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Yesterday my DD11 got an acceptance letter for the district Big Picture school. Does anyone have a child at one of these schools? How is it working out? The project-based learning philosophy seems like a good fit for gifted, but she's already pretty happy with the full-time gifted program (which she would have to leave). DH and I are very conflicted (within ourselves - we're not fighting) about how to proceed. BTDT advice gratefully accepted.

I've never heard of the Big Picture method in particular.

Project-based learning can be terrific-- or a disaster if there are EF or anxiety issues in play. Often there's an assumption that if the child is gifted, the child has superior EF skills and can work independently toward a project deadline. This can result in long stretches of puttering and then terror, repeated over and over. Only if every project step is well supported would this be a good fit for a kid with EF issues and/or anxiety.

I think if she's happy where she is, and you think her needs are fairly well met there, I probably wouldn't move her.

The school definitely says all the right things about itself and supporting PBL. They claim that much of the first two years are spent learning to do projects, and that there is a huge amount of scaffolding of EF skills, especially for 6th and 7th graders. We're trying to find out how true that is.

DD11 really wants to try the new school (if she didn't, this decision would be easy). She definitely has executive function limitations, but has made huge strides this year. She was officially diagnosed with autism this week, too. It's been a crazy and emotional week, and it's only Wednesday!

ElizabethN,
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Replied. Thanks!

I don't know a thing about Big Picture schools but if it's a school that involves a lot of group work and your child was just diagnosed with autism I'd think real hard before moving her. Particularly if you have a situation that IS working for her.

My DS had huge problems in his 6th grade gifted classroom with the group work. His teacher assigned a lot of group work and insisted on changing the groups up each time. He insisted that it was important for kids to learn how to work with everyone in the classroom. This might have worked better with a different teacher who gave the groups more direction. But this teacher expected the students to "solve" their own problems. (DS ended up melting down more often than not.) But DS found himself overwhelmed, overruled and ignored during a lot of the group work. At the beginning of the year I though it sounded good and would help my introverted child, but it hurt his social skills not helped.

What you need to do is look at the personality and learning style of your own child. Do you know any parents of children who are already attending?

Elizabeth, since your dd has just been recently diagnosed, I'd talk to whoever diagnosed her autism about the school and possible fit. I probably wouldn't consider it at all if it was something she wasn't interested in, but would take her wishes into account - although at the same time, I'd consider whether or not what she thinks about and wants in the school is grounded in what the school really is on a day-to-day basis.

I'd also talk to other parents who's children have attended the school to see if it works in real life the same way it's advertised.

My kids have all attended a similar-type of school and ultimately didn't enjoy it - but in our case the advertised school vs the reality school were different and there were not good supports for developing the skills needed for this type of learning. I also firmly believe that some students are better suited (personality) for this type of school than others.

Best wishes,

polarbear

You are articulating my biggest fear, of course. One question that DH and I need to ask the school is what kind of supports will be provided, particularly for group work. Her perspective is that she's not wild about working in groups, but she would like to learn to be better at it. I am loath to prevent her from trying to get better, of course, but I also don't want her to get herself into a situation where she can't succeed.



Unfortunately, the only parent I know at the school is not someone whose judgment I trust a great deal. I think that PBL is a great fit for my child (as long as she gets support learning to handle the EF issues), but working in groups is more problematic.

She will be able to attend for one day next week "shadowing" a current student, and I think that DH and I will be able to meet with the principal and discuss some of these issues. Hopefully that will throw some more light on the situation instead of just muddling it further.



This is a good idea - I will put in a call to the psychologist. I've also left a message for her DITD consultant.

DD is "shadowing" at the school today, and we have an appointment with the principal on Tuesday morning.

I spent a while on the phone with the psychologist, and he was cautiously optimistic that she can do it successfully. He had some very nice things to say about her capabilities. He felt that as long as we frankly discuss both the pros and the cons with her and get her buy-in to the whole package, it seems like a path that could be really good for her.

I suspect that we're going to white-knuckle our way through it, but we'll see what DD says after today and how the conversation with the principal goes.

I think there are things that an adult should know or have been exposed to that a child may not be motivated to learn themselves so I am doubtful about the no canon of learning aspect. That said the schools in NZ don't teach most of them anyway so I do it at home. The group work would be a problem for Ds8 unless all the kids were gifted.