Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Beginning Advocacy Question and Report (re: DS4)

Hi all. My DS4 yrs, 10 mos, will be starting in school next fall. The local public elem. school's gifted coordinator agreed to meet with us (yay!) when I contacted her to give her the heads up on DS, who tested in the HG+ range on the SB-V. (And a thank you to our friend who also has a HG+ kid who recommended that we speak to the gifted coordinator.) I gave her copies of his SB-V reports, because I figured if we wanted them to help us, the more information they had, the better. She asked if we wanted her to share this info with the principal too, or keep it for later. I couldn't see any negatives in sharing the info, but now I'm wondering if there could be any negative aspects? It's not like it would be a big secret once they actually met him. I guess it's too late now, because we already gave permission, but if anyone can think of a reason why not to share this info, i'd love to hear it.

I am so happy that the gifted coordinator wanted to meet with us and help us. She seemed very excited to get DS's info and to help him. She says her expertise is in helping to create appropriate curriculum. Sounds good to me. She said she will help us work with the principal. She is not aware of anyone in our district testing at DS's levels, which I think is a positive. Another positive is that the gifted coordinator said that there is law in our state requiring the district to provide appropriate education for identified gifties. Also, she said she knows of out-of-the-box teachers in every grade of elementary, who she will recommend at sorting hat time. I piped up and asked if it is possible for us to recommend other kids who DS gets along with to also be placed in particular classes, and she said we could (no guarantees, but isn't that nice?). She is also going to see if the principal will agree to let DS take MAP achievement testing when they test the other (older) kids in the spring (even though he won't technically be a student yet).

So, I'm just sharing my happy feelings for now. We still have some concerns, such as no official gifted programs until 3rd grade, and less than a handful of kids who have grade-skipped (not our first plan, but probably in the future). And of course, we haven't met with the principal yet, who has ultimate say, and haven't gotten to the school yet, but we're happy to have a kindred spirit on our side.

Sounds like I wish my children were in your school! Yes, it doesn't answer everything but it is certainly a start.

Congtats on such a positive meeting! I wonder if it might be a good idea to send a follow-up e-mail thanking her both for her willingness to meet with you, and at the same time gently reminding her of some of the accommodations you discussed.... "It is just so great that dd4 will have the opportunity to meet with a reading specialist three times per week to develop an individually appropriate reading program -dd4 just loves to read, and I know that she will be looking forward to that" - or whatever the plan was.... that way you both will have something to refer back to in case there are any bumps in the road come September. BTW, what state are you in?

thanks - We didn't really make any plans except to enlist the help of the gifted coordinator when we meet with the principal. The main reason for meeting this early was to get DS assigned to the right teacher when they sort kids in the spring. (And I did work it into the ty note that it would be nice to get the MAP testing to see where DS is on a test that the school's already familiar with.) The real planning will come when we know what teacher DS will get, then we can work with her and the gifted coordinator. I'm just sharing my early happiness! Who knows what will happen in the future, but for now, i'm happy.

We're in MN.

I'm thinking the "no gifted program until 3rd" probably doesn't matter at all as long as the school will try to work with DS near his level. I think we're better off being in a small city, where DS will be somewhat of a novelty.


thanks - nice happy dance!

p.s. - so you don't see any negatives in sharing all the IQ info up front?

Cool! WOW! The GC sounds really on the ball!

Sounds great, SPG! I think it's better to give the info up front. Then the school knows what they are dealing with. And based on how the use or react to the test results, you know what YOU are dealing with.

All signs point to GREAT so far!

I've never heard of a school saying this! Very Good news!



I don't see any drawback to sharing the info with the Princ, but do realize that some school folk understand high IQ scores and some don't. More specifically, some have a mental picture of LOG, some are open minded enough to see LOG where it's there when they finally meet it, and some just can't help lumping the top 3% together.


You may as well start looking around to see what the law actually says. When you met the lumpers (who see the top 10%, 5% or 3% all as one lump) you want to be ready with what the law says regarding the individual needs of individual students. This isn't something to bother your school about, but it's a nice excuse to meet the local Gifted Community, attend the state functions (if you haven't already) and set up a few playdates. Your State department of Ed website may have a few articles as well.



This can make all the difference in the world! Yippee! Still, What works for one HG+ kid might not work for another HG+ kid, so still push, as time goes on, to observe the teachers working in the classrooms in advance, when it's time to pick 1st grade teachers.



That would be amazing! I hope it happens. Your end of things is to start thinking about 'is my kid happy to learn independently, ok with a small group, or needs a whole classroom.' That way when his scores come back +2 or +3 years, you know what to ask for. Also, with MAP testing coming, be sure to hot house a little bit, so that, for example, he may know the concept of multiplication verbally, and be able to multiply a bit, but if he's never seen the 'x' on paper, he will confuse the MAP test big time. I'd leave a few math workbooks around the house or car of different levels so that he sees a variety of 'standard' Math questions in advance and can ask you 'notation' questions.


((Humor Alert)) I don't understand, do you mean to say that you think he isn't ready for a 3rd grade gifted program now? ((More Seriously)) Don't fall into the lumper trap...the only way to know is to observe, so brace yourself to ask for 'subject acceleration' in the gifted program as well. HG+ kids all have individual needs, but a pull out program that is designed to fit the needs of MG kids isn't likely to be very satisfing to an HG+ kid if he has to stick with his agemates. My Guess is that Kindy will go ok if they can create little groups of Math lovers and Reading lovers with a few high scoring MAP kids from various grades, and towards the middle of the school year, start observing the various options for gifted kid with an eye toward getting them to let him start the 3rd grade programs in 1st grade.


To me, that any have grade-skipped at all is wonderful news, particularly if the staff had good experiences with these kids.

Congrats! Sounds like you are off to a good start. I love the 'follow up email' idea as well.

Best Wishes,
Grinity

Thanks everyone!


I am familiar with the law, and I am glad that the school thinks it says what it does, but as a recovering lawyer, I can see there are ways to weasel out of it if the school wanted to. (It's a newer law, so I'm feeling pretty good that the gifted coordinator feels it supports us, because she'll then tell the principal that.) But I'm just pretending that it's all good right now!


Great advice, I will start thinking about this. I know DS is happy as a lark by himself with his educational software, so i'm thinking that it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if he is set aside for part of the day with a computer. It's hard to know about the learning with other kids bit, since he hasn't really done much (if any) of that.


Did I mention my DS, though beyond kindy math, isn't one of the mathy kids? The MAP test includes language arts, science, etc, so i don't think i need to get to multiplication yet for him to do pretty well, but i'll show him some equations before the test anyway.


ha ha - i think by 3rd grade they do expect you to sit in your seat for longer than 15 minutes and know how to write, so i don't think he could hack it.

But all in all, good news for us for now. I'll keep everyone posted on what happens next. Thanks for the advice and for happy dancing with me.

Awwww, don't say it that way!

You may appreciate your more "lawyerly" ways if you ever do run into a little hitch at school!