Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Phrases to Watch Out for on School Tours?

The workbook page one is probably my favorite.

<shaking head>

And by favorite, I mean "The one that makes me want to hit something."

I will never forget when we were looking for schools for our DS. We tried to explain to the Head of one school that our DS was rather advanced and we were asking what they could do for him to keep him challenged - his reponse "I have never met a truly gifted child. The closest that I came to meeting a gifted child was a little boy who could spell yacht backwards"

Needless to say DH and I ran a mile from this school!

How about, "Although you're doing your job by advocating for your son" (I was inquiring about early enrollment at the local public school) "you need to lower your expectations."

The public school also told me that early enrollment or grade skipping isn't allowed because they do intensive drilling before