Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Questions about Accommodations (no GT Program)

Hi all,

We finally got DS7 in for his IQ and achievement testing, and while we don't have his scores yet, the psychologist told us he definitely qualifies for JHU CTY classes (so he's gifted but we don't know how gifted), and she asked about whether DS7's school would be open to pulling him out to take some classes (e.g., Language Arts) with an older class or to allow outside curriculum to be used. She also mentioned DS is obviously not used to being challenged academically. His first reaction to anything difficult during testing was, "I can't do this. It's too hard." It broke my heart to hear that, although I wasn't surprised.

So, now that I'm over the GT-denial hurdle, I'm onto flinging myself headfirst into the advocation arena.

We haven't yet had discussions with the parochial school DS7 attends, which has no GT program, and we won't talk with them until we get the scores and final report in a few weeks. We hope the school will be open to accommodating DS's needs, but will be surprised if that's the case. Our impression (shared by several Moms I know) is that the school is not generally welcoming to suggestions, and still holds to the "we serve kids in the middle very well" mantra (and they wonder why they don't attract more families!!).

Public school is not an option unless we move. We're planning to talk with other parochial schools in the area as well as a couple of private schools. The improvement in situation would have to be considerable, though, to warrant change in schools particularly because it has taken DS7 two years to make even a couple friends in his class, and he's a very anxious kid for whom the change would be very difficult. Homeschooling could be an option, but would present some serious financial challenges for us, and DH is not a big supporter of the idea at this point.

So, I have some questions as we're trying to figure all of this out in the few weeks we have before the school year starts.

If we're going to propose something workable to DS's existing school, we're figuring something low-maintenance for the school will go over best, especially at the beginning.

Has anyone here successfully proposed and integrated outside courses (e.g., CTY) into their child's curriculum at school? How did it work? Did your child go to a different classroom or the library or something to do the work while the other kids did the standard classwork. If something like this did work for you, what curriculum did you use? Was this pretty easy to convince your school to try?

Can anyone give me feedback on how well individual subject acceleration worked for their child? What arguments worked well to get this accommodation for your child? Any drawbacks to be aware of?

If anyone has any other suggestions or input, I'd love to hear them. It's so wonderful to have a forum where people get it. I've felt iffy as to whether I belong here since I didn't have anything definitive about DS's GTness -- just my gut. Maybe, eventually, I'll even have something to add to the forum besides questions....

Thanks for being here!
~S

Hello,
My kids attended an open enrollment Catholic K-8th school which yields high percentile rankings for many years after they accepted my son early for 1st and grade advanced our daughter when the public school district refused. It was definitely a better choice for them than staying a grade lower in the less rigorous public school. The school�s focus was definitely towards high average students like the school you mention, although our ds was granted some flexibility.

The problem was that half the teachers were resentful regarding either the deviation from the normal schedule or his more progressed abilities. We had to �submit� for continued accommodations each year and then wait until after the beginning of the new school year to learn whether they would be �granted�. Yes, we were successful in negotiating an online math course (ALEKS) in addition to higher grade math subject acceleration for grades 5th and 6th.

When we�d finally grown weary of groveling and began looking at other parochial and private schools, we learned that some were quite anxious to accommodate him. Honestly, I thought we�d only find more of the same lukewarm attitude, but was pleasantly surprised.

My advice is to cast a wide net and don�t shortchange your son�s social acceptance. In fact, a change of peer group may be a remedy for underachievement. The same qualities and sensitivities that make him a �freak� at 7 might be the exact traits that win high quality friends at almost 13 (like my son).

Best wishes.

Delbows, thanks for the reply. I appreciate your thoughtful response. We'll keep in mind your points, particularly about his ability to make friends.

Take care,
~S