'n'. He should start the gifted pull out which is twice a week for an hour each day sometime in the next 2 weeks. He has expressed that the homework is too easy for him. We came up with a different plan for him. We can send in the work he is completing at home. He can read any book he wants as long as we use the guide to hit the talking points. For math... she wants to wait for those MAP scores.

dd8 (third grade) .. she is not working up to her ability. We brainstormed some ideas to help her. She is able to verbalize her thoughts very well but not able to get them onto paper. She is rushing through all her work (including the MAP test which she bombed!). I expressed my concerns about her being pulled from gifted services (which she has not qualified for through the school- we have private testing the school doesn't accept). but was there by teacher recommendation). The teacher is going to have her journal in a letter format written to her and then will write dd a letter back in the journal. Hopefully dd will open up a bit about her feelings and thoughts. We know she doesn't like being the 'smart girl'.

Overall I think we made progress with both kids.

Things are getting better with DD after a slow start, but we have continuing concerns that she may really have an audiory processing problem or "something else" going on. This was the first year I saw evidence of the "summer slide" that everyone talks about. She had to sort of get the gears going again. Though she read like a fiend over the summer, she did virtually no writing or math (I just didn't bother with it since she's been more than able to meet expectations) and she was rusty.

Well, I went to curriculum night. (DS7 had been complaining that the class was focused on learning multiples of two and he was bored. I told him to sit tight while we determined what the plan would be.) It turns out that the fourth grade class will be focusing on "basic fractions", which the teacher explained as halves, fourths, fifths, and tenths-- "You know, the ones that can be divided by 100"; beginning decimals (tenths followed by hundredths later); odds and ends related to figures, solids and charting; and converting back and forth between fractions and decimals for tenths... coupled with lots of drill on basic multiplication and addition. She spoke of these things during an overhead slide presentation, and mentioned the four math learning strands but failed to mention a single item that would solidly fall under the "functions and algebra" strand.

Yes, this is fourth grade in our local math Title 1 school district, afflicted with Everyday Math as well as a PhD-holding math specialist whose idea of an effective remedy is for all to spend months on drill, decreasing the time spent on new concepts and problem solving.

The educational consultant for DS7, promised to be paid by the school system and selected by my wife (a co-professor at her college) then approved by the TAT team, didn't get funded by the district. However the principal, who really seems to want to do the right thing, has promised to pay for the consultant out of his own budget.

One bright moment happened this weekend, when DS7 mentioned that his new guidance counselor, who is apparently the only person in the school with past gifted program experience, will be meeting with him one-on-one on Wednesdays to explore math in new ways. I don't know the specifics yet.

The wife and I are currently forming a plan of attack for advocacy for this year, because it doesn't seem like at least the in-class math plan will work at all. The principal did promise at the end of last year that DS could be subject-accelerated further if need be, and need seemingly be-- there's just no point in enriching him in such a classroom that's so far below his level and pace. Still, we will probably start with a request for a private meeting with the math teacher, as well as getting the consultant to sit in on a class or two to get a factual basis for helpful recommendations.

What do you think they should be doing in 4th grade, just out of curiosity? That doesn't sound terribly different than what DD's 4th grade curriculum (she is in 3rd) looks like, from a brief flip-through, though I know they started out spending a fair bit of time on place value to the hundred millions (this actually tripped up DD--things like "how many ten thousands are in a hundred million" had not been covered for her before). They are not doing addition or subtraction at all anymore, though. That's expected to be mastered. The kids are being tested on times tables and should be finished with that by October. Long division is coming soon. Perimeter and area. They do occasional very basic pre-algebra sort of stuff, but DD has always found that super easy and I consider it sort of inconsequential. As a reminder, these kids are all 130+ IQ. I don't know where your DS tested and if he is PG, but they are not at this time finding this 4th grade curriculum extremely easy in 3rd. (DD did find the 3rd grade book easier last year.) This is just for sake of comparison. I can share the name of the book with you in a PM if you like (prefer not to disclose publicly as it would ID me geographically).

This also sounds like my DD's grade four last year. I remember lots of long division. It was a 4/5 split and she was in 4 (bored with 4 & 5, wanted 6... teacher said no because she "was getting sloppy and not putting forth her best effort" ...sigh). Anyway, yes, it sounds like grade 4 to me as well.

Oh... they were also doing decimals and adding & subtracting fractions and mixed fractions (not sure if that was grade 5).

LOL I remember a conversation...

DD(then 8) "you can't do long division."
DS(then 7) "can SO!!"
DD "do you even know what it is?"
DS "no, but I can DO IT! Mama show me how?"
Me "ok buddy, after school."

