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I've previously posted about Miss 7 who is going through an extended period of not trying. It's a classic case of underachievement, but I'm feeling confident that the school and my husband (who is also an underachiever from way back) will negotiate a strategy to try out for the rest of the year (term 4). I'm not sure it is the "right" strategy, but I'm pleased to be trying something different. I'm also going to homeschool both girls 1 day per week.

But what about Miss 4 who doesn't present as gifted, and certainly doesn't "show" her giftedness in the classroom? We've spoken to the principal about accelerating next year. We have the option of a pre-primary/year 1 class, and possibly even the option of a grade 1-2-3 class (depending on the class size). Her test results (SB-5) are high, but I'm not sure if a skip into 1-2-3 will be too much for her. Her reading level, on the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test, was 7 years and 3 months and her passage comprehension was 8 years and 10 months. She was 4 years 2 months when she was tested. But I just don't see much evidence of that at school or at home (?)

Do I just have to have faith that if she's in the right learning environment, she will grow wings and fly?

jojo

Does she not read at the house or not read the level of books it appears from testing she is capable of handling?

I don't think so. At home, she's reading the Fitzroy readers. She's certainly not having any trouble with them, but even the most advanced readers are quite phonetic. She's not yet onto chapter books, which is what I would expect at age 7.

Is she "dumbing it up" to fit in with th other kids? Are the other kids gifted?

My son does this all the time... it's furstrating.

Does she play well with older sibling's friends? Perhaps she will "rise" to the occasion when placed in class with more true peers. What does your gut say?

I'd look closely at the Iowa Accleration Scale Manual to see what the numbers say?

2nd borns tend not to 'look gifted' and females with their greater ability to read social cues and even fool the testers at times.

My #1 definition of Gifted is: Gifted is as Gifted does. If you can try the 1-2-3 year and gracefully back out if it doesn't work, then you can give her the best 'test' of all.

If you can, spend some time in the possible target classrooms and see if you can picture her there. From what I remember 'grade level 7 yearold readers' aren't hugely impressive

Best Wishes,
Grinity

Hi JoJo,

Don't forget that the 1/2/3 class will have normally developing Year 1s who will likely fall below your daughter's ability levels. If your daughter is in the class as a Year 1, she won't be expected to do the work of or behave like a Year 3.

Also, environment does play a really big role. If your little one has the example of children who know the routines, know what's expected of them & do the work, she is more likely to follow their lead & show her abilities than if she's in a class where the other children are still learning the basics.

That's not to say that the Pre-Primary/1 class won't be enough for her, just don't write off the 1/2/3 because of worries about those Year 3s being in the same class. The best thing for two of my boys was the ability to be in a combined Rec-Year3 class for those early years, allowing them to do work at a higher level & having the older children to interact with. For my oldest this came after a year of dumbing down in kindergarten to fit in, and the second was early entered at 4 1/2 into the class. It worked for us.

Good luck,
cassandra

It's true that Miss 4 LOVES hanging out with Miss 7, and in fact I think this is her natural peer group. Unfortunately, Miss 7 has just herself started hanging out with slightly older kids (9 year olds, which tends to be her natural peer group) and it's just too much of a stretch for Miss 4. She's quite grumpy about the change in social dynamics!

I haven't looked at the Iowa Scale. Any chance it's downloadable somewhere on the net?

I do need to take into account that Miss 4 is slow to transition. Very slow. The pp/year 1 skip would allow her to remain with some of her kindy friends - which she would like. But it may allow her to continue hiding amongst them. And she's not going to immediately warm to the teacher. The 1-2-3 class would be a stretch because she would stick out like a sore thumb, obviously the youngest in the class. I don't think she would like to have a spotlight on her. She would however much prefer the 1-2-3 teacher who she's very fond of.

Does she dumb down? Absolutely. When I was reading in class t'other day before the bell, a little friend came over to us. Miss 4 went from reading perfectly to garbled goo-ga in a matter of seconds! Her friend recognised a circle on the page (the letter O) and was obviously not reading. All Miss 4 needed was a chihuaua to complete her pink and fluffy Paris Hilton impersonation...

jojo

Ouch! That scene must have been frustrating!

Well, I would be tempted to go with the 1-2-3 class as well, and expect a pretty gradual orientation period of 1-2 months. Also meet with the teacher beforehand to see if this expectation is ok, and what they'd recommend to help your dd along.
Discuss with your daughter what to expect, particularly the idea that there might really be stuff she doesn't know in this class. (You hope).

If the 1-2-3 teacher is a good fit with DD, that out weights everything. Of course the information you have about Miss4 and the 7 year olds is another positive factor.

And if she's slow to like change, just think how much she'll like being in the 1-2-3 classroom for a good long while.

Looks to me like you caught her red-handed (tounged) dumbing down, and although I value friendships, I only count them as actual friendships when the person can be some reasonalbe facsimile of themselves.

I tenderly broached the subject of DS12's new friends, asking if they are 'in-school-achievers' - the answer is 'no' but DS was quick to point out that his mini-rebels are more accepting of him for who he is than any of the high achievers from his old school. His example is that they saw him do a Rubik's Cube that a friend of a friend had brought to school, and were supportive instead of critical. I'm still hoping for a range of friends - some of whom are 'in-school-achievers' and some of whom are 'non-conformists.' We'll have to watch 'Juno' again.

Smiles,
Grinity