Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Do not let me get bored next year, please...

Those are the words my 8th grader told me during our dog walk today. Out of the blue..
This was really unexpected, so I told him he needs to talk to his P. at the Back to School Night...
What are you wise people think? How should he approach his P.?

Sorry--What is "his P."? I can't figure it out!

I'm not sure the wording, but I definately think it's a good idea for the child to advocate a little for themselves at the right age.

DD8 did that last year with her teacher, but she had a really good relationship and the teacher was WAY above average as teachers go. Had it been a different teacher, I'm not sure I would have let her do that in second grade.

I don't know the answer, but I feel your pain! I felt that DD8 was very well accomodated last year. Then, this summer she told me she used to put the restroom pass on her desk when she was bored and go sit on the toilet in the girls room for periods of time. I felt horrible when she told me this. On the other hand, at least she came up with a coping mechanism that didn't make her into a "disruptive" student.

So, Ania, you are on the road again? I am envious of all your travels!

Is it his principal?

If so, what is his relationship like with his principal? How about his relationship (if there is one) with his new teacher? Could/should he start with the teacher, or is that a bad move politically?

So much depends upon the teacher, the kid's reputation and the relationship (if any) between the two of them. Some kids could march into class on Day 1 of the new year and say to a teacher "Please! Challenge me!" and some kids would get strung up for something a lot more subtle than that. Obviously the ones in the latter situation had better start with the principal!

Can you tell us more about the advocacy situation your son faces?

Ania,
I'm so sorry to hear about this - and you did have every reason to think that your son was reasonably accomidated - sigh -

Remind me again (sorry) what kinds of accomidations and extracurriculars your son is doing right now.

You could have him read Karen Rodger's book about Re-forming Gifted Ed. for ideas - or - have him read Elizabeth Wissner-Gross's What High Schools Don't Tell You

more info at http://educationalstrategy.org/

My DS12 read the Wissner-Gross book and got very encouraged.

I agree that at this point it's your job to help brain storm possible changes and coach your son to go after them. My hunch is that there is a good chance that during school hours things are about as good as they are going to get, and that a really inspiring afterschool activity/career path might help him cope.

There is always homeschooling, such as EPGY online highschool.

What ever he tries, the fact that you and he have looked critically at the problem, made a plan, tried it out, and monitored the results is a great learning experience in itself. Being miserable is a wondreful thing if it makes you toss caution to the wind and think big. Go DS!

Love and More Love,
Grinity

Yes, P stands for principal

Things are looking much brighter tonight though ..,

LOL


Gifted for a reason, ha ?

glad to hear that things are looking brighter!

Somewhat ironic, Ania, yes?

And bravo on the advocacy, again.

Yes, it is hard to imagine that the whole exchange that prompted me to start this thread happened only last Monday. Two days have passed and without any intervention on son's or my part things indeed are looking totally different.

Ania, at least you're calm and collected to not react immediately--I have the tendency to panic and march into school asking for changes...I think I'm maturing though and try to take a few days before doing anything rash. My son has a "Gifted Seminar" this year and he was questioning whether he should take a college course or online instead.

We talked about it and were brainstorming last night about how he could do self-directed study of the middle east, write essays, read political viewpoints, select movies to watch, download iTunes lectures from distinguished speakers and pundits, etc. It could be really cool--if he was motivated and led the small group (only 4 kids). If he were really driven, it would be a great way to develop a strong relationship with a teacher who could write a recommendation someday. I think he started getting excited about the possibilities, so we'll see what he decides.

Nope, I am not collected at all. I simply could not react because the open house was not till Wednesday