Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy help with art teacher

First off let me copy and paste an email exchange

Thanks for sharing DS7's work. I will try to take a look at it this
week. There are certain skills that DS7 should be working on, but he
has been absent a great deal. The few days he has been here he has not
shown much progress in his skills. His work is quite a bit below third
grade level. I am also concerned that he often says he doesn't want to
do whatever it is we're doing, he will go a different direction or make
an excuse for why he didn't do what I asked. "Well, I just wanted to
make these guys over here." - was his response for example, when the
problem set was radial design and symmetry. I think the concept was too
difficult for him because he has missed much of the curriculum for
second and now, third grade, creating large gaps in his knowledge. His
art grade will be an NA - I don't have enough to actually grade him.

Ava

-----Original Message-----


Good Morning!

I thought you might want to see the artwork DS7 has been doing at home
while he was sick. I could really get him to put mark maker to paper,
but He was really interested in making movies. He made three stop
actions. They are on this DVD. The other two movies are documentations
of him working on stuff. This is a copy of a DVD we put together for a
scholarship program.

I don't know if you can count these toward his art grade? maybe?

Anyway I thought you would like to see them.... they are pretty funny.

Second: I am a NYS Certified Art Teacher..... as far as the art curriculum is concerned, she's full of crap..... But DS7 does lag in this area, he's never been a big fan of coloring he loves to draw, but isn't great at it.


Third: DS7 and I discussed the concept of radial summitry, he understands the concept, but did really see the point in making the art work.... his was different.

Fourth: this women has made the following statement to me: "All kids are gifted."

IMO as a professional artist and trained art teacher, her projects are very cookie cutter- she wants everyone to make the same thing, it's not concept based- it's very skill based. So naturally a 7 year old is not going to have the kills of a 9 year old in art making. She is acting this way because she thought the grade skip was a bad idea nd we were just being pushy parents and it wasn't warrented- in other words, DS7's gifts are that we push him.

On top of this you may have noticed that she said he has been out a lot.... something is wrong, and as much as his father and I have tried to deny it, he keeps getting sick and he keeps getting nose bleeds..... something is wrong. We have to take him to the doctor and get her to figure out what.... and, because he is not really really ill..... is sort of sick every other week, it's another argument. Honestly I don't know how much more of this I can take.

Anyway, I know that I have to answer this in a calm focused manner. Please help me write her back..... she is not a bad person, she just doesn't get it.

Hmm Jen,
I see the predicament! Boy she sounds strict! My 1st reaction is come on this is just art! But this is prob why she is upset prob thinks Art is low on your list of academic priorities?
I know I feel this way LOL! I am sorry but come on we will not all be artists so what is the big deal. So what he can't do a radical design etc. My DS6 will prob NEVER be able to do that!
Ok well then what can you do to get her to give him some grade? Maybe ask if he can do some take home work, that she can then grade? I can see us having the same issues when we switch to public!!!!!!!

the school he goes to is an art magnet.... her word pulls a lot of weight believe it or not. That being said, she is not well liked. She won't accept the movies he made at home..... which is quiet a bit of work, and well above third grade I might add.

Why is he at an art magnet if this is not his piece of cake, looks like?

The teacher doesn't come across as mean to me. She is simply making a statement. He hasn't done the work, so he is not getting a grade from her.

My dd was grade skipped from 2nd to 4th (because of her art teacher's recommendation). Because of the grade skip there were things she needed to work on to catch up to the kids in the new grade. Not many, but a few skills that are taught in 3rd grade (handwriting for example). I made it clear to my dd that if she wanted to be in 4th, she needed to do the work 4th graders are doing. Once we decided to let her skip, we no longer treated her as a 3rd grader. Over the summer, she worked on handwriting so she would be ready for 4th grade in the fall. She is further grade skipped in math, but again, I expect her to be able to do the same work as the kids in her math class even though she is much younger than they are.

I am not a great proponent of grade skips, unless the child is ready to take all the work that would be required in the next grade level. Otherwise, I favor acceleration in the specific subject the child is ready for.

As Ania pointed out, why an art magnet?

Our kids are very good at picking cues from us. If you child perhaps senses that you don't think art is such a big deal, maybe he is reacting to that?

well... that's exactly why... we were hoping that he would learn an appreciation if he was surrounded by it. Right, maybe he would pick it up, That was our reasoning.......

And he has to some degree, he has started to love to draw, even though he sort of stinks at it. It makes him happy, so that's good! He has also become very interested in photography and digital imaging, which comes more from home.

He's 7, and draws like a 6 year old.... so he's not great, but in digital imaging, he is like a 12 year old. I know this because this is what I do for a living

Sorry maybe I wasn't clear.... art is a big deal for us! Both my husband and myself have Masters in Fine Art.... we are both Professional artists. We accept the fact that our son lags here, but we were hoping that being surrounded by it would help him.

We did the grade skip because they don't do partial acceleration and wouldn't even discuss it..... it was the first thing we tried for......

DS7 is needed something because he is grade levels ahead in math and english

ien - you are an artist, you have an appreciacion for art and your son will pick it up from you.



Does not look like it is.

it seems like the general concession is I am being unreasonable... ok thanks for the honest responses.... I will have to rethink what she is saying.

I don't see it as being unreasonable. It sounds like your DS's asynchronous skills - lagging behind in art - are hitting a raw nerve with you, because of your profession. That's perfectly reasonable.

Your DS's fine motor skills may lag compared with his peers because he grade-skipped. I'll bet he will catch up. Growth in any area is not necessarily linear, and he may surprise you in the next few months/years.

If it's really vitally important that he learn certain art skills, why not offer a small incentive? My children will attest - I'm not above bribing if the stakes are high.