Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Public School - Episode III

Update: I took DD to school Thursday morning, and spoke to the asst. principal about borrowing a home copy of science and social studies books. DD brought them home Friday afternoon. We spent about two hours last night catching up in the two subjects. She's caught up in social studies now, and just needs another hour or so in science. So that's basically three weeks and two subjects in three hours. That time even included a science experiment.

DD seemed to really enjoy it. My belief that she can get far more out of me on the subjects was augmented when I was able to relate just about everything the science book said about methods to the episode of Mythbusters we'd seen together the night before. That's not a connection a school teacher can be expected to make.

Okay, that sounds positive for her. Great.

Will you be in charge of science and social studies instruction now?

Not quite. My role is basically to fill in for that classroom lecture/discussion time that she's missing while she's in the gifted math pull-out. I'll be following along with the school curriculum. DD will be responsible for keeping track of where the class is in the material. I will set aside some time each week to cover it.

Basically, the school is still in charge, and I'm just filling in as a substitute teacher.

A pretty awesome one, IMHO.

Dude, I am glad everything is working out. It seems like all the schools have done an awful job of managing these gifted pull-outs. That's quite a task to ask a kid to keep track of but if she's happy, great! and its always great when dads have an opportunity to teach their kids.

* I sent you a PM with a question.

I agree with the problem of short lunch periods. Ours are slightly longer - 20 for recess, 30 for lunch. Part of the issue is budgetary, in our district at least. The lunch aides' hours are 11:30 to 1:30 (or something like that) and the principal doesn't have control over that; it is a district HR issue and principal can't unilaterally change it (although ours is lobbying the administration). When parents in our community were lobbying for changes in our lunch timing/protocol, once we found out that information, we changed how/who we approached and got our principal to be an ally rather than blaming him.

No, it's the welfare system not the weather. Instead of giving parents money to buy stuff for their kids, it's preferred to cook a dreadful plate of slop and serve it to them, which necessitates a cafeteria style area.

There's no indoor play area for cold or wet weather, which is another effect of having free and reduced lunches instead of welfare is that the schools are large but to save on cafeteria staff they serve lunch in shifts, so playing is also in shifts. The gym cannot fit the whole school for wet weather play and is not available anyway - while the first graders are having lunch the fifth graders are having PE in the gym. And that's why you have to move on after your eating time is up. The next grade needs to come in.

Knittingmama, if you add five minutes to every shift in the cafeteria the K kids would be having lunch before 11. It's like trying to start high school after seven means elementary then starts at ten because of the buses.

There are plenty of kids here who could use free lunches. We don't really have anywhere for them to play in the wet they just play in their classroom and as soon as it stops raining the junior school teachers drop everything and take them out for 10 mins running about so the kids don't go too crazy cooped up inside. I see the problem but there must be a better way than teaching lifelong poor eating patterns.

I would do what you are doing - keep the maths at school and do science and social studies at home. They probably waste more than half the time anyway and you can do some enrichment while you are at it.

Some updates -

- As mentioned in another thread, DD brought home her first report card - 4 As, 2Bs. I told her I was more happy for the 2 Bs, since they show she's in a place where she actually has something to learn.

- DD brought her school copy of the science book home last night. Why the school copy, when we have one at home, you ask? Because that's the one she'd already written the answers in (they can write in these textbooks), and she wanted to look them over at home. I asked her to show me what they were doing, and she did, and I commented that it didn't look familiar. But she said not to worry, she understood all of it, which I could tell was the case by the fact she'd answered all the questions.

Which brought the big reveal: DD's homeroom teacher had, unbeknownst to us, adjusted her schedule to accommodate the two kids in the gifted pull-outs. They have been starting science, then putting it away when the two GTs leave, and coming back to it when they return.

Huh. I guess I don't need that science textbook anymore.

Also, DW recently met her, and reports that she's very nice.

Oh, and at the car line last week, DW received a friendly wave and a smile from the one GT teacher that wasn't originally supportive of DD's skip. This same teacher kept ignoring and turning away from DW, so it may be that that relationship is thawing, possibly as DD is demonstrating that she belongs.

Then again, it might be that the teacher was crossing in front of our van, and DW was kind enough to ignore the insistence of the other teacher urgently waving DW forward.

My first and third grade get 15 minutes for recess (recess first) and then 15 min. for lunch. I have refused to let DD buy school lunches because she throws literally everything out. She takes in a lunch box and doesn't eat that either, but at least I can salvage some of it rather than it being a total waste.

DS, my younger one, stuffs his face quickly so I allow him to buy lunch there.

Recess is so short that DD gets outside and wanders around the playground searching for friends from other classes. By the time she finds them, it is time to go in for lunch.

they have to do that schedule to get everyone in and out of the cafeteria before school ends. It sucks, but I don't know how anything would change.

Good to hear, Dude!