Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy exciting discussion - updated

Kerry, I love it! Good for DD for jumping in with both feet or eh shoes! LOL

The news keeps getting better - we definitely did the right thing pressing for this to happen.
DD got the only 100% on the latest science test, and she was only in class for the last 1/4 of the unit. The art teacher told me yesterday that DD makes her day. She loves her enthusiasm and interest and perspective on things and that she is not intimidated or anything.

The only slight snag is that in English they are reading and doing a lot with "7 essential habits for the teenager" and most of the things in there are so far away from DD's perspective she is having to work hard to figure out what she is supposed to do for some of the assignments. But, she is trying to figure them out and make some sense of them when she has no reference point for the material. We know this is purely a function of her age and aren't worried about it. (Especially since she is accepting the challenge and rarely getting frustrated by it. )

She is also more focused and working more during homeschool time! Her attitude is improved and she is willing to do more than she was before.

It is so nice to have a good placement for her. Keeping our fingers crossed that it continues.

That's brilliant - wonderful to hear such a positive story! Well done your DD and her advocates :-)

Well, we got a month out of the new experience before we hit the wall. No, it did not come from anyone at school, it came from DD herself. DD had a meltdown in the parking lot of KFC almost 2 weeks ago now. The reason? "I'm overwhelmed with what I can do. 9 yr olds aren't supposed to be able to do all that I can. I wish I could give my friends my brain for a little while just so that they'd understand me."
When questioned about it I discovered that since she is now in 6th grade and not putting any more effort into her work (and still getting As) than before the big skip she is beginning to realize just how much smarter she is than most other kids. She was really thinking that she would finally be challenged and she isn't. She also is seeing other 6th graders who are struggling and she is having a hard time understanding how they are having such a hard time with stuff that she has known for a long time.
We will meet with the teachers next week and try and come up with some sort of a plan for her.
We knew this would happen, but we were hoping that it wasn't going to happen quite so quickly. It just really makes DH and I face the fact that we really do need to find other solutions for DD's education.

Kerry, that's hard. All that self-awareness that's a problem now is going to be an asset down the road, though. I hope you find a good solution.

DeeDee

Kerry, it is hard, but it's possible that it really will be ok, perhaps with a little tweaking. It is an enormous thing that she is realizing, but after all, that was 2 weeks ago. How have things been since then?

Keep us posted!
Grinity

Since her meltdown, DD has been happy to go to school, has no longer expressed being overwhelmed. We have given her some challenges/goals outside of school for her to try and reach to see if she can focus on other things rather than academics.
We are working on perseverance in her effort with tae kwondo and practicing to increase her stamina and strength. Since this is the first thing she has really liked for physical activity, we will reward her with either a fish or turtle or hermit crab if she can show constant improvement and effort toward her next 3 belts. (She saw some kids demonstrate some of the stuff they learn in black belt classes and she wants to be able to do that now, so there is also an intrinsic motivation now.)
I think as she has adjusted to her new understanding of who she is, she is actually accepting it more. She has also started to realize that her little sister is gifted too and she seems to like the idea that she isn't "the only one" in the family.

I sometimes think that my administrators have been replaced by aliens - and I mean this in the best possible way.

I was having a conversation with my head of school yesterday (the equivalent of the superintendent since we're a one school school district) and DD9 and her academic needs for next year came up. The details of the conversation were amazing! Right now DD is enjoying 6th grade part time at school, but is still not challenged, and is really ready for 8th grade classes next year for most courses. My head of school started speculating about possible scenarios that would work for her - it was amazing how flexible she was being in her ideas. At one point she even said "we can figure out a way to make this work for her because I mean, she's out of the box already, why even worry about a box?" I am sure that my jaw dropped to the ground at that point. She is willing to have her enrolled in all sorts of different grade level classes, even if it means she is sitting in high school classes and 7th grade classes in the same day.

After I was done talking with her about work stuff, I was walking down the hall and ran into the middle school principal and he was asking how DD was doing. He then went on to say that he is so happy that this year is working out for DD and that every time he sees her she is happy and with friends. He did an observation in her English class and if he hadn't known she was younger he wouldn't have even noticed her as being different from the others in the class.

What he said next was the jaw dropper of this conversation:
"I am so glad that we tried this because she has made us as a school look at education in a different way and really take a look at what we hold as being true for education for gifted kids, and meeting their needs. I am sorry that we are actually failing her because we are still not challenging her, but I am so glad that we have started down this path to try and find a fit for her. You have no idea how nervous we were about allowing her to enter 6th grade and how she has really changed the outlook of people involved about what is possible."

I do not know exactly who he was talking about, but I have a pretty good idea. I think it is great that DD is making people rethink their long held beliefs about what "free and appropriate education" really means. I am hopeful that this will mean that others will have an easier time trying to do things like we did when it is appropriate.

I will let you all know more as we figure out next year, but wanted you to hear that DD has really made a difference here, and is doing it by simply being her silly, lovable self.

Very encouraging! Thanks for sharing.

Wow! I wish those aliens would invade more schools:) I'm so happy for you and your DD.