Thanks, everyone, for all the feedback. It was crucial in persuading me that I really ought to go talk to the teacher and just bring up some things I had noticed. One, DD is reading at a higher level at home than at school--teacher said this is very normal, actually (?), but that she can't bump all the kids up who are reading higher-level books because of inappropriate content.
Her answer didn't actually make much sense, because DD isn't even in the highest group in her class, so she could be bumped...but I think the teacher thinks she's placed correctly, and maybe she is. It's the end of the year, anyway, so I am more thinking ahead for next year. Her school-identified reading level is N but she has read both Lemony Snicket and Diary of a Wimpy Kid, one of which is like V or something--I can't quite remember. That seems odd to me, that's 8 levels, but teacher said kids will read ahead if they are motivated by the content. Does this sound true? That's a LOT ahead.
We also asked how she is with math and the teacher said "Great." She noted that there are some kids who finish the worksheets faster and are really good at then helping their classmates who didn't get the concepts as quickly, and DD is generally one of these "helpers." She also said she doesn't worry about DD being placed anywhere, in any class, "because she fits in everywhere, she just fits right in with anyone, and she's always helping the people who are struggling."
I think she meant it as a compliment but I found it depressing. If she's really finishing so fast, shouldn't she get a chance to move ahead to more advanced work instead of having to tutor other kids? DD even came home concerned one day that a partner in math class "wasn't getting any of the problems right; I helped her and by the fourth worksheet she was getting SOME right, but I don't think she really understands fractions." I asked DD how many she herself got right on the worksheets and she said all of them, on all the worksheets. So she just spent the entire class helping this girl, then feeling concerned that she couldn't help her more? That sounds kind of kooky to me.
So I mentioned to the teacher that DD would like more work in math when she finishes early, and that she does it for fun on the weekends, so the teacher mentioned giving her more packets, but I doubt anything will come of that, really, since DD is also "happy to help," and I think DD "helping" helps the teacher more than DD doing more advanced work.
I didn't ask about the gifted program specifically because after these answers I thought it was implied that she felt DD was appropriately placed. It's almost the end of the year and they won't consider nominations again anyway until September. I am having a really hard time advocating here because we already had her moved out of one class for emotional reasons, and this class has gone much better, so I want to let things lie a bit here at the end of the year.
One strategy her dad (who is way worse at being assertive than I am, and I am not very good) has mentioned is possibly just having her privately tested over the summer, then if the results indicate giftedness, we have more to bring to the table than our observations, which I felt were easily explained away in the conference I described here. We both feel steamrolled in situations with authority figures and find it easier to proceed with hard evidence. What do you guys think of that option?
Last edited by yogawordmom; 05/27/14 01:23 PM.