I did - a very simple long division example - and it was eye opening because it made me realize all the cumulative math skills involved. DS had all the skills in place (except for memorization of the times tables: he had only a small part of them memorized). So he understood and could do the long division, but it was an arduous process involving scrap paper, pencil and lots of counting. Still, he was able to "neener neener" his sister ;p It was pretty funny. I think we'll do more of it this year in grade 3.

I'd expect much more in-depth exploration of those topics, plus problem solving including some early pre-algebra. My perspective might be skewed a bit by ALEKS and Singapore Math, but the fourth grade coverage in both is significantly more comprehensive and advanced than the way this fourth grade teacher made it sound. I just looked over ixl.com and ALEKS as mapped to NH fourth grade standards, and they are both more advanced than the roadmap outlined by the teacher.

DS7 is completely past the fourth grade curriculum as outlined-- he will honestly get zero benefit from it. That's really what's driving my concern, not a mismatch between my expectations and reality, as I expect a somewhat rough initial fit (and ongoing perhaps due to pace) when we find the right classroom. One extra grade advancement in math is not going to be enough this year despite our hopes, partly because his retention is too good. :| (I don't think that they're even going to cover long division based on what was said, and if so not until later in the year, but he doesn't need review of that anyway.)

He was past the material in this class before the beginning of last year, then received little to no instruction for the first half of the year, then for the second half was doing what he called "baby work" but was really the down-level NH version (or our district's version) of third grade, tuned heavily for drill on basic math facts. I don't think we can sit by while another year is wasted.

I'm guessing that those are covered in depth starting in fifth here. If so, on to grade 6! Advocating for that wouldn't be pretty, since it would require transportation to the middle school.

To be perfectly honest, this is why I don't teach DD any math outside of school. After I taught her subtraction with carrying in about 10 minutes because she asked (I forget how old she was, but not old enough to be covering this), it hit me that I should probably shut up. She's good at math, but not a prodigy. While she has an interest in math patterns, she doesn't ask to learn it. Meanwhile, DS4 is playing with her Flashmaster and mastering all the addition and subtraction tables. I'm wondering if I should take the thing away from him.

She is more challenged by all the blah blah cumbersome blah of how they teach math than anything about actual method or computation, always. She grasps pure math and computation very fast. I'm sure I could teach her long division this afternoon, but they'll complicate and draw it out and make it actually harder. Oh well.

Ultra - but does it bother her that she is not doing more in math. I am in Lucounu's boat with DS and science and am really struggling with what to do. He is much more advanced in reading and math than whats being taught in his gifted school but he doesn't really care. And what the do is still at least interesting to him. The slow pace and simple science they are doing actually seems to pain him, and he is sort of angry and despondent over it. So I feel I need to do something, but really struggling with what beyond "homeschooling" him in this area.

DeHe

Ooh - problem solving - I forgot that (thank you). They do that as well. Not sure about the pre-algebra.


Not my DS8... He's kind of all over the map. He was happily doing fractions and negative number equations in grade one but struggles with word problems. He learned regrouping much earlier than his peers and could do it in his head without showing his work but he kept mixing up the + and - symbols. (sigh. slowwww dowwwwn buddy.)

LOL yes!! (What's WITH that?)

Right--no, it doesn't bother her, so it's okay. I know she could do more, but she's not complaining, although I don't know if she realizes how it could be, you know? Science is a somewhat different story, and I'm not too happy with how reading is being done this year. The good thing about her school is that while the material is not always all that advanced, they are highly enriched in other ways (project-based curriculum).

Sometimes it's better to just leave it alone. If you can't get in-class enrichment at their level, you risk creating too much of a discrepancy between what they can do Vs what's being taught and it causes all kinds of attention issues.

Sometimes you can't leave it alone. DS has brought home unfinished worksheets from class that he was too busy staring out the window to do. Getting him to do them at home was torture. One day he said "It's so boring! Can you make it harder?" "...um, well no, but... if you finish this sheet that your teacher wants then I can give you a different sheet that's harder." Presto: motivated kid, and completed worksheet.

DS7 has also been chafing at the super-simple science lessons that have only really begun this year (third). I've responded to that by getting him science stuff to work on at home. I guess in that instance I'm afterschooling, but there's no other option but to let the school slowly dull his interests.

With math, he shows the ability to do approximately a year's worth of normal skills learning in a month or less (not even studying every day either), learns concepts pretty much instantly or within minutes, and he does ask for it if I let it go for too long (which now it has been, by well over half a year since the last lesson). To let his skills go without use or development because the school isn't teaching him any math is doing him a disservice.

