Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion sigh: update

Take a deep breath and step back. I don't mean to be prejudiced but remember this is a young teacher who has only teached general ed. It's wonderful that she is trying so hard but it does not appear that she has seen very much. In my experience over the years with my own three children, this teacher's perspective may be colored by her lack of teaching experience and lack of a long-standing relationship with the adminstration.

I think it is perfectly fine to take the long view. To borrow a term from economics, consider taking the present value approach - today is worth more but the future is worth something too. There can be a huge difference between general ed classrom and gifted ed classroom. However, you know your own DS and you know the acceptable parameters for him/you. Do you think that he will likely be where you/he would want to be abilities-wise in the 2nd grade GT classroom next August?

I am somewhat troubled by her message that "he shouldn't be here" because based on my experience, it actually was easier for my three children's teachers to differentiate in K than in the higher grades. Assuming your DS is at the extreme end of the right tail abilities-wise, I don't think that sending him to first grade would improve his situation much unless the first grade teacher is far more experienced and able to differentiate far beyond the K teacher who is working hard and going above and beyond.

These are just random thoughts and not meant to persuade you one way or the other. It may be that your DS should be skipped and the 2nd grade GT classroom will be easy for him come August, but the timing of the skip would still need to be weighed.

I truly don't know.

We have the advantage of having an older child who has been through the program. However, she came in at the top of the class and has remained there. She has had straight As every quarter. I don't really know the full extent of of the range of other children's abilities. In other words, I don't know how far below her skills he could be and still be doing fine. I think quite a bit. For whatever it's worth, she is constantly saying to us how he should be skipped, despite the fact that she has quite a lot of jealousy issues with him.

Really, my two concerns would be 1) workload and 2) writing. Also, looking ahead to the future, I wonder if a skip is wise for an MG/HG child (probably) who will also be accelerated from gr 2 on.

I glean that the main reason she is saying "He shouldn't be here" is that it is kind of killing her to see him sitting through the group lessons. However, there was also some talk from her about how he is not really a child who can really be accommodated well at this point in any case. (This did not upset me. I agree. What do I really think they should do to instruct my 5yo who can read at the 5th grade level in reading, in a class of other 5yos? Yeah, it's very tricky.)

I do take your point about her youth and experience level, though. I really do. My husband and I are really leaning against trying for a skip but for advocating as much as we can for him to travel to other classrooms for instruction. Maybe we can market it as "Instead of a skip, we are asking for..."

It is such a tough call. Grade acceleration is a great option for so many students, and should be available to all. However, it is not always the right option for a particular student.

And I agree with Quantum about taking a step back. You have a lot of time to decide. Grade acceleration can be complicated for young boys who may not be ready developmentally, even if they have the IQ for it. He will also end up being one of the youngest in the class, which may be difficult once he reaches high school.

Hopefully, you can get him tested and get some good advice about his readiness for any changes before making a decision based on one teacher's recommendations. Trust your instincts, though. You know him better than anyone. Good luck.

Gail Post/ www.giftedchallenges.com

Good luck with this, Ultra. I would just keep in mind what goals you have for your DS this year. Is one of them that he be taught reading at a 5th grade level? Having DD's reading evaluated by her teacher really made it clear that reading instruction is just not needed. We are not worried because we still read to her every day, and she reads on her own for an hour a night.

It sounds like you like this teacher and DS is happy. Don't let her throw her hands up. Keep working with her, i.e open-ended projects, differentiation, self-extention.

I might look into skipping into 2nd grade general ed next year, and then moving into either 2nd grade gifted or 3rd grade gifted after that. That will give you some time to figure everything out.

Until then, it sounds like your DS is having fun. He is allowed to read at his level, explore math concepts, and is challenged by the chess club. This is all really great.

And, it sounds like you have a great advocate in his teacher. But, she is young. She may have a lot of enthusiasm and eagerness, but not a lot of experience. DD's teachers have not even batted an eye. They have seen this before many times and have seen success with their techniques. We are all just committed to making this work and making it as normal as possible for DD.

This is actually a pretty good idea and one I hadn't considered, for some reason. Or, he could at least do part-time in 2nd grade gen ed.

I'm updating here because emails to the "next level up" (a couneslor/academic advisor type of person) about moving DS to the 1st grade class for some of the day received zero response. Disappointing. I emailed DS's teacher and she let me know that she has worked things out with a receptive first-grade teacher and that as far as they are concerned, DS is good to go. They just need permission from the higher ups, so she is now meeting with the principal. We'll see.

For now, we have skipping on the back burner with the idea that we will reconsider it at year's end. DS is complaining a little about group instruction but gets a lot of individualized work.

Update: The principal wants to meet with us personally "to discuss DS's academic skills." His teacher will also attend. Teacher is 100% in our corner. Principal may not be at all. She did not green light the proposal from the teacher without a meeting, anyway.

Thoughts on how to prepare?