Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Where to from here - a bit long, sorry

Thanks again all.

I had a chat to dd about whether or not she though she might be interested in subject acceleration and she said she liked the idea of it and would think about it. I suggested that if it was an option the school would go for then I was sure it could be done on a trial basis and she could test out whether or not she liked it. This seemed to reassure her.

I hadn't really thought about subject acceleration because she is globally HG, but of course it makes perfect sense as an introduction and perhaps down the track, knowing some older kids, teachers etc she might feel more confident about the idea of a full skip. And if not, but she likes the subject acceleration, perhaps we can eventuallu subject accelerate in a couple of areas, which would at least go some way to meeting her needs.

DD said the teacher did some maths testing yesterday, but apparently only on addition and subtraction facts using flash cards, which dd is good at, but doesn't particularly enjoy. She often rushes through addition and subtraction without thinking about her answers, so goodness knows how she'll do. We have parent teacher interviews the week after next so I'll see what the teacher has to say and if she's still adamant that dd's fine where she is perhaps we'll get some private achievement testing done too. They have her psych test which says she will need extensive differentiation in maths (her NVIQ is 150) but they have obviously chosen not to test that out.

A subject skip takes the pressure off a bit too in terms of advocacy as I suspect (hope?) it would not take so much to organise (could be being naive about that).

Thanks again.

My oldest is globally gifted as well and probably globally HG. Pre and post skip, she tested in the 99th percentile on english, reading, science, social studies... everything except math. Math usually runs btwn the 92nd to 97th percentile (again pre and post skip). We did the subject acceleration in her strongest subject (literacy). It wasn't a fix b/c she didn't belong in the grade level classroom even in her weakest area, but it was a good intro. Good luck! I hope that you can work something out.

I have to agree, being one of those people who would rather watch paint dry with a friend than almost anything else alone - this is fine for 6 more months, but to be avoided if possible for the next 18.

I think the subject acceleration is a great idea, and would ask for that now. I also think arranging a few playdates with 'bright' children from the current 1st grade is a great idea. Ask the first grade teachers to give you phone numbers of mom's from the first grade class - perhaps they know of 1st graders who are new to the area and would welcome the contact, or of 1st graders who are bright but shy and might like playing with a younger girl. (There is such a thing!)

Anyway - I would continue to bring in work samples from home to keep showing the teacher, in a friendly way: "DD loved your unit on Dolphins, I thought you'd enjoy seeing her story that she wrote about them - she finds you so inspiring!"

some call it passive agressive, some call it killing with kindness, I call it 'siege-mentality can create the win!'

Smiles - take small breaks - it's ok to complain to us while no one is looking! -
Grinity