Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Learning new stuff (gaps) vs being challenged

My son skipped K and is in 1st this year. He actually loves school for the first time, which is great. My question is, how do I know if I am providing the right balance of filling in knowledge gaps, challenging him in some ways, and providing him appropriate social interactions. I know that he is learning new things in first grade (like science, art, social studies) but it is definitely very easy for him. The grade skip relieved his boredom in this way, however I would also like him to be challenged, so that he learns how to work hard. He is a kid who is happy to have things be easy for him as long as he is not bored. He os capable of 2nd or 3rd grade math but would be missing things, and he can read at a minimum of a 4th grade level, but writes appropriately for a first grader. I have him in music lessons after school, which is a great challenge for him, but is that enough? I also started him on learning Chinese with Rosetta Stone and he likes that. I can't imagine school being difficult for him until maybe high school because what he really needs is a faster pace. Do you think he will turn out ok if I leave things the way they are now? Gifted starts in 3rd and I think they combine 2 years of math in one year, but the other subjects I think just go more in depth but follow the normal curriculum pace. Thanks for your thoughts!

I think your concern is shared by many parents of GT kids. It's hard to know if they are appropriately challenged or if there are gaps. I would say that many if not most GT kids will be fine with gaps. In fact, they are kind if nice because it means there is something that teachers can do--teach a new concept. A problem that often occurs, however, is that many teachers see a gap as "not ready for this level" when in fact most GT kids will get the new concept just fine with a short lesson.

One way to find out if your kid is ready for a higher level if instruction is to use pretests -- unit or end of grade. If you child shows mastery on 85% of things he has not already been taught, then maybe he should move to the next level.

You mention that GT programming does no start until 3rd grade. Our local school district was the same, but we reached out to the GT coordinator and asked doe advice and help as it seemed that our son needed higher level math and reading. She worke with the teacher and principal to get our kiddo tested and differentiate during kindergarten, then then he skipped 1st grade. The school wa very flexible and worked to differentiate afte the skip and before official GT programming started in 3rd. We found pace to still be an issue and transferred our son to a school for HG kids that has acceleeated programming, but if you don't have FT GT schools nearby, you can try to work with your local schools.

Our son had similar issues with handwriting, and that proved to be a big issue at our son's local school in terms of getting into appropriate classes with other kids. My DS was ready for higher level math, but the school wouldn't let him go to a class with older kids because they said he couldn't handle the writing. Luckily the teachers at the new school didn't see the as a problem if DS could explain somehow (eg verbally) that he understood the concepts. Be prepared for a lot of advocacy!

Gaps in content knowledge are easily filled if you make the effort. Gaps in skills may be a different matter, or maybe not.

Renzulli's compacting curriculum study in the early 1990s found that about half the curriculum could be eliminated for bright students without significantly impacting their achievement on tests designed for students a year older.

Students were selected for this study in a way that was not particularly scientific, and that's why I'm avoiding the label gifted here. Teachers basically just said, "I'll try it with this kid and that kid." Some of those had been formally identified as gifted, some of them were not.

Thanks everyone! I think this will give me motivation to ask for harder math and reading. I had already mentioned it after the grade skip but they seemed to think he was learning things he didn't know. His last spelling list was a bunch of 4 letter words ending in -ake. He just finished reading James and the giant peach so it seems kind of silly to me. In math they said he didn't like to explain his work, so he was learning how to do that, but it's for like 5+9 and he has to draw dots and explain how they add... I'm pretty sure he just thinks that is silly and I bet he could learn the same "showing his work" concept in a higher level class. I appreciate all your input!

Steph 1307- reading this post and thread is now making me wonder what the 1st grade curriculum at our school is. My ds is in kindergarten this year and is being driven crazy with addition/ subtraction math. He will lose it if there is more of that next year. Something to look into...

Gaps in math are very easy to fix if the GT kid is so motivated to tackle every tough problem, enjoy the process of problem solving, and eager to learn how to combine new knowledge and skills for the task. They will eventually have fewer gaps than most other kids who sit through all the math class but hate doing math homework.

I'm pretty sure he just thinks that is silly and I bet he could learn the same "showing his work" concept in a higher level class. I appreciate all your input! Renzulli's compacting curriculum study in the early 1990s found that about half the curriculum could be eliminated for bright students without significantly impacting their achievement on tests designed for students a year older.