I had a meeting today with ds6 principal, K teacher, and school psychologist. The principal requested the meeting after I requested to have ds achievement tested to get a better understanding of where his abilities lie. I thought the meeting might go like this: here are the miniscule things we can do for ds, sorry.

Instead it went like this: you're crazy, ds is not ahead. What? I was left with my mouth open a few times...literally. And, just to preface, I have really checked my ego on this, I don't NEED ds to be ahead. I'm completely realistic with his cruddy soccer skills, pouty attitude, poor speech articulation, and asundry of other 'not perfect' things about ds. I love him no matter what - he's my awesome kid no matter.

So, firstly, my dh missed most of the meeting due to a traffic jam downtown. So that stunk: 3 against 1. They started out telling me how 'special' ds was and how he was thriving in the classroom. BTW: the description of "thriving" was that he doesn't get in any trouble and is pleasant.

Reading assessment: teacher explained ds was at a level d on the a-z system. I was flabbergasted. DS started reading at 2.5. At home, we are reading chapter books such as Magic Tree House (not sure what the level is, certainly not MAJORLY advanced, but pretty sure it's above a D). I asked how they came to this level, and the teacher (without any actual assessment in hand) explained that it probably wasn't his fluency but his reading comprehension that was struggling. Crazy. Just this weekend, my dh was quizzing my ds on his current chapter book - ds comprehends it fantastically. He's not a perfect reader...but he's far beyond K level. I honestly felt like they were talking about a different kid.

Then they showed me the results of his aimsweb testing. My ds' levels were everywhere: 99% in certain subtests and 10% in another. In fact, that one was letter identification, which everyone agreed meant that ds was clearly CLEARLY not invested in the assessment process. So essentially, they gave me all this information that, not only was ds not ahead, but he was potentially barely meeting standards. WTF?

I get the school can only see what ds shows them. But, then the teacher explained that she had given ds a challenge packet to work on (optionally) and he has chosen not to do so. If he's so on-par, then why would he have a challenge packet?

I felt like an idiot. Worse, my dh who arrived late, pretty much sat silently and let me sink as I attempted to explain where ds was ahead (reading - which they thought I was crazy), math - including multiplication/division/simple algebra. I honestly felt that they thought I was delusional. I asked my dh why he didn't speak up - but he said it wouldn't mean anything if ds isn't showing him his abilities. It would've meant something to me: that I am not crazy in my assessment that ds could've passed K curriculum LAST year (or even earlier).

So, we left it that teacher would send home the challenge packets for ds to do as homework, and that he could start participating in the AR program, and that the school pyschologist would look into some sort of assessment to look at ds' math ability.

I don't think they are malicious or out to get me or ds. I get that they can only assess what ds shows them...but I still left feeling like an idiot.

What do I do? It is clear that they are not seeing ds' ability or potential. It seems that ds has completely dumbed himself down to be the "perfect K-er". I am so sad to see that he isn't in an environment where his thirst for learning is met in the slightest.

Sorry for the rant - I feel discouraged.