Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Teacher asking you about your child

I am going to take a different tune on this only because I've been down this road. What the teacher is really looking for is "are there any behavioral issues we need to know about, struggles we need to work on, medical concerns, learning issues etc." I think the best approach would be to simply state, without going into too much detail, that your child is advanced, will most likely require additional enrichment or possibly more advanced work and add a comment that the teacher should contact you if further clarification is needed. I have found that teachers feel very threatened by "this is what Johnny is doing and this is what you need to do for him because what you need to teach the rest of the class, Johnny has been doing for the past 3 years." While your approach may be mild, I guarantee that the teacher will see it in a harsher manner than you intend. Not only that, but oddly enough, you may get the "they will all even out" approach by the teacher if not presented with caution. The reason I say this is that I spent the first several years of DC's life trying to explain my DC to the teacher each year and getting NOTHING out of it, other than, pull-outs, more challenging work (based on the grade level, but not on what my child really needed) and only needed to grade accellerated later on. If you DC is in K and you mention that he or she understands negative numbers and what not, the teacher is NOT going to give that child anything remotely close to what he is capable of doing. The only reason I state this again, is because I lived it and it's a nightmare and extremely frustrating to hear all of the things that the TEACHER thinks is challenging for your child, yet it's not all in reality. I know teachers can often mistake this honesty as a pushy parent. We all know you are not, but many of us have already been down this path and if we can prevent another from the walls we hit, it's worth a shot. By being honest and not reporting TOO much and opening the lines for communication, your odds might be better. Also, when conferences role around, that is a great time to bring up the conversation again if you haven't seen much prior to.

Good luck!