Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy advancment to meet ability and fine motor skills

Hello~
I have a student who is 7 and enrolled in the second grade. He is reading at the 10th grade level. He is currently using second grade literature which is BORING to him. (not shocking) I want to advance him in curriculum but wonder about his ability to write, as our curriculum advances all skills: reading, writing and spelling together. I want him to feel successful in his writing and not stressed. I am looking for information, articles and general advice on how to deal with motor skills and fatigue vs ability. Thanks so much for your insights!

Hi! I think I can respond to this question as both an OT and parent.

I'm assuming you are concerned regarding the mechanics of his writing skill, not the content. How does he do at the second grade level? Are his skills age appropriate or do they lag behind? I would first address that by doing either formal or informal assessment of fine motor and visual-motor skills. Sometimes adaptations such as pencil grips, keyboarding, dictating or some direct OT can help support the mechanics of writing.

My other thought is why can't just the reading aspect, or those aspects he excels in, be accelerated? I understand that the curriculum addresses the all aspects, but can't parts of it be pulled out? Couldn't he read at his current level and do projects or tests related to that only, if his spelling and writing aren't quite there yet?

It certainly is not unusual to see only one or two aspects of a child's development be so accelerated. I know that others who are active on this board have children whose language skills exceed their fine motor/handwriting skills. I'm sure they will offer suggestions from experience!

Hi Love2Teach,
Welcome! I'm so glad you have joined us. My son, now 10, was reading at a very high level in 2nd grade, but was just starting to get along in his fine motor skill, I would call him below average for his age in those areas.

Without telling me, the local public school decided it would be interesting to put a clump of 10 "bright" boys together in the 2nd grade since they were all such good readers. (Many of the boys had entered Kindergarden late as it the custom in our town. My Son was a summer baby.) Like your school they kept the LA curriculum "integrated" by giving 5th grade level books and worksheets, and dictionary tasks for vocabulary.

A strange thing developed. My son began to feel that there was something terribly wrong with him. The teacher and school specialist also felt this way, and called meeting after meeting with my husband and I to let us know this. This was our family's "bottom." Here's how I imagine it looked from our son's perspective.

1) I know that I understand the 5th grade book better than my classmates because I can answer all the questions in the discussion time. I have my hand up constantly, and the teacher always wants to call on the other children even though my hand has been up much longer than their hands. The teacher only calls on my when no one else can answer the question, and that is often. The teacher looks so happy when I answer, except for the time when she doesn't understand what I am trying to say. The other children almost never understand what I am trying to say. Why am I so bad at talking?

2) I hate dictionary time. The other kids can find the words so much faster than me. They can copy down the definitions so much faster than me. We are all supposed to work together and so they have to spend a lot of time waiting for me. I slow them down and they hate that, and let me know what a drag I am. I wish I were fast like the other kids. ((remember that most of these children are 12 to 18 months older than my son, and that all the boys in the classroom of 21 were specially selected for their strengths in reading. The doings of girls are not on my son't radar, so to him, "everyone" could do these things except him.))

3) I hate "reading comprehension worksheets." They want me to go back and find the exact detail in the sea of words and the story is so dumb that I can barely skim it in the first place. Then they want me to repeat the question while I am writing the answer; what's the point of that? Then I start writing and my handwriting looks so ugly and babyish that I'm sure I must be stupid. Also, I can't actually think in my mind while I'm consentrating on printing the words. The teacher is so mad at me because I don't write complete sentences. I try to think of one or two words that will answer the question, and put those down. I finish as quickly as I can because I want to get back to reading my book.

4)There is something terribly wrong with me. I am stupid, and can't make myself understood by my peers, who do not value me.

As I said this was our family's "bottom." We went from there to IQ and achievement test, to being given innapropriate diagnosises that I dutifully read and tried to incorporate. Even though the scores were high enough to get into the Davidson Young Scholars Program, the local private psychologist and the school specialists told us things like, "well, he may be a bit bored, but his real problem is...." and "certainly he's a bright boy, but we need to get to the bottom of why he can't sit quietly in the circle like the other children!" Is it any wonder that all the professionals commented that he may be "a bit anxious and depressed." This is a 7 year old boy we're talking about. I still get upset when I think of it, but I am also grateful for all the change and good things that have come into our lives since then.

