Hi everyone...I've been lurking around and reading, and would like to see if anyone could advise regarding my DD. She is 9 y/o in 4th grade. Although she's been in g/t programs since 2nd grade, I didn't fully understand until fairly recently that g/t programs vary widely, may not provide her with what she really needs academically or otherwise and that it's up to me to find her the kind of programming she needs. I don't want to come across as a picky elitist with champagne tastes on a Wild Irish Rose pocketbook, because I'm really only a mom that wants to help her child.
She took her 1st EXPLORE in Feb. and her scores reflected what I had figured....that she is definitely gifted, but not PG. She got around the same scores as the fall 8th grade scores used for comparison, with the exception of doing better in English. This doesn't surprise me, as my Documents folder is full of her short stories, plans for her different business schemes, and musings.
Haven't got the packet that helps interpret the scores yet.
My main question is how to figure out what kind of enrichment she really needs and how to get it for her. We live in rural Ohio and programming around here is pretty sparse for these kind of kids. I wonder if it would benefit her to get an IEP (or are those only for kids at the extreme ends of giftedness/disability?)or if the school would give me a hard time about getting her one. I have not brought this up to her g/t teacher. This teacher, while good at her job and enthusiastic, says she has never had a student take the EXPLORE till now, and quite honestly seems to kind of play dumb as far as knowing what's out there and informing parents about it.
I cobbled together and sacrificed all the extra $ I had to send her to the Summer Institute for the Gifted this year, but there has to be something else I can do to help her the other 49 weeks of the year. The tuitions for schools for the gifted, CTY gifted learning links, etc. have led me to the conclusion that this kind of learning is only for the wealthy. As a working single mom and college student, I am neither wealthy nor able to home school.
DD was actually turned down for a scholarship to SIG because the granting institution (not SIG themselves, SIG actually gave her a partial scholarship) felt that, while she qualified both academically and financially, the amount they would fund was not enough to make any difference - so they wouldn't fund her at all. What kind of %&$# is that? Is this the norm when trying to get assistance so your kid doesn't fall through the cracks because she's neither profoundly disabled nor PG?
Sorry for the rant - this is just really frustrating. Thanks for any help!
