This year, I've finally gotten a response from someone at DS's parochial school that was not, "We do not have a GT program. You might want to try public school if he has special needs like that." One of the resource teachers has spoken with DS's teacher and we're supposed to meet with the two of them in the next week or two to discuss what might be able to be done to accommodate some of DS's needs.
So DH and I are trying to make the most of this (hopefully) open attitude and come up with ideas that would be pretty easy for the school to implement, and would not make DS too obviously different from his classmates (for socialization issues).
We're not sure yet whether the resource teacher will be able to provide a pull-out for either Language Arts or Math.
So far, I've thought of the following:
Math: EPGY Math programs (or maybe Aleks?) or the computer-based Extend and Challenge Activities that Saxon offers (the school uses Saxon math).
Language Arts:
I'm hoping there could be a pull-out for this with a resource teacher, but if not, then I was thinking that the teacher could require that DS write book reports for the books that he reads in class when he's done with his other work. And/or maybe there could be a higher expectation for reports and projects assigned -- if the other kids have to write a few sentences, maybe he could be required to write a few paragraphs? The other option would be for him to go up a grade for Reading, but I'm not sure the schedules align properly for that to happen.
DH is worried that all the Math options I have are online, and that if DS is allowed to use the computers in class while everyone else has to do their worksheets, the other kids may be upset. He thinks some kind of worksheets that are above-level would be better. Does anyone have any suggestions for worksheets?
On another note, has anyone ever gotten bad reaction when they've shown their DS/DD's test results to the school? We're on the fence about showing them. Really, what the school reacted to was that DS needs help not because he's gifted, but because he's showing his GTness early, and kids who do that are at risk of losing their motivation. Their reaction to GTness in general is that they don't have the resources for a GT program.
Thanks for sharing your expertise. I hope this school year presents wonderful opportunities for all your kids! And hopefully, the hoops we all have to jump through to get those opportunities for them will be minimal.