OK - now that you know my story, you can guess my advice.
1) find out what the child reads for pleasure, and find a way to center his reading instruction and vocabulary around that. Let him dictate his thoughts to a scribe or into a tape recorder. He can make up interviews with the author where he plays both sides. He can compare one of the books he chooses with another book that you choose. He's ready to learn literary criticism, as long as you allow the "product" to be in a form he is comfortable - usually spoken, but perhaps powerpoint with images from the internet. Look for ways he can use deep thinking to create graphic organizers and express a lot of info in about ten words.
2) Start introducing him to keyboarding, using the principles of touch typing. Expect it to take a few years, (my son got real fluent at age 9) but it will be worth it. This child will never be able to fully develop his thinking while chained to the limits of handwriting, no matter how skilled at handwriting he becomes.
3) Work on handwriting and spelling as seperate skills, each at the level which is appropriate for him. If you can inject some meaning or fun into the task, all the better, but don't expect him to think and learn to write at the same time. Example - have a book of quotations where the students can write their favorite quotations, in their own handwriting. Many people reccomend "handwriting without tears."
4) Work on grammer and composing at the level the child is at in writing and grammer. Use online courses if needed. I love the 6 Traits of Writing to tease apart what makes good writing. Don't overpraise - that translates into - "I have nothing to teach you." Allow the child to spend most of their writing time working and re-writing on larger projects that are interesting and meaningful to them. Limit the "timed writing to a prompt" as much as possible. When (and if) you have to teach that skill, be very clear (privatly, with that student) how that integrates with the larger goal of using writing to think critically and communicate.

5) Note: all this presupposes that you have examined all the child's Language Arts skills, and found an appropriate challenge level for each of them.

6) Measure everything by your goal, which could be:
Children increase their self-esteem by completing work that THEY didn't, in the begining, believe they could do.

7) If you are willing, decide to act "as though" the child has "psychic powers" and can read your mind. Assume that the child has access to your private thoughts. I don't believe that this is literally true of highly gifted children, and I've seen my son jump to some incredibly non-obvious and wrong conclusions, but its a good safeguard. If you fill your mind and heart with what you believe should be there, you will be in an excellent positon to be a trustable person for this little one. Some of the difficulty little ones have at school is that some of them can "read" people in much more detail that Adults who work with kids are accustomed. Being inexperienced, the child can then draw conclusions that aren't warrented, and may not even be expressed. The bottom line: These children appear to need more than "their share" of honest appreciation. Let's face it, they aren't going to be getting it from their agemates.

Wow! I didn't know that there was so much inside me wanting to be said. I can't wait to read the other responces. Please let me know if I can clarify anything - it's sooo exciting to have the attention of an elementary teacher!

Love and More Love,
Trinity

Mite, DS8, is very similar to your DearStudent7. And I have seen all the kid struggles Trin speaks of, too. Whether in an age appropriate class or an ability appropriate class, the un-accomodated child suffers severe blows to self-concept. We are still struggling to find the right combination for Mite and we are struggling with the school to get them more involved in the gifted side of his needs.

So your student is a leap ahead by having a teacher willing to explore his gifted needs. BRAVA/O!!

Does your student need to be identified for SPED? Debbie's comments are exactly what popped into my head. Is he age level for writing skills both mechanics and language? If his reading and comprehension abilities are at 10th grade and his writing (in either case) is at age level, then you might have a 2E who needs identification and services.


We're trying a few things right now in the gifted cluster of 3rd grade (still way below his interest and reading ability).

One solution that works well with Mite is scribing. The SPED teacher just started scribing for Mite this last week. His output went from a pitiable 5-7 illegible, incomplete, or run-on sentences, to 7 paragraphs, punctuated with 7-8th grade vocab and 5th grade grammar structure, in just one assignment! (imagine that!!! see me biting my told-ya-so tongue, which is very bruised and scarred these days as it is. we have had a tough time with this SPED teacher)

Another thing they are going to try is tape recording instead of writing.

Mite has trouble organizing his ideas because they are so many. He has so many ideas to share that by the time he gets them out of his slow hands, they are lost. He also spends a great deal of time dumbing down his vocabulary and ideas so he doesn't have to write so much. So, the SPED teacher is teaching him webbing and mind-mapping to help him there. It's tremendous to see what all he has in his mind and how he connects those ideas.

Anyhow, I guess the biggest point I want to make is to see if he can be evaluated for LD if you think his writing is so far behind from his comprehension.

Hello,
I�m not a teacher (have some experience as long-term special ed substitute teacher). I do have two gifted children although neither read at a 10th grade level at age 7.

My son read regular non-fiction books on his favorite subjects at that age, but did not pronounce some words correctly although I do believe he did understood most of what he read based on context. In any case, he definitely still needed to improve his reading ability and did so by reading 4th-6th grade level books including Harry Potter, Eragon and others in this same genre and reading level.

My only thought is to consider whether a 7 year old should read some fiction books intended for high school and up. I don�t see any problem with textbooks except possibly History and Social Studies books that discuss and display pictures of war, famine, ect. That sort of content can really cause nightmares with sensitive and gifted children. Of course the child�s parents should make that decision with your input.

My unprofessional opinion is that handwriting is a developmental skill and more closely correlated to age than reading is. I would separate them if possible.

I believe the Davidson Institute has a teacher�s forum similar to this. I hope you keep posting here also. We will most definitely have issues that you will be able to offer insightful advice. Good luck with finding and making accommodations for your student!

I think the mechanics of handwriting are more related to age, but language arts aren't. A kid who is verbally expressing himself way above age level, but unable to produce something similar, be it sloppy or not, in writing, has a problem. Comprehension and expression, oral and written, are closely tied.

I applaud you for being such an advocate and a teacher (I know how demanding that it without having "special" cases). I agree with delbows about making sure he's not accelerated too much to be reading inappropriate things for a 7 year old. Even though my kids can read at higher levels, they mix it up--all different levels, all different topics, fiction, non-fiction, biography, etc. I think the goal is to develop a passion for reading now and not worry so much about level. If he's bored, clearly he needs to step it up a couple knotches.

My 8 yr old went through a period where he didn't read much because even though he could read advanced books, he needed the satisfaction of finishing shorter books (the trick was to find good, advanced books that were about 100-200 pages long). He also used to have nightmares when he read scary material and would get very emotional about things like global warming. I guess the more mature books will require some one-on-one discussion and keeping his parents informed of what he's reading, so maybe they can talk about things, too. This year he has become an avid reader of bigger books. Keyboarding (and occasionally dictation) have both helped him because his fine motor/handwriting skills are behind.

My oldest son's IEP has a goal about reading 5 books and having personal discussions with the teacher about them. Throughout the year, the teacher will point out books to him that expand on a topic they're covering in history, he'll read, they talk. He doesn't have to read all that she recommends, but just the ones that interest him. So far it's great.

Hi All,

I have two daughters (age 14 and 13) who are very good writers. They got in Davidson Young Scholar mostly based on the merits of their writing portfolios (and test scores, of course).

I believe that writing ability is usually developed much later than reading ability. Both of my girls read very early. By age 6, they are reading unabridged version of such classics as �Secret Garden�, �Alice in Wonder Land�, etc. The writing side is a different story. I kept a good record of their writings. But in first and second grade, there was little sign of excellences in writing, with daily diaries and some short essays. Then their writing took off in 4th and 5th grade when they were in a self-contained GATE class. They had chances to do research on many topics and write many long essays (3 to 5 page, single space).

In 1st and second grade, students usually write about fairy tales and imaginary stories because that is what they read. They don�t have much real world experiences to write about. Good writing has a lot to do with experiences, accumulated knowledge and the ability to understand complex issues which all take time. I don�t think that you can really rush it.

Subjects like Math is relative easy to accelerate, but accelerating Language art is much tougher to do because reading and writing are deeply connected. As a result, I would be cautious about accelerating a student (grade skipping) just because of reading. He may not be ready on writing or social study side.

Another point that I would like to make is that a student can read at 10th grade level does not mean we want to let him read the books for 10th graders. I remember that my daughter asked me �What is crush?� when she was about 4. She was reading �Babysitter�s Club� in which a girl was having a crush on a boy. After that, I don�t allow them to read those teen/preteen series anymore. I limited their scope to Newbery Winners and classics. That seems to work well.

Hope this helps a bit.

I want to echo the concerns mentioned about taking care that above level readers get age appropriate material. Last year DS7 (then 6) brought home a book about the history of pirates. I didn't think much about it until he asked me some questions one day & I realized that the book discussed the fact that pirates often suffered from STDs and contained graphic descriptions of torture. The book was probably written for late middle school students but there were lots of pictures, so it didn't send up any red flags when he brought it home.

We've been encouraging a lot of SF, fantasy, and hard sciences, and steering away from the social sciences and history for now. I try to help him find history/social science books that are written for younger students because something written for 10 or 11 years olds can cause DS7 real distress. Even if the reading is simple, the concepts and presentation are more age appropriate - less violence, but also less mention of the real cruelty that people are capable of inflicting on others. He is simply not ready to deal with that kind of information. I could really see the emotional/experience-level impact of a book that was too old with the last Harry Potter book (#6). He had read the other 5 books, but that one was just too grown up. He had no context for the emotions and late teenage behavior of the characters & didn't read this one.

As for the writing, I have to say that it is a real struggle. He may read above level, but his hands belong to a 7 year old with very average fine motor skills. I encourange him to tell me about what he wants to write before he begins, but even then it takes him a long time to put his thoughts on paper. I agree with another writer that this is much more of an age/developmental skill. Whatever the child is reading, the writing assignments need to take into account the child's ability (or lack) to hold the pencil and write for a long time (or not).

For the reading there are wonderful classics and non-fiction books. Also don't assume that the child isn't ready for 10th grade level themes - talk to the parents! But look for things written before 1990! There are websites devoted to emotional age appropriate advanced readers.

Trintity

My son was probably around two and half when he got The Macmillan
Visual Dictionary. He loved it, it was always by his bedside. He still uses it today, almost 10 years later.
Ania

cool! do you have a link to any of those sites you could share with this Momma?