Hello, I have 3 children 13, 6 and 3.
My 13 year old is in 7th grade and in the (supposedly) Highly Capable program at her school. It is a serious joke. They are not doing ANYTHING different or even at a faster pace than the "regular" math class. The problem appears to be that they have blended some upper average kids into the HiC class. This is a yawner for my kid. Another parent has tested her child into geometry - which can only be taken at the high school, so she will have to truck her over there and back for one class. The language arts portion is another snoozer for her... they are completely WASL (Washington Assessment of Student Learning) and ALL they have done all year is WASL prompts. I am on the Learning Improvement Team for this school - and I can assure you that 2/3 of every meeting is devoted to issues with getting more students to pass the WASL.
I have attempted to address my issues with the lack of challenge for the HiC kids with the LIT.... it was met with an attitude of they're having been insulted... and I was somewhat dismissed because I am not "educated" in education and don't understand that blending is better for all the students than leveling. I've attempted to research on my own... and have gotten nowhere.
My second situation is with my 6 year old son. He is already the youngest kid in his class because his birthday falls in August. He is seriously bored. I see him as being even more of an issue for me than my older child. He is displaying thinking and problem solving skills superior to hers at a younger age. At 6, he is able to solve double digit addition problems in his head - in class, they are working on "plus 2"... at home we've introduced him to carrying. He can perform math functions using negative and positive numbers on both sides of the number line - in his head. When deciding how to spell a word, he says that he "sees it in his head". He understands electrical circuits and can tell you what plasma is in relation to molecules and atoms. He has social problems with kids (not severe) in that he doesn't like the way they behave. The lack of maturity troubles him... the kids he gets along best with are the older kids - a year or more older than him. Because of his size (he's actually a little big for his age, but already one of the smaller kids because of his birthday)... I really hesitate to lobby for him to be accelerated to the next grade. What I want is for him to be given the opportunity to learn at his own pace. I'm considering having him tested this summer... but don't even know how to go about doing that.
The HiC program in the elementary school stinks even worse than the middle school program and is not even available until 4th and 5th grade. My thoughts are - if it's been this bad with my daughter, how much worse is it going to be for him? How do I advocate without alienating the teachers and administrators?
I don't think that I would call either of them "exceptionally gifted"... but they are both very motivated... and are highly capable. I think with the right type of stimulation they COULD be exceptional. I just don't know what to do at this point. Private school is not an option and I do not have the temperament for homeschooling. I don't know where to turn.
We are in the east side of Seattle in Washington state.
help!