It's this worry about a discrepancy that is too often used as a justification against enrichment or even acceleration. One way in which this surfaced in our situation was when the assistant principal stated that we shouldn't let DS get ahead of his "peers", because then what would the school do when he needed more math than the fifth grade program could supply? (He was at that point already past what I expect the normal fifth grade classroom provides, and of course the real answer is to fix the program to provide what a student needs, or allow acceleration.)

I don't actually think school could dull DS interests in science and reading and math provided there are still books! But what I see instead are potental attitude issues - that it's not even science what is beng done, and disappointment in his science teacher. He and I discussed advocacy and whether he should talk to his primary teacher and he didn't want to, his instincts I think correctly realizing the science teacher might get upset. But more worrisome I think DS is wondering whether the science teacher knows as much as he does! Thinking about doing some advocacy for everyone - sort of along the lines of, they move much faster in reading in math, why not in science. Maybe bringing in some specials,or scientist parents. Something!

DeHe

I think science is different, because it's so incredibly broad...you could afterschool/enrich in science in a million ways and run little risk of overlap (I would choose slightly obscure things...as in, not germination or the 3 kinds of rock). We are a very sciencey family, so we essentially afterschool in science constantly, though it isn't bookwork. This helps a lot.

I don't want to sound like I'm defending the school, but it is hard for them when a child can easily go so far ahead. Would they let him work solo on something like Khan? I would think that might be your only option.

He's not going ahead of where he should be, he's just going where he goes. It's obviously going to be harder for them to accommodate someone with special needs, but they could be doing much more-- it's not that hard.

For instance, they could have looked at aggressive subject pullouts long ago, or another grade skip; there's been resistance not because those things would be tough, but because they are simply resistant to acceleration and have a weird no-double-acceleration policy. After a huge amount of pressure from us the principal finally admitted at the end of last year that DS obviously wasn't being served well and that an extra pullout was warranted at least for math, and that if one grade wasn't enough this year that they'd find the best grade level fit for him.

Honestly, except for transportation across school boundaries, I don't think it costs much at all for a school to find an appropriate grade level for a student. The pace remains a problem, but it's far better than sitting in a class that's below the student's level, and resets can happen periodically to somewhat accommodate for the pace.

Another option: the school could have given him enrichment, but not taken a half-assed approach. What happened at the start of last year was that the school delegated to the teacher, who didn't want to deal with the problem and shoved DS in a corner with some worksheets (fourth grade, too low for him), without any lessons or other input, and with erroneous grading of the worksheets to boot. Proper enrichment isn't that expensive, especially with parents volunteering to offload some of the work as we did. All the teacher would have had to do is approve the materials, and could have taken as active a role in selection and grading as she wished, or not.

We even suggested to the school that I afterschool him on math, but that he be allowed to work on material sent from home during math class. Again, the teacher could have vetoed or graded any or none of the material as she wished. This was attractive because it would have meant his time during class wasn't wasted, he would have needed minimal instructional time outside the school day, and he could study with the other students during the day, sitting in his regular classroom. They simply ignored these suggestions by suggesting alternatives, I think because they didn't want to admit at the time he wasn't being well served or that they found it hard to accommodate him.

So Khan Academy really isn't the only option, and I don't like the idea of my son getting all of his math learning from a computer anyway. I feel like a student has a right to a teacher, at least at this age. This implies to me some teaching either in class or at home which might be supplemented by a computer. Again, they've nixed the idea of us teaching him at home, but they've also not provided one single day of teaching at his appropriate level. My wish is simply that he learns at school and can actually be productive during the day.

Sure, but if the solution is to fix the program or allow acceleration, then it becomes the principal's problem. Whereas, if your child is simply held back, then it's not his problem.

True enough, until I and my wife make it our problem to make it his problem. :|

That's very sad. In the best possible situation a child would be able to pick up the pace later and suffer no ill effects from artificially retarded progress early on, but I'm worried that DS7 would suffer from a lack of challenge, aside from how much further back he would be set on his learning curve toward mastery (and is already set, unfortunately). I am pretty meek about initiating every push with the school, and honestly find the whole process stressful and distasteful, but I just worry that I'm not doing enough for him.

IMACS is cool. DS and I used to both work the challenge problems posted by IMACS on Facebook. He does enjoy some other math-related activities, and I think that those can help greatly to keep interest stimulated and develop problem-solving skills. I still don't want his progress through normal math skills development artificially slowed, though.

