Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Elementary School elementary kids in middle school math??

So little guy started k a year early, and is now in 3rd grade. he also has to walk down the hall to go to 4th grade math. what happens when he gets to the end of elementary school but has already completed that level of math....is it possible he will go to the middle school for a period? anyone have this experience?

oh...and for all those naysayers (in real life) who said don't grade skip him, he'll "even out" by 3rd grade. whatever. lol. he is excelling more every year. this was the BEST thing we could have done for him!

Our school district had our child attend the middle school for 1st period math, then bused him back to the elementary for the rest of his day. Which had the advantage of making the middle school transition remarkably seamless for him down the road.

It meant some scheduling sacrifices, but it was well worth it.

DeeDee

Our school employs the same plan as DeeDee's. It works best when the elementary school also has math first period. Typically the kids get on the Jr. high bus with the older students and go to math, then get transported back to elementary with 10-15 min before 1st period is done. Only downside is that they have to wake up earlier to catch the jr. high bus, as jr high starts a lot earlier than elementary.

Able to take fl virtual school middle school classes while in elementary school here...no need to leave campus.

I'm lucky - DD is in a full-time gifted program where they have middle-school math teaching available on site.

My son started this this year. He's been going up a grade for math since 1st grade. This year he is in 5th grade, so he now goes to Middle School for 6th grade math. It's worked out great so far (they've been back 3 weeks now) - he gets transported to and from MS for 2nd period math (the school district provide a cab). Apparently, when the school district normally transport (usually MS kids to HS), they only provide transportation one way, but thankfully our principal was able to get 2 way transport. I think it also helps that the MS is only about a 5 minute drive from the Elementary school My son is a young 5th grader (turned 10 in June) - and also short for his age - but has been doing great, no problems with fitting in. I think that an accelerated 6th grade class would have been a better fit, but for now, I'm just happy that the district are letting him do this. Next year, the MS will be implementing a full time gifted program, so he should get plenty of challenge then

thanks. this is kind of what i hope they will do. our middle school starts an hour earlier than elementary, and math is indeed first period at the elementary school, too...which would buy him some travel time.

Dd6's principal already told me (when I mentioned subject acceleration in general, not having a documented need yet) that for math it has not worked well for kids in her school due to scheduling etc. He generally seems pretty flexible, so I was suprised he brought that up already, but it kind of stinks. If my first grader needs subject acceleration I don't want to not do it because of what may happen in 5th grade.

Right. IMO it's not okay to borrow trouble here; I'd want to find the placement that fits now, and solve logistics as they come up.

For DS, the weird scheduling challenges were worth it-- he really needed the appropriate math placement to be okay.

Further-- the busing was the perfect transition to middle school for him. Truly, it was worth the hassle.

DeeDee

My DS9 is in 5th grade and goes to 6th grade math. This year he has moved to a new private elementary school with the private middle and high school right across the street, so he just walks there every day for math. That is one of the reasons he switched to that school this year. It has been working really well, although his schedule doesn't align very well. It's totally worth it, though, because he loves math and it all works out in the end.

Had he remained in the public school he would have been the first kid that anyone can recall to be in the situation of needing to go to the middle school from the elementary. Several options were discussed, but nothing was ever decided. One plan was for me to drive him to the middle school either at the beginning or the end of the day for his math class, although there were no guarantees there would be a nice schedule match-up, and it had been made very clear to me from the very beginning of the subject acceleration (after 1st grade; it was more of a warning, really) that there would be no bussing and that we would be entirely responsible for transportation. Another option that was floated was a flipped classroom situation, where he was given a math curriculum online (never got to the point of discussing which curriculum) and then he could ask his regular 5th grade teacher any questions he had about the 6th grade math, and I'm assuming that would have taken place during the class's regular math work time. I had also floated the idea of EPGY on his own.

I agree that you should find the placement that fits now and then deal with the logistics as the come up. The private school option wasn't even on my radar at the time of the acceleration, but we explored our options as necessary.

Too, you never really do know what your DS will need in a few years. Your DS may outpace his older peers and need even further acceleration down the line, like my DD12 did. Situations and options change all the time and are hard to predict, so all you can do is make the best decision you can for now. Just do you best, see how things go, and adjust if necessary.