Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Skipping to 2nd grade math?

I don't have the official numbers yet in hand but the psychologist that tested my 6 yo dd (who is entering 1st) has recommended we push she goes to 2nd grade for math. How do you go about requesting this with the teacher/school? Do we show them the actual wisc results? In kindergarten she did very little math (the whole class did very little math), what if she is unable to handle jumping in at the 2nd grade level? What if they claim to be able to accomodate her needs in the 1st grade classroom?

Sorry for all the questions, I'm kind of in panic mode and school starts in a few days.

I would start by simply requesting it, passing along the psychologist's recommendation. Achievement test scores, if you have them or can request testing by the school (do they use the MAP or something similar?), would probably be more useful than IQ test scores alone. You could ask for her to take an end-of-grade test for first (or even second), depending on how advanced her skills are. Be polite but persistent in the face of claims about addressing her needs in first grade; there are helpful passages in "Developing Math Talent" about this being a poor approach, and you can hunt up other useful support for acceleration in "A Nation Deceived" and other resources.

Regarding whether she can handle the second grade work, I suppose that some areas of possible concern would be fluency, especially in math facts; ability to keep up with the handwriting load; and maturity level. These are all issues which could give an anti-acceleration teacher or admin support for a claim that the pullout wouldn't work, or wasn't working out after inception. On the other hand I wouldn't worry unnecessarily, as first grade math is typically pretty slow-paced. If possible, look up a scope and sequence for first and second grade math in your school or district, or requirements at the state level.

My dd did this. It turns out that in Everyday Math (which our district uses), that first grade math and second grade math are nearly identical.
DD has had no issues and will be moving on to third grade math next year.

My dd's in the HGT program in our district, also 6 and entering 1st grade and using EM. They skip 1st grade math entirely and go straight to 2nd. In your shoes, I would just request an accommodation and say it was recommended by the psychologist.

I'll chime in here too. I would be careful. I think some of my dd's math facts problems are due to grade skipping. When she was very little she was able to solve complicated addition and subtraction problems because she got the steps and concepts easily. Because the school saw that she was able to add and subtract accurately, she moved on to multiplication and division - but never she really had enough practice with the basics.... so now I am in the position of having to go back. To me, it is not enough that they can do the basics, but that they become so easy that they are second nature. Higher level math seemed so enticing at the time, and having a 5 year old who could multiply and divide seemed so, well, cool - but I do regret moving so quickly now.

First suggestion - never panic! Even if you decide to act after school is started, it will be ok Even if you decide to not push for acceleration, it will most likely be ok The first day of school as well as this grade of school aren't huge brick walls that you'll never get past if you don't push them over this week.

Next, if the psychologist recommended the acceleration, I would guess your dd is well prepared and will be able to handle it. My assumption here is that the psych is local to you, so he/she knows your school district and local math curriculum, and that the psych eval included some type of achievement testing.

Re advocating at school, I'd ask the psych to either write a letter specifically addressing the need for math acceleration and supporting your dd's readiness, or ask that the same info be included in the summary report you receive from the psych evaluation.

My own personal experience re showing the WISC results is that it didn't get us very far in requesting acceleration - achievement test numbers were far more effective. I wouldn't *not* show the WISC numbers however - it did serve us as a valuable data point when school staff tried to argue against acceleration even when we had the achievement tests.

Good luck!

polarbear

ps - you might also ask how your school differentiates for kids who are capable of moving ahead in math, and whether or not there are any other students in your dd's grade who will be taking 2nd grade math. One thing I realized later than I wish I'd realized was that in elementary school, I'd get worried about asking for some things such as this, only to find out later on that there were already other students actually doing it simply because their parents pushed for it... but the school staff wasn't going to tell anyone about it unless you asked.

I think that the WISC result by itself will not get you the math acceleration, but it may open the door to an assessment. Just about every school that I have heard about (including ours) insist on actual mastery of the curriculum for that school and/or district. Often times, the student is expected to have mastered the very curriculum to which she is skipping. Based on what I have seen of most U.S. curriculums, I think it is highly unlikely that your daughter would be unable to handle 2nd grade math as a 1st grader. A greater concern may be 3rd grade math down the line -- not so much because of the math as the amount of writing and "proofing" required. Of course, that would depnd on your school's curriculum and also your child's handwriting and writing abilities.