Right now DS3 is in puppy dog mode, and has to get involved in everything he sees his big brother doing. It's undeniably keeping him highly stimulated. Some things, like plugging together Mindstorms pieces, come more easily than others, like typing Java (his syntax sucks).

Oh, I don't mean to imply that we are enriching DS in ways we didn't enrich DD. The Flashmaster's been around for ages--in fact, we did get it when DD was asking to "play math" (or something) when she was younger but didn't want to write things down. She's pretty much aged out of it now although we'll need it briefly to memorize division tables. We do keep a very building-toy-oriented household here. (I should start a new thread on that. Need something new for Xmas.) Both kids love Legos, although it's not often done "by the book" here. But DD wouldn't want to do math classes online or anything like that. She would resist, and since her homework load is VERY heavy (at least an hour a day, usually more like 1.5 hours--she is 8), I would never push it. I did get her some logic workbooks, which she finds mildly diverting but isn't necessarily prone to picking up unless we're in the car or something.

We may be missing the boat a little bit. I hope not too much. There are trade-offs with this school. She's being stimulated in other ways. It's MUCH better than her previous school.

its just so depressing that the trade offs have to be so significant though. DS's school is fantastic in so many ways and so much better than previous also. But I find even in his school with a gifted population it seems to under pitch half the content while asking the kids to do a lot - if that makes sense. They do so much quite well which is what makes the science, engineering and other stuff like that so oddly underdeveloped.

DeHe

It certainly does make perfect sense--that's what we see as well. DD is certainly being taught to tote that barge, etc. I don't like to describe her HW here because it would be too identifying, but in terms of special projects, what she is asked to do was asked of me in perhaps 5th grade. She writes lengthy research reports and so on.

We see this as well. DD's school has a very heavy load of writing and reading, but it's not really as advanced as she could handle, and there's lots of repetition and worksheets.

To be fair, I don't feel we see a lot of repetition. They do move more quickly than the "nongifted" school--absolutely. They advertise it as such and it's correct. But it's not as fast as DD could go, and by all rights, she shouldn't be anywhere close to the most gifted/fastest kid in her class, going by her test scores.

Basically, on the whole, they work a year to a year and a half ahead, with special projects perhaps two years ahead in terms of expectations. They are extremely enriched by field trips and presentations and speakers. They work very hard, in a sort of collge prep tradition, despite the fact that this is elementary. They are not, however, individually accelerated. I have come to realize that we are getting something like a nice private school education at a poor public magnet. It's a bit weird. But it's the best thing available.

Update: DD7 now gets an additional 40 minutes a day with a gifted teacher, where they do social studies and science on grade level, "enriched" (whatever they think that means).

She's still scheduled with her grade-level class for 4 hours a day, but that includes morning meeting, lunch, and depending on the day, PE or library. And the part of the day where she actually gets to learn something comes entirely in the afternoon, so hopefully when she comes home, she's in a better mood.

Final update: DD is being withdrawn from school today. Homeschooling begins Monday.

Since we reached this decision, she's been a different person... in a hugely positive way.

Dude! Congratulations.

Awesome news, Dude! I hope that you are all very happy with the decision.

So far, both of my DDs are loving the social parts of school this year but complaining about the slow pace and easy work. I'll be making appointments to meet with their teachers once we get through MAP testing and I have some current evidence to show that they really do need more and I'm not just one of "those" parents.

I haven't been here in ages, had a relaxing summer.

Congratulations Dude. Glad your DD is getting herself back, what a journey you took for her. I'll be thinking of you and your wife and some of the girls-development feedback you received in meetings because DH and I have a meeting this week about a jump and based on one comment one of the women made and her rolling eyes when I said DH would be sure to be there, I think we might be hearing something like this. I'm seriously going to try hard not to laugh, because I'll feel like I'm in a movie or something.

Offered homeschooling this summer but DD said "that's a bit drastic right now" and she had a good attitude going in. She's fading now. We're trying to get to Christmas and might take her out then if she's agreeable and still getting sick constantly like she does every year after holiday break. She usually doesn't complain about being bored until at least earl Dec. and she's already complaining.

She got 1 answer marked wrong on the math assessments they're doing now (see below for me asking for input). On the same day it came home for me to sign, she had a math worksheet for homework that had 19 problems of the exact same things she was assessed on and got correct!!

I'm curious about parent input regarding her answer marked wrong on the assessment:

QUES: 426 and 264 have the same digits, but in a different order. Do they have the same value? Explain

DD's answer: They don't have the same value because 426 is geater than 264.

(yes no "r" in greater...otherwise, is this a correct answer or am I missing something? It sounds reasonable to me.) Maybe they mark off for spelling?

I'd try to politely ask the teacher. You need to tread lightly because if this was a post-test (meaning they covered something specific) then it could be your DDs mistake even though it seems like a perfectly reasonable answer. However, they really should write the questions in a way that the answer they want is more obvious. Why not just ask about place value....Sheesh.

My kid seems to like school. So far I'm being told by the teachers my kid's behaving and being told by my kid he likes both of his classes. I have him fill out a comment card every day and both classes are scoring smiley faces. I have a meeting scheduled with the principal to get her permission to try grant writing to try to help the school.

Dude, I hope you love it. Homeschooling can be great!

Thanks for the replies. I think the place value idea is correct, but the answer itself is technically correct.

Ironically with all of the problems on the homework sheet (homework being for reinforcement?), none of them are these types of question/answers...it is all about > < = , ordering, writing word names... You'd think she'd get reinforcement for the incorrect/misunderstood type question instead.

I always tread very lightly with the teacher. It's the same one as last year since they loop. I have to sign the spelling tests and there is always one or more errors with the grading...either words DD spelled wrong marked correct or visa versa. Last year the first time it happened I signed one but w/ understanding in a little note that I discussed w/ DD the words spelled wrong marked "correct" or spelled correctly and marked "incorrect". But the teacher got snippy, so after that I just signed no matter what with no comment(I thought the teacher would be more careful after that but she wasn't and just make a copy, put them aside, and go over them with DD sometime after the fact so she won't think correctly spelled words are wrong and visa versa).

Teacher's spelling is not great over all with communication. "flexable" "minuet" (minute) "finial" (final) It's just disappointing since 3rd/4th grade are so important for these skills and I'd think setting a good example is a crucial piece.

I probably would have laughed in her face in any other setting. But since this was the district person responsible for curriculum, it was much less funny. Hence, the "swallowed a bug" reaction.


I think having your DD on board with the decision is key. Ours certainly was. She was openly asking to quit school and go back to homeschooling for a few weeks before we pulled the trigger. When DW took her to school to get her things, she was very sad to say good-bye to her teachers, but there was also an iron determination in her eyes, as if to say, "I'll miss you, but it's for the best." It helps that she'd had prior experience with homeschooling, though.

Incidentally, she LOOOOVES homeschooling so far. DW is loving it, too. I borrowed a metaphor for DD from this forum about stress/frustration, where it fills a cup and you need to pour a little out before it overflows. Yesterday, DD exclaimed, "Mommy! This school doesn't fill my cup!"

Unexpected side effect: DD is exercising a whole lot more than she was before. She has a ton of energy when I get home in the evenings. She wants to play volleyball, frisbee, catch, or soccer, even when she's had a dance class or soccer practice earlier in the day.


Looks like a solid answer to me.

We noticed a lot of grading issues, too. Occasionally it would be a correct answer marked wrong, but more often it'd be a paper with nothing corrected. I'd look at those and think, "What was the point of this exercise?" How will a child learn from mistakes if the mistakes aren't pointed out? Instead, the child is merely practicing and reinforcing bad habits.

That's a great thing that you DD said about the cup, Dude! By pure coincidence, DD, who was home today for a district-wide day off, said at the end of her very happy and productive day that she changed her mind about homeschooling. But I think we might aim for her simply not returning after winter break, give us a chance to get organized and it's a natural break. She feels she can cope until then and seemed lightened up.

It's true about the spelling words in the book. At least one word per week she's copied down wrong in her book and still gets a "star", and because of that starts using it that way in sentences etc. We always have stressful discussions about that and I make her look it up in the dictionary, and what is most upsetting to me is that it puts a wedge between us because they're supposed to respect the teacher, it's very important...but why do you have to choose between respect and learning correct things like how words are spelled? It's crazy!

MON, we've had this experience too. The stress and the way it turns out, both. I have learned to think of all those folks whose work on my DS's behalf pays off as "my extensive staff." :-)

DeeDee

does anyone have MAP results yet?


ds (fall first grade)
reading 190
math 223

Yeah. Dd10, gr5:
Math. 242
Reading. 241
Gen Sci. 242
Science processes. 236

We are at a private, or we wouldn't be getting the MAP at all in CA. She's never taken it before.

As I read the charts this puts her at 98-99th for her grade, equal to roughly 90th percentile overall for 7-8th grades. Is this right?

I'm kind of in shock because she's not a high achiever and her output level (speed and quantity) is about 3rd grade. Maybe less. Bringing her up to speed so she can show her stuff in middle school next year is going to be a real challenge.

93rd for 9th grade reading
93rd for 6th grade math

very nice scores!