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We are not getting anywhere with our teacher.

Background info:

About 3 weeks ago my son (8, Gr. 2, FSIQ 151) complained he is very bored at school, that he never learns anything, and that they do the same things over and over again. I made an appointment to go and speak to the teacher, hoping that she will at least be able to differentiate a little. She said that she will try, but until he does not participate and pay more attention in class, she can't do much.

She said that there are many kids in her class as clever as DS, who is doing much better. On his report card he has perfect marks/scores for all subjects, but 70% for participation on the subjects he receives from her. So I'm guessing "other kids doing much better" refers specifically to participation and attention as it is impossible to score better on tests, projects, etc.

I asked DS to please participate more in class, as the teacher will then make his days less boring. He told me that when he does, she stops him, telling him that his response is not Gr. 2 work and that he will confuse the other children. Or that he is not on topic. (He told me that they were talking about friction, and he wanted to explain how this is minimized on airplane wings, but she stopped him before he could get to the point.)

Another example: He memorized 65+ digits of Pi, when he wanted to tell her this, it only takes about 1.2 minutes, she told him that she does not know what Pi is, and that he should go and sit down. I felt so sad for him - he was so excited to tell her.

He also said that since he does not always know if what he wants to say is Gr. 2 or Gr. 4 materials, he rather just keeps his mouth shut. His way of saying that he is dumbing down in order to be accepted by this teacher?

I am yet to see ANY work/example where she actually tried to extend DS. She said that he can bring an iPad to school to keep himself busy when he has time and that she will arrange for a internet password in order for him to use Khan Academy. This was 3 weeks ago and to no avail.

If she can't give him this, surely she will not even bother to ready "A Nation Deceived", "Tall Poppies" or "Is it a Cheetah", should I forward it to her.

He is socially popular, big for age/grade and well liked by the other teachers.

I asked the teacher if she thinks we should speak with the principal in regards to a grade acceleration, but she did not think it would make a difference. Thus, she would not support it. The school is very traditional and rigid.

Another reason I'm not more insistent is because he has a 80% scholarship to this private school - the best one in our province. I don't think it gets any better than this. I'm worried that if I rock the boat that we will not get in the scholarship again for next year. We are really between a rock and a hard place.

So, I do think that we will go and see the principal anyway (she is good friends with this teacher). DS has recently started complaining about stomach aches/head aches and nausea. After feeding him senakot and fibre, I realized that this has to do with school and that here is no physical reason for his complains. He also started overeating - all sure signs of stress.

My question is this...
When you requested a grade skip, what documentation did you provide?
Was there ONE THING that you think convinced the administration that your request is in the best interest of the child?

Any other advice in order to achieve this will be greatly appreciated.

We haven't grade-accelerated our ds, but we have run into many similar issues over the years. One thing I regret having done but just couldn't see past it at the time was thinking that we had him in the "best" school choice. We selected his first school for all the right reasons, and it seemed in theory and in its advertising and teacher-speak to be a school where differentiation would happen, where students were encouraged to work at their own pace and levels and where the teachers really cared about the kids. I trul loved, and still do, the ideas bend the school's philosophy, but it didn't work formy ds and hoping to make it work as we stuck it out for severa years was simply wasted time while ds was bored and unhappy. So my small piece of advice is, ask for what you think yours needs, fight for it, and if you don't get it -look elsewhere. JMO, but I am guessing this particular teacher isn't going to be convinced no matter what documentation you show her. Hopefully the principal will be more open-minded.

Re documentation, I've found achievement testing that ties to state curriculum to be the easiest and most convincing piece of documentation in advocating for acceleration (although our ds isn't grade-skipped he is multi-grade level subject-accelerated). Having the IQ tests as backup doc that ability matches achievement has also been helpful, and perhaps most important thing -understanding what the tests and subtests represent, understanding how to interpret them has also been very important when advocating.

Sending you lots of good wishes!

polarbear

mcsquared,

My DD8 is fascinated with Pi too. I was amazed that she got the long number sequence right and she told me there is a youtube video with Pi song and it is fun to sing and easier to remember. But still..

Your DS is in toxic environment. Talk to the principal and ask what she needs. You may need to request a different teacher as well.

