As a footnote, when DD got home from school that day, she plopped herself in DW's lap and eagerly inquired, "Am I going to second grade now?" When she got her answer, she quietly cried.
When I told Butter that she would continue to miss out on "art projects" (quotations to indicate that DD didn't even REALIZE she was missing, her expectations of "art" are much higher) if she didn't do the assigned classwork in the appropriate amount of time, she wept bitterly. I would describe her as stoic, so that was my indicator...I promised I would never make her go back in that classroom...and that was AFTER an SST in which they urged me to get herr to open up emotionally. Yes, my art loving child that you want to open up to you...you're going to deny her art?!?!
So, I DON'T think they know what they are doing. I TOTALLY understand your frustration. Sometimes, administrator's hands are tied, and I get that too, but I also believe there are ALWAYS work arounds. My concern is that the person who ou are supposed to take this to doesn't even want to consider YOUR opinion, as the parent? How are we supposed to be a team, invested in your child's future, if half the team won't play ball? I wonder if any outside expert opinion would work? What if YOU gather a ton of research, etc...Do you have an independent doctor's evaluation, will they even consider that?
In our case, I think you saw, we are actually doing "independent study". We have a "school" with a physical campus. Butter can go to class with other 3rd graders 1x per week for 3 hours, plus lunch. They also have a peer tutoring lab (school goes up to 12th, so plenty of help) and lots of other optional classes like art, blues guitar and multimedia. We get all the books checked out to us and only have to produce minimal examples for the teacher to back up the grades she gives. I DO think we will still have a problem when we finish her evaluation next week, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there. This school does seem alot more flexible, though I have not talked to a SINGLE PERSON other than our evaluator and one other parent of gifted that thinks acceleration is acceptable. I think, looking at our school district, I can probably give my child alot more of what she needs at this point...maybe you should look at it more that way too?
