Thanks, everyone. I did offer to volunteer, and I filled out all the forms. The teacher just mentioned she needs help during the class parties and has not mentioned anything else.
My first question is what did they say to you about the testing results? I'm assuming the testing was done either by your request or on their own for some reason. If it was to test for GTness, they must have some sort of protocol?
They have said very little about the test results, even though I did bring it up a couple of times. A math assessment (separate from the tests) was done for all the kids ; the teacher said my kid does not qualify for advanced math because he did not complete all the questions asked of him (it was a verbal chat, I am assuming; will find out more during conferences). My son told me he did not realize it was a test, further the test was all about counting (which he told the teacher he knows, told her the results without demonstrating how he knows it) and he just thought the teacher was being nice, spending some time with him. .
At the same time, he is doing addition, subtraction and has just started doing basic multiplication (mostly 2's and 3's at home). With math, he just knows it, and finds it hard to imagine that he should actually explain how he knows it. He will explain it when you really explain you want to know how he knows, though. The teacher told me that unless he consistently shows her how he knows things, she cannot give him advanced stuff.
Anyway, I did bring up the testing results for math and reading; reading assessments are next. So I am waiting to see what she finds. Someone in my family is a doctor and he mentioned that precociousness will almost always lead to issues at school. This makes me very sad. I was a very good student, basically I did what I was asked, rarely got into trouble and did really well on tests.
Also, the testing was done mainly for social skills deficits. His play is somewhat different than a typical 5 year old; he loves to talk in depth about various things that typically older kids and adults enjoy. Though he will play with his classmates outside during recess, he barely acknowledges them when he is building with legos, for instance. The school thinks he should be doing co-operative play more (I want him to play more with other kids as well); but he likes to build machines that do something off-beat (such as build a new language, make a rocket carry cars, things like that). For now, he is in a social skills group. I am working with him on taking lessons he has learned in the group and applying it to real life. The social issues are only apparent with peers, and not with adults or older kids (say, 4th grade & older)
If your ds is testing very high in verbal ability but average in processing speed, it might be helpful to keep a watch for potential signs of a struggle related to the discrepancy in ability vs processing speed. There are quite a few of us who have 2e kids with learning challenges related to that type of a WISC profile, and it's sometimes mistaken for ADHD (inattentive type) in early elementary kids.
This seems to be exactly what his teacher is seeing. She thinks he is ADHD, without the hyper-activity. He has not taken the WISC, because he is a young 5. My child keeps asking me why the teacher thinks he is not paying attention, when he is doing so.
Could I also ask what sort of learning challenges you see ?
at way, you and the teacher can make a deal with your DS that anytime he is "finished" with the work that the teacher wants the class to be doing (yes, including the 'preschool' worksheets, if that's her thing)... he can quietly begin reading silently.
What he CAN'T do is interrupt and prevent his classmates from learning.
He has expressed an interest to read to his class during story time. His teacher has asked me if he could read to the class as a reward, if he completes all the worksheets, in the given time, for three days straight. I am not sure whether I should take her up on it or not. I guess I am just worried that he will either start giving up on completing worksheets or just do the needful and read the book to class and stop completing them after that.
The ADD thing is because he does not always complete the worksheets, though he always completes a book, loves artwork, completes worksheets he does find interesting.
(I had to take him & I'm sorry, I can't remember the system, but basically, he was assigned books that were near his level and then had to answer questions about them on the computer in the school library). She also demanded that he still participate in all the phonics lessons and alphabet lessons, even though he was reading at a 5th grade level (by their own tests). She was quite nasty, yelling at him in front of the class about how terrible he was because he always refused to do the play centers. He had no friends and cried daily. He even once yelled at her that he was "Smarter than her and one day she'd see that." (He was beyond frustrated).
This (the first part) would be perfect. I will find out if this is something the school can offer. Also, what is AR (haven't googled, just responding to suggestions) ? My son rebelled at the phonics lessons during preschool (his preschool teachers were fed up), but I have drilled it into his head to just listen. So, right now, he listens to the letters and their sounds without complaining. At the end of the day, when he comes home, he insists on reading a couple of books or a couple of chapters and then feels better about the day. Sometimes, I think he should come home from school, do his homework and play, instead of reading books, just to "feel better" (his words).
I know that it's not something anyone should *have* to do to get the appropriate education for their child, but it was something that helped out a lot in the early years of school for my ds when we were dealing with a lot of brick walls in the way of being able to work at his ability.
Right now, I am a SAHM. I am more than willing to help out at his school, but his teacher thinks she has it under control. Maybe I will offer again.
Thanks again. Any suggestions are more than welcome.
