Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Help! Middle School Acceleration.

A - If the teacher says DD can do the work, she can. But check her scores against the Iowa Acceleration Manual, just in case. If I have score saying one thing, and a child's school performance saying another thing - I'm going to put more weight on which everone suggests a higher level. ((but you knew that - wink))
B- so what if DD skips and DS doesn't - I'm not being silly, I'm curious.
C - if DS doesn't want to skip, and is willing to do challenging work, at home or in school, that's his business. Perhaps he would like a chance to skip now for the academics, and take a "year off" later, before highschool for "homeschooling" that way his body can catch up?
D- Although I know that the IASM says that the child MUST be "on board" I have seen that taken with a grain of salt amoung the "top tenth of a percent" types. As in "the child is not resisting any more after much parental persuation/bribery." One friend got her son to agree to skipping 5th based on "think of all the 5th grade homework you won't ever have to do."

Best Wishes,
Trinity

Ania,

I would just like to add that the ego boost may be an added bonus for DD, since her brother is the �genius� of the two. My daughter�s classmates and friends often refer to her brother as a brainiac. She is generally fine with that characterization because they presume that she is also somewhat in the same intellectual �ballpark�. On occasion she compares herself unfavorably to her brother. I can always point out that he was just early entranced, by she actually skipped a grade �he may be subject accelerated in math, but she was subject accelerated across the board. I think it enhances her self perception to know this.

Ania:

I think if your dd is willing to skip, you should let her.

Even if she is "just" in the top 3-5 percent, she is probably bored with her classes and ready to move on. I subject-accelerated in jr high (20+ years ago) and really liked getting out of that scene faster!

I think this decision should not depend at all on what DS is doing. If DS doesn't want to grade skip, I would encourage him to subject accelerate in his areas of greatest interest. He will still get to see his friend and girls his age every day.

Good luck!

BK

The meeting is over. I hate these meetings!! Always feel like such a pushy mom. Can you believe that I was actually apolegetic
for my kids beeing smart???
Anyway, P is very much against grade skip for D, agreed to put her in 6th grade math and LA. When asked what will happen next year, she said that we will see, she did not have answers. But as you know, we have to play it year by year.
She sees no problem with Ghost taking science classes at local HS.There is a charter HS within two blocks of our school and HS P has kids at our school. P thinks she will be very open to accomodating Ghost. BUT, she also suggested that Ghost might take 9th grade science at our school, which is Earth Sciences. She gave us the book and asked to think about it. To me the book looks also like something he can cover within a period of a few weeks. Also, Earth Sciences is not a prerequisite to any other science courses. Is it important? I think it is.
P also told me that Ghost is still so young and he has got so much time to take these classes in the future. As much as I like P, even though she intimidates me, I hated listening to that. Made me feel like this pushy mom who is driving her child insane. Hate it!!!
Meeting with the P of a charter HS tomorrow. And meeting with the coordinator of an IB program in two weeks.
Have to go now,
Ania

Oh, I forgot to mention that H and I decided that Ghost will ultimately decide if he wants to take 9th grade course or go to HS for one class.I am not going to push him...

Ania -
You are not pushy! You didn't bring up DD's situation - her TEACHER did. It isn't your fault that your kids are smart, ok, beyond the "tainted" blood/genes, it really isn't!
Good luck with the next meetings.

P sounds like she doesn't know her data or have a clue. Burns me up when people in positions of athority abuse that athority.

To be honest, you are much better skipping DD now, then waiting to skip her "bridge year" - partially because she is willing now, and partially because the IAS manual really discourages missing the last year in any building. I have personal experience here, and it isn't easy organizationally!

My hunch is that if you push, just a little bit more, nicely, with a calm written letter requesting that DD enter 7th this year, that you will do her a lot of good. Don't let your emotions get in the way of what is your best judgement, please!

Love and More Love, because these are hard places,
Trinity

Thank you ladies for all the support!
Funny Trinity, that P also mentioned those "tinted genes".
DD will start 6th grade math and LA tomorrow. She is happy. Will see how it goes, will keep my eyes open over the next month or so. P/T conferences are the 20 of September.
Ghost is still thinking, searching online what biology/chemistry/physics HS courses are all about.
What do you think about Earth Sciences? Is it a dead point or no?

Ania

So much depends on the teacher. DS11 is doing Earth Science this year, with an into to Chemistry and Physics. I expect them to keep feeding the kids information - there were memorizing almost all the bones in the body last year! If the book looks very superficial, it would be good to find out (how?) if the teacher goes into more detail or sticks to what's in there. My thought is, why mess around with something that looks "too easy" right from the begining?

Yes, it is my experience that Earth Science doesn't get built on during High School. When I went to High School the 9th graders who were "college prep" took Earth Science, but the "honors" kids who were headed towards AP Physics and AP Chemistry skipped it. Of course that was a long time ago!

BTW - Congradulations on DD's subject accelerations. Sounds like you are off to a good start!

smiles,
Trinity

I agree Trinity that a lot depends on a teacher.
I should probably have a talk with S current science teacher. She is very young, this is her first year of teaching, but maybe she will have some insights.

I was trying to get in on the conversation a couple of days but I could not remember the password.

My two daughters skipped a grade in middle school. At that time, there was a lot of stress about whether we were doing the right thing or not. But it turned out to be one of the best moves for them. I can�t imagine them stuck one grade lower now.

When my older daughter entered 6th grade, we requested to skip math after a week because it was just waste of time. Teachers gave her a couple of tests to make sure that she was advanced enough. Then she was allowed to move to 7th grade math class. Half year later, her English teacher told us that we should consider moving her LA and history classes as well. So we did. As a result, she was more than half way skipped. Only PE, Science and Band classes were still with kids of her old grade.

This worked fine for another year, but by 8th grade, there were problems. She had to take Math, English and History in nearby high school and then came back for rest of classes. It just became a logistical nightmare. On top of that, the local HS is not the one we want her to attend. So decision was simple, let her skip a whole grade. The middle school was very supportive on this. I did not have to arm wrestle with anyone.

For my younger daughter, we already know the consequence and the potential problem of subject skipping. So she just went straight to skip the 6th grade. We armed with her CTY SCAT test score, her writing portfolio and some other awards when we talked to Principal and consoler. Then it was done.

I think that it is relative easy for girls to skip a grade in middle school. My older daughter started out with subject skipping so it gives her time to make new friends while still have the connections with her old classmates. It took a bit effort; she was eventually accepted into the group. My younger daughter had an easier time. She moved up a grade and just inherited her sister�s friends. For boys, the experience might be different. Being smart is not cool in middle school, especially for boys.

If you are not totally sure about grade skipping, then you can start with subject skipping on their strongest subjects. You can stay this way or move to whole grad skipping later. If the kid is doing well in subject skipping, it is much easier to talk to Principal for grade skipping.