Taking abovel level test like SCAT from John Hopkins (starts at 2md grade) and EXPLORE from Duke (starts 4th grade), NUMATS (starts 3rd grade) will help impress the prinicipal/ administrator. Your DS's FSIQ should (if they know what it means :-) There are grade level testing in many states (at least in Texas) and if he scores >90%, they can let you skip a grade.

My DD8 is in good environment. She skipped K. she is now in 4th grade and doing 5th grade level work at high performing school. There are 14 kids doing 5th grade Math and 17 kids doing 5th grade language arts in her school everyday. Her old school has only 2-3 and they did not get any formal classes.

You should check out other schools (including public schools). It may not look as appealing as his current school but I am not sure what your DS would learn from the teacher who does not know what Pi is.

Good luck!

After we had our DD8 tested using the WISC-IV we also had her do the Woodcock-Johnson III achievement test. We called an I&RS meeting with key players at the school. Given the combination of IQ and achievement way in excess of her grade level they paid attention.

We had one teacher who had not thought our DD8 was that outside of normal have the integrity to admit that having seen the test results she understood why our DD8 wouldn't have been that motivated to do a few extra work sheets!

Regarding 'other kids being just as clever' I doubt that - unless you live in an exceptional place or your school is exceptional or the class size is huge I just don't see this as being statistically likely - it is still possible (obviously) but I do not see a teacher who doesn't even know what Pi is as being intellectually capable of appreciating just how rare an FSIQ of 151 is.

I think that you may need to escalate because your DS's current teacher is clearly not creating an environment that is fostering his intellectual growth.

Our son took the WISC-IV at age 7, just as he was starting 4th grade. Only the district gifted coordinator seemed interested in the outcome (>99.9).

The WJ-III Achievement test, however, got the attention of the school teachers & admin. He scored essentially >99.9 across the board, with a Grade Equivalency (G.E.) of 13.0. (Broad Reading was >18.0 G.E.!)

In our Big Meeting, I gave the school folks time to look over the results and then asked what the G.E. told them. There were plenty of dismissive comments like, "Well, it certainly doesn't mean this kid is ready for High School..."

I let the teachers bat this one around for a few minutes and then finally interrupted to say that I totally, 100% agreed with them -- there was no way I interpreted the results to mean that he was ready for high-school work. 12th Grade would definitely NOT be appropriate for this child.

"But," I said, "can't we also agree that the test results clearly indicate that 4th grade is not be the best for him either?"

In the end, he moved into 5th shortly after that meeting and did very well. They also let him do 5th & 6th Grade math on EPGY at home so he could work at his own pace.

-- -- --

As an aside -- is California that different from the rest of the country? I always thought that 8yo were typically in 3rd grade out here, so I'm caught off guard when reading stories like this, with a 8yo in 2nd. I can't imagine the frustration O.P.'s son must be faced with as a 151 8yo in 2nd grade.

Dandy

FWIW, most kids here are 7 when they start 2nd grade and turn 8 during the year. In our area, the cut-off date for kindergarten (which affects all of the rest) is 5 by some time in October. I know that in some parts of CA where we have relatives, it is 5 by some time in December. Maybe you live in an area with a later cutoff date or have a kid with a summer birthday?

figured I oughta go straight to the horse's... mouth:
http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/gs/em/kinderinfo.asp
Makes more sense... and it looks like CA is gradually bringing starting age into line with other states.

Surely there aren't any teachers who don't know what pi is? That is very scary. I see why he would keep his mouth shut - it is hard to answer a question and be told you answered it wrong.

I really doubt there are that many kids in his class with IQs 151 or above. Sure it may be a skewed sample but even so it is unlikely. They could have a number of MG kids and be lumping them all together I suppose.

You oughta have your son introduce his teacher to imaginary numbers. She'll wish she had taken the time to listen to pi!

I must admit that I may have accidentally planted the seed in my son's head in 3rd grade, when I knew they were discussing simple squares & roots.

"Mr. J -- What's the square root of negative nine?"

Not nice, I know ... and it definitely threw the teacher for a loop. It's okay to have fun with these kids once in awhile, right?

Dandy