Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Orchestra differentiation/acceleration

Hello I am asking about another topic now... planning for 7th grade is taking a LOT of advocacy, not just because of honors availabilities, but because my son has had a rather miserable 6th grade.

Orchestra is the poorest fit of all. His classmates are in their second year while my son has studied privately since he was 5. Classmates' only instruction is group lessons at the middle school. Understandably, their level is lower. BUT most of them are also unmotivated and sloppy and don't care to practice... unfortunately my DS10 has not mastered the zen art of patience. He wishes they would care more and practice and listen to teacher without all their fooling around.

Next year when he is in 7th, they are offering him the 8th grade orchestra, which is same music, just violin I instead of violin II parts. They think it's "harder" but it's no difference to my son since he plays at high school level.

High School orchestra may not be possible to fit in schedule, nor am I certain this would be advisable because of age difference.

Is there anything that I can try to ask for, that may be a better fit for him? Secondly, how do parents teach gifted kids patience in these situations? PS If he doesn't participate in the school orchestra, I think he is unable to get state scores that enable him to join regional and eastern US orchestra festivals.

I know I may be asking too much... but I would appreciate hearing others' experiences/ideas.

Not knowing the specific situation at your district and community it's hard to say. My suggestions are: look into community youth orchestras, consider picking up another instrument in the school program.

Our district's orchestra program also starts out assuming students have no instrument background. This is not true for many, many students. So a lot of students choose another instrument to learn in the school program.

After two years of mandatory program, our schools will offer more options for those who are ahead. In high school there are a few levels of orchestra and for the advanced levels all students are required to take private lessons. The top level is actually quite competitive.

That said, we are facing a tough situation ahead as well: my DD9 is a very advanced musician and has played in very competitive orchestras (most members are strong musicians in high school and middle school) for a while. And she already learns two instruments and really doesn't have a third in mind that she wants to learn. She has begged me multiple times to talk with her school and let her be exempt from school instrument program when it starts in 5th grade. I'm going to make a valiant effort--though have no idea what outcome to expect.

DS picked a third instrument when the school music program started, bored silly in the program for two years (mandatory), and was so happy when finally he didn't need to do it anymore. He is a very strong musician and all the training is now done outside of school (local university, youth orchestras operated by professional orchestras, private lessons, etc).

As to how to teach patience... Our strategy has always been to let the kids know that the environment is unlikely to ever be perfect for anyone. We try the best to put ourselves in the best situation possible, then we just tough it out. I think this is the same for everyone, not just for gifted kids.

Also, as the kids get older, I think they did have more appreciation that people have vast differences in abilities, life situations and goals. I think such understanding helps a lot to build tolerance (and patience), toward everyone (including teachers, parents, and themselves).

I'm with playandlearn...have him learn a new instrument! I did this in middle school, and it took me 2 years to become proficient on the second instrument (for me, violin) at an advanced level.

If he takes lessons outside school for violin, he's never going to learn anything new and will just continue to be bored. Seek out challenging opportunities outside school, like competitive youth orchestras for violin, and watch him blossom on a new instrument. The situation of having to work to keep up with the class, at least at first, is a great life experience.

I agree with all the above posters - my son's school actually told us that he should try a different instrument at school if he is already advanced in a certain insturment. I tend to agree - because for an advanced child, such a situation would prove to be frustrating.
I have enrolled my son in a private orchestra operated by professionals who can instruct and guide him at his required pace and where he is amongst peers. Could you find a local Orchestra group that will help him participate in competitions? That would be an ideal situation.

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2013/12/gifted_child_violinist_6.html

For this boy, radical acceleration seemed to have worked well for him.

I think you need to find out for certain if he needs to be enrolled in a school orchestra to access the regional/festival orchestra activities. I would ask the school teacher directly, or try and figure out how to contact one of the festival organizers- I suspect these things vary a lot by region/location. You might try asking through a neighboring district if they have a stronger program.

It sounds like the middle school orchestra isn't going to offer him much; the problems with fooling around and not attending to the task at hand sound to me like problems with how the teacher is running things (is it the same teacher for all grades/years?). The thing about first and second violin parts for different years is just bizarre.

If he needs/elects to stay in the school group, I would see if his private teacher can communicate intermittently with the school teacher. Ours does, fairly often, to make sure they are on the same page with solo choices, timing of certain things, outside opportunities, etc, but the private teacher also helped with suggestions for differentiation in school. He is the one who pushed for more, and more varied, small group ensembles- this won't help if your DS is the only advanced player, but perhaps they could help team him up with a few high school players? The small groups here don't usually perform in concerts (there are too many) but they do participate in festivals and judged performances.

In our high school, the kids who take private lessons spend their school lesson working on small ensemble work. (What does your DS do during school lessons? Can the private teacher help with this so he doesn't have to waste that time sitting in on an inappropriate lesson?). In middle school here, some lessons are group (but they are grouped by ability) and some end up being essentially private if the student doesn't have near peers. It takes a lot of dedication on the part of the music teachers to make this work- they are almost always giving lessons before and after school in addition to the full rotation during school.

As far as making school orchestra tolerable, a lot will depend on the teacher, I think. Here, advanced kids are sometimes given solo pieces, either accompanied by the group, or as a featured part of a regular orchestral piece. (There are lots of advanced kids, so it doesn't seem that strange to the kids to have someone singled out, many of them are throughout the year). Sometimes the band director chooses music that features a strong section, that helps. And I often remind our kids that they can always improve their own playing, even if the music is easy. Work on the vibrato, focus on breath control, really work the dynamics, etc- not a solution, but it helps.

Also talk to families with older kids who are into music, and talk with the families with older kids who study with the same private teacher, and see what their kids do to solve the problem of school orchestras. Ask your private teacher for suggestions. My sense is that it's actually a lot easier to find resources for music education outside of school than to find academic resources, because there are so many private music teachers and community organizations out there.