I have just recently found the forum and am so thankful I did. I have a gifted son age 12 in 6th grade who was tested gifted in Kindergarten. We looked into grade acceleration but were really discouraged from it because of social issues, etc. Needless to say even though they had a special full day gifted class I believe his learning was limited by the limited exposure he had to new materials. As I privately refer to it, he was dummied down while waiting for the rest of the kids to catch up. His main gifts were mathematics. Fast forward I now have a daughter who is 6 and in first grade and was just tested for gifted. Her scores are General Conceptual Ability 150. Verbal 140, Non Verbal Reasoning 142 and Spatial 157. Her gift is really language arts. I talked with the school extensively and they finally agreed to have her spend a 2 1/2 hour block in 2nd grade for language arts/reading. She is in the top group in 2nd grade and all is well socially.
I am considering pushing for whole grade acceleration and have her move into 3rd grade next year. I know it will be a battle with the school, but feel that if she continues in her current grade level she will eventually "dummy down" waiting for other kids to catch up.
Having her always be pulled out for a subject acceleration seems like it would set her apart from the other kids in both classes and cause more socially issues than just skipping ahead a grade. Plus what happens in the last year of elementary school when there is no grade to be pulled out to accelerate with? Her other subjects are ahead as well and her teacher currently has her working out of the 2nd grade math book too, but in the 1st grade room. Her language arts skill level though is at least 2 years ahead while other subjects are closer to 1 year ahead. I don't work with her at home on any of the subjects as she is already so far ahead of her peers. What are reasons to stick with subject acceleration versus grade acceleration?
What is this Iowa Acceleration Skill thing I hear about? Is that something I can administer at home or is it done somewhere? Are there other methods for evaluating whole grade acceleration? Does anyone have any tips on going to the school to ask for it? According to our school district, the principal makes the decision whether or not kids are accelerated. I'm sure they gather information from some sources, but don't know what those sources are. Thanks for any input.
