Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Stressing about parent/teacher conferences

Acs, how did you set up concurrent enrollment in the virtual academy? I'm wondering if this could be an option for DS.

Cathy

Hi Cathy,
I called the virtual academy and asked their policy on dual-enrollment. They had a limited number of slots for dual-enrolled students, but still had a few openings. I had to get his "regular" principal to sign off (When you dual-enroll the schools split the funding for that pupil, so regular school lost a bit of money.) Once we got the paperwork in, it was all pretty easy. I got DS's assignments ready and sent them with him to school; he did them during regular math time and I checked them once he got home and went over the things he needed help with. Occassionally, he had to go online and the teacher at school was happy to let him do that. Because DS is very independent it worked well; had he needed a teacher there to work with him, the set up probably would not have worked out.

Dottie, it's on the 19th. We only get 15 min. I'll have to talk really fast, LOL!

I hope things go well at your conference, too. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Cathy

Prioritize, that list, too! Start at the top and work your way down...

Oh KCab!
I'm so pleased!
Sounds like the teacher is on the right path!
Trin

Lol, I'm stressing about the conference next Monday as well. However, I feel that it is going to be anticlimactic since we have an IEP meeting scheduled for 11/29. I'm not sure I want to say anything at Monday's conference:)

DS (almost 5) has just finished Singapore 1A. He has really taken to it and he amazed me today with a bit of reasoning.

The problem said that someone had 16 objects and gave some away. There were 7 objects left. How many were given away?

He thought for a minute and then said, it must be 9 because 8+8=16 so if I take one from one of the eights to make a 7 and give that one to the other 8 I get 9.

Do you think I should share this kind of thing with his teacher at the conference?

Sure, if you think 1) she'll get it and 2) it will help. Just beware of sounding like you're bragging. WE know you're not, but the advice someone gave here a month or so ago to stick to the child's emotional health really seems smart to me. I suspect anecdotal evidence doesn't help much with most teachers. They either ignore it or feel they must refute it. If they were going to accept it, you probably wouldn't have to bring it up at all. OTOH, asking for help because the child is unhappy and withdrawing (or whatever) seems tailor-made for getting a teacher on-board.

(P.S. That's the second time I gave that secondhand advice about sticking to the emotions without crediting my source. It's good advice, but I feel like I'm plagiarizing! Would the wise party who gave it initially please ID yourself so I can give you credit. Thanks for relieving my guilty conscience! )

He's not really unhappy, just biding his time. Today he told me in the car on the way home that "I can't wait to get to first grade because that will be a lot harder. This Kindergarten is a piece of cake!" I'm afraid he is going to be sorely disappointed by first grade

I hate this! I feel like I'm not allowed to talk openly about my child to the school. We parents have so little power there. I am afraid that advocating for DS will mean the teacher may mistreat him. That already happened to him once at his previous school. I feel like it's impossible for me to come up with the perfect approach that will have the desired result. I'm really feeling very depressed about it right now. I feel sure I'm going screw it up! I'm not the kind of person who relates easily to people. I am perceived as aloof or demanding, especially by other women. Maybe I should send DH to the conference? Has anyone tried that?