Thanks Cathy and Kriston for the posts - I just get so frustrated and it's nice to hear other's comments about the issue - we finally got her on board with the SPD and she is really going out of her way to understand that whole thing and has really done amazing things in the room to accomodate those needs and now I feel like I have to start from square one to try to get the point home about how to deal with gifted children...it's that old $10,000.00 question - do you just let your child be happy and learn to socialize and hope we can meet his needs intellectually at home(now that his needs are finally being met with his SPD and he is comfortable) or do you worry that his intellectual needs aren't being met...wish there was a happy medium! I actually did the DIBELS assessment on him about 10 months ago since I was a K teacher and was on the county's DIBELS assessment team and he scored well past K and First Grade skills and well into the second grade before I was out of my league in knowing how to give the test for the upper levels...so I have a very good idea where his skills lie and his reading level, i just need to get that across to her...his newest thing is that he earns an allowance now and is big into learning how to make change with coins and is massively into multiplication so we have been making up lots of games with those skills at home (all at his request) - today when I picked him up, she told me that I really need to stop doing these activities with him because "the repercussions were showing up in the room" - meaning that he was way beyond the K level skills she had wanted to focus on with him in the fall..she just doesn't see the whole picture of differentiated instruction for each child and I honestly don't think she knows how to teach anything but the same lessons she has been doing year in and year out...so here is a child who is way beyond her "normal" lesson scheme and she is lost....I think maybe another face to face sit down with a large amount of time alloted so that we can get our concerns out in the air *again* and then offer to purchase leveled readers at his growing pace and would even offer to purchase elementary level Montessori lessons for her if she honestly does not know how to go beyond the simple basics....I just hate yanking him out now that he feels like he actually fits in and has made some friends and is comfortable and end up spending maybe the whole K year trying to get a new school/teacher on board with understanding gifted/SPD children and my son I know would be a mess trying to start all over from scratch again....things could be a lot worse I suppose!
