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

You may remember that in the spring, early summer I had had a discussion with the middle school principal at my school about DD8 being radically accelerated into 6th grade for the gt English class, art and possibly science and he was very supportive and knew all of the research etc etc etc. When push came to shove however nothing was ever done and DD was not allowed to do this, so we decided to homeschool her.

Well, DH has been doing a pretty good job home schooling her and getting her set up with the middle school GT English teacher from my school to mentor her once a week and the high school art teacher to do the same.

We asked again before Christmas break about her being able to be enrolled 1/2 time in these three classes again and were again told no. This time we were told it was the guidance dept. and ed psych that said no - "she's too young" was the argument .

Fast forward to yesterday: The middle school principle came and found me yesterday and told me that DD8 will be able to go into gr6 starting Monday (the beginning of 2nd semester) in the three classes above!! Apparently the head of school pushed the issue because she finally realized that if we couldn't find a solution for an appropriate education for DDs then we would have to move to somewhere we could and then she would have to find another physics teacher (something that is hard to come by.)

So, as of yesterday DD8 is officially a 6th grader with partial enrollment at my school! We are so excited. She is a bit nervous, as are we, but mostly just excited about the opportunity for her to finally be challenged. I know the three teachers and they are all really good, and will be good fits for her.

I'll keep you all updated as things go along.

Congratulations - wonderful news!

Thanks for sharing all the ups and downs of Advocacy, it's really hard to realize that 'no' doesn't really mean 'no.' But so many times it just means 'I need more time to decide' or 'I need to vent a bit more' or 'Ask me again and look confident.'

And that's with a principal who knows all the research....

And yet sometimes folks will open their minds and do right after all.

Smiles,
Grinity

Kerry, I am SO HAPPY for you and your daughter!!! Great job!

Day one went well. DD has a couple of different students assigned to make sure she gets to where she needs to go for the next few days. When I asked her how her first day went she said "well, it went pretty well actually." For her that is almost as high praise as you get these days.
Apparently her teachers' all have different thoughts about her being in their classes. One is super excited at the challenge of educating her, one is nervous about trying to teach her and how to differentiate for her and the third is not at all concerned with the class work, but is concerned about the social aspect.
The other kids asked her how old she was and when she told them she was 8 a few of them couldn't believe it.

We'll see how tomorrow goes - we do 100 minute block schedules, so she'll have all 3 of her classes for 100 minuets each with 10 minutes break between periods 1 and 2 and then lunch and then 3rd period. I think she will be wiped by the time she gets done.

"You know Mommy, I think this is going to be a great year."

What better way can I sum up DD's 1st week as a 6th grader? (This is what she told me after school Thursday when asked what she thought of school.)

She is having a great time at school, she loves English and art, says science is too easy, but is still fun, so that's ok.
I can see the cafeteria from my classroom and she is eating with a group of kids and looks like she is having fun too, so no worries there.

We are so happy that this seems to be working out. Hopefully it will last.

That is awesome! It makes me happy to see schools working with these kids!

Great year is a long way from pretty good...and fast. Great news!

This is all such wonderful news! Congrats on your advocacy. I'm so happy for you and your DD.

Congrats. I think this is an amazing breakthrough for your family and others to follow. I'll bet the kids will be very sweet to her because she is only 8. They'll most likely adopt her as their mascot or little sister.

Keep us updated!

The principal talked to me today about DD and asked how she was liking school and the kids and the whole situation. When I said she was loving it and was so happy he was genuinely pleased for her. He said that the teachers are also reporting that they are happy with her in class, that she is not in the least bit intimidated by being with older kids and she participates in class and is doing really well.
I eat lunch with her art teacher, and she loves having DD in class because she has such a clear idea of what the teacher is talking about, but also has some thoughtful comments to make and questions to ask about variations on assignments. (For example, they had to bring in their sneakers to draw and practice different line shapes and thicknesses. Apparently DD was one of a few students who requested that they be allowed to bring in different shoes, rather than their sneakers because these other shoes had better line patterns on them!)
It is so nice to see DD come into my room after school beaming with excitement or bursting to tell me something she learned - something that has rarely happened in the past. And of course, the overflow into being happy at home is an added bonus.