I wish I had sage advice, but I don't. IME, schools that are willing to help do so without being asked or after a single conversation. The rest resist what is presumably seen as coloring outside the lines.
FWIW, I've got that same meeting coming up on Wednesday. I had asked that my 6th grader be allowed to do algebra and they put her in pre-algebra. She's already done 3 chapters of a rigorous algebra course with me and she doesn't need pre-algebra. [sigh]
I have some thoughts regarding why this problem happens. First, I suspect that many teachers and/or administrators feel uncomfortable around gifted kids. The problem may worsen if the child doesn't fit the teacher-pleasing high-achiever mold that's often associated with the word gifted.
My daughter needs to be challenged. Without it, she falls into a trap where she shuts down the moment something gets hard. Yet her last school (at a new one this year) seemed completely unable to even consider the idea that she needed something different than what's on the school's list of standard approaches. This in spite of the fact that the school was tiny (11 kids in her class, and the math teacher had <30 kids total in grades 5-8). The school also promised that every student works at his own pace, but in practice, that meant, "at the pace of group A or group B."
I've also observed that this problem is extremely common in math class. Most math K-8 teachers don't have a solid understanding of mathematics, which presumably contributes to feeling uncomfortable. Dunno.
Last edited by Val; 09/08/14 03:21 PM. Reason: Add missing word
