We did the homeschool after school. K was a 1/2 day program, the teacher was great, she made every effort she could to work with us. That being said it wasn't enough in all areas math/ reading. She did however help with writting and spelling. After school we did about 15 minutes of reading outside of the little books he was given to take home. In math they asked for 5 minutes at home we did about 15min. Some days more or much more, some days none. In advocating we met with the K teacher principal, district gate coordanator, director of elementary schools, and two of the school board members. All had open doors, they were all nice, however they all were against a grade skip to 2nd for next year. However if we pushed I am sure it would have happened. We became active with the PTA, the school site council, etc... Over time the principal and the teacher started to become advocates also. That being said let me give you an example of how they still don't fully underrstand. End of year k evaluations, the k teacher asked for and got permission to test his reading up to begining 2nd grade. The teacher infored us that he is reading at leval F, I know he is more at level L (I have simaler tests)There testing says F, because its as high as they tested, not as high as he can test. I appreciate the effort. The mentality is very stongly set. SCHOOL IS ABOUT SOCIAL INTERACTION NOT ACADEMICS. Also fear is at issue, when the ES school placed DS5 with a 2nd grade teacher for Math, it creates a problem at 4th grade as to where to send him for math. Advocacy takes time, even once a school agrees that your child is gifted, then what? Our school agreed to allow John Hopkins online math for next year, isntead of classroom math, they agreed to moving him up a grade fo reading. We decided that it was not enough and went the private school route. The best is be adaptable, things always change.
