Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Intro

Hi Grinity!

Thank you for the warm welcome. I'm so sorry to read about the difficult path that you followed before your DS was identified as gifted. I'm sure that it was a frustrating process for you, your DS and family--((HUGS!)) And yes, I am extremely grateful to my friend. I would never have thought to do testing if it hadn't been for her...

In my exhaustive (and exhausting!) search for an appropriate kindergarten for DD4, I have visited a number of public schools with magnet programs and our home school, which is not a magnet. At our home school, I felt that DD would be somewhat bored, because there is very little depth in the regular curriculum, and I had that impression before we even had her tested; also, in our public schools, TD classes are not offered until 3rd grade and are based on a pull-out model, which does not thrill me.

At the 145+ school, DD would be roughly in the middle, perhaps skewing a bit on the higher side, but not stratospherically high, KWIM? That gives me more confidence that she might be a good fit there, and at the same time, makes me worried about sending her to public school. Both the 145+ school and the public magnet programs use lotteries, so there is the possibility that she could end up at our home school, which has been keeping me awake at night...

I'm going to talk to the psychologist next week about DD's results, and hopefully get more info about her reading. The interesting thing is that in my brief discussion with the psychologist following the evaluation, she told me that DD read every 2- and 3-letter word that she showed her, plus most of the 4- and 5-letter words she presented. I told you that she does better with other adults than with me and DH!

Anyway, this process has been both exhausting and enlightening. In reading about giftedness, I have found that I have many of the characteristics in this category, but never knew it--there were no opportunities for testing, etc. when I was growing up in the rural South in the 1970s. Being able to identify this and reflecting on my own school experience have made me determined not to have DD repeat what I dealt with. And as you pointed out, I'm recognizing traits in many other people in my life, including my father, that are consistent with giftedness and an inability to fit in socially. It's been a very interesting process...

Thanks so much again for writing, Grinity--I look forward to getting to know you better!

Hi St. Pauli Girl! (LOVE the name )

Yes, we do feel lucky to have so many public magnet programs, plus a charter school for 145+, available nearby. In addition, one of the magnet programs in our public school is for 145+ AND 2 grade levels+ agemates; I have not pursued this option, because as I mentioned, DD4 is not a fluent reader and is not very interested in math, and this program is not only for gifted, but for the academically precocious. I have also repeatedly heard that kids in this program "do not have a life," which makes me very leery of it even if/when she could demonstrate 2 grade levels+, KWIM? I want her to love school and have time to do the extracurriculars she loves, plus PLAY, which I think is essential to healthy development.

Thanks for mentioning the DYS program. I have heard about it, but not investigated it yet. I'll be sure to check it out. She has not had achievement testing done, but I'm going to talk to the psychologist about it next week.

Many thanks again for your ideas and especially your welcome!

Thanks, Momx2! Your DD and DS's experiences with reading sound very similar to what a friend told me about her DS's. She said that he didn't start reading until he was 5, almost 5.5, but when he did, it came "like an avalanche," and he was reading well beyond his agemates who had begun reading, in some cases, years earlier.

We read to DD4 constantly. She's got an amazing attention span (when she wants to! ). We do what you suggested--stopping and asking her to sound out a key word or a sight word--and she can usually do it without too much trouble, but typically puts up a lot of resistance, because she just wants to get on with the story or learn more about whatever we're reading. It can be somewhat frustrating for us all, but DH and I are trying to strike that delicate balance between helping her develop her skills but not pressing too much, KWIM?

I'm interested in learning more about the 145+ school that your kids attend. I just realized that I may have mischaracterized the 145+ charter school I mentioned in my previous post--if so, APOLOGIES! The admissions requirements for the 145+ school that we're considering actually sound just like yours: 145+ to automatically apply for the lottery, but 130-144 may be considered on a case-by-case basis. I wonder if it's the same one?

Our local library system is stellar, and I've been fortunate to have good access to foreign language materials for DD...

Many thanks again for the welcome and ideas--they are much appreciated!

Sounds like a lack of attention to detail permeates the school and its practices.

Its a simple thing to get texts in other languages.

Thanks--I've written you back!

Hi Dottie -

Thanks so much for the welcome. Yes, we are lucky to have a variety of opportunities, but unfortunately, the programs are very small, with far more qualified applicants than seats. DH, the eternal optimist, keeps saying that *someone* has to get in, so why not DD4? I wish I could be so hopeful...

I'm glad that your local school is being at least somewhat cooperative in meeting your child's/children's needs. If we don't win the lotteries, I'll certainly be calling upon you for advice on how to get the ball rolling in this regard!


BTW, I love the DOK acronym!

I was told that because the district (or state?) has to approve the textbooks, there was no way they could do this for all of the four languages offered at the immersion school. This is CRAZY to me, because I think that without textbooks in the target language, a school cannot honestly be called an "immersion" school.

However, the dual-language program that we are looking at does provide content-area textbooks in Spanish for all grades. I suppose it's easier to find Spanish-language materials that are consistent with the district/state guidelines (although several administrators told me that this has been one of the biggest challenges that the school has faced). This school has also recently implemented an AR program in Spanish, which the kids are required to complete along with the English one. I really like that this school is doing its best to fully promote biliteracy.

We looked at a preK-8 school that claimed to teach French every year through 8th grade. I couldn't find a single book in French in their library. I asked the headmaster about it and he told me that no one had ever asked that question before! He also told me that they don't focus on teaching French to learn fluency, but rather "so students can better understand the English language." ?? Whatever that means.

Then he said that it was unlikely that their 8th graders would be able to do more than get around in Paris or Montreal. ???

Val

This comment and the library comment above with the excuses about needing textbooks approved are just whitewash.

Teachers can get newspaper articles and magazines articles as enrichment activities and require students to translate 200-500 words a night and then recite the article in class.

Lots of childrens books can be ordered wholesale or online and parents can be asked to find and contribute one book to build a library.