Hi everyone! I'm reporting on our recent experiences in advocating for DS5 before he enters the school system. A little background: we had DS tested at age 4.1 on the SB-V, because we wondered if he should go to kindergarten early. He scored very well (HG+), and the psychologist recommended letting DS play another year. So we did that, keeping DS in part-time preschool, while also reading everything we could on gifted, including this extremely helpful board.
A good friend with an HG son recommended that we talk with the gifted coordinator (GC) in our district before DS gets to school. (FYI- we live in a pretty small city in MN, an hour away from large metro areas.) We met with the GC a couple months ago, and we gave her the SB-V reports to share with the principal at the K-2 school. We shared our concerns about how DS will fit in at the school. About the same time, I called the state's gifted specialist, who also recommended speaking with our district's GC.
Last week, the GC called to tell us that she shared DS's info with the school psychologists and the principal, and they want to do additional testing on DS5: WJ-III and 2 social/emotional questionnaires. The group met with us today, and we completed the social/emotional questionnaires and scheduled the WJ-III in a couple of weeks. One school psych will also be observing DS in his preschool next week. DH and I didn't talk much during this meeting; we wanted to see what they had to say. It was all very positive, and they told of their past experiences with HG+ kids (not very much experience at all, but they have accelerated a handful of kids in the past and seem open to all kinds of ideas when they get done with this information gathering phase). They also explained the tests. DH asked how many other meetings like this they have had, and ours was the first.
We feel that the GC has really gone to bat for us and really gets our DS's situation. We are so happy that the school is meeting with us even before DS is enrolled. And they are finding out this information before teachers for next year are chosen. (Note: Because our small district does not have many policies in place on this issue, we may be in a better position than those of you who have to go through all the steps of established policies.)
Once they get all the info together, they said they will work with us to develop a program for our DS.
Because I have seen so many people here talk about how they have talked to the teachers or principals before their kids enter school, but haven't seen many stories of those who have approached the GC directly, I wanted to share our (so far) positive experience with the path. Our GC has been a wonderful advocate for us.
Another positive: the WJ-III is one of the tests that DYS accepts, so if that goes well we won't have to pay for that testing if we apply to DYS.
We will keep you posted on what happens over the next few weeks. Thanks everyone for sharing your stories so that we would have a clue about what to do!
