I want to give up and ditch school at least once a month. However, my kiddo is much happier with it than I am. She wants to stay in school. It took us an entire year of advocacy to get appropriate placement for this year. Last year was a complete wash academically. My whole family was stress out and miserable.
Yesterday I went to our 1st parent teacher conference and it was great. Having teachers who really like your kid and want her to be challanged makes all the difference. DD is now fully integrated into 4th grade math and getting very good marks.
She is in a pullout Language Arts/Ecology enrichment group with 2 other girls. The teacher doing that has arranged a penpal relationship with an environmental activist/children's book author. The are currently making a water conservasion board game. One copy is going to another school in Australia and one will stay at their school. Once its done the girls are going to visit all the sciece classroom pk-12 to let them know about their project.
DD is in a solo reading group. Just her and the teacher. That she loves too! They are reading a Wrinkle in Time!
But this was after a year of review and barely any differentiation or acceleration. I know the administration has a different view of what to do with gifted than her current teachers. I'm hoping that this wonderful boardgame thing will help convert them. Maybe she can skip 3rd and have the wonder 4th grade math teacher next year all day (except math)?
The school also has a gifted summer camp program. DD qualifies testing wise, but its for kids who have completed 3rd-5th grade. Her teachers said she should apply this year!
