Amen!
Sometimes the teacher makes all the difference. But you can't always select just the right teacher. In the end though, I think at this point, that 99% of brick and mortar schools cannot provide gifted kids' needs. They are not set up for individualized instruction. How can an overworked teacher possibly make a completely different set of homework or classwork for every student; they have a one-size-fits-all strategy that just doesn't work. I would literally have to make up my daughter's curriculum myself(might as well homeschool her?)!
I have been looking into online (virtual) school lately and I like what I hear but I'm not sure if their standards are as high as the brick and mortar they are currently enrolled in. (a teacher I've talked to said she doesn't recommend virtual school because some of the skills did not seem adequately provided for, like speaking and social skills, etc...). I guess I would have to keep that in mind and find an activity that I can include that would provide speaking and social skills.
In my experience though, I did not learn social skills until in the workforce, so I do not think I learned that in school anyway. Personally, I think that if she is allowed to find her own friends (whether they are 2,5, or more years older) would be a far better alternative to being stuck with kids she has very little in common with. Incidentally, I had a conversation with the same teacher and she expressed concern about placing my daughter in fourth grade because the kids in 4th were too rowdy. My daughter seems to show more maturity, in school, than kids at least a year older than she.
As to what doubtfulguest was saying, I totally agree. I have told the teacher and school academic councilor that I never had to work at getting good-enough grades, I never studied like other kids had to, therefore I had no study skills and very rarely failed at anything I tried, so consequently when I was young, I refused to do things that I had to struggle with. Now I wish someone had made me stick with them. The councilor also said that they have to do review work and I told her that review is redundant, I very rarely lost information once I understood it. Sad thing is I know I did not convince her; she still will not recommend my daughter being accelerated.
So here she sits in a school environment she does not like and is refusing to go to school. I am not sure what to do. I know I can force her, but is that what I should do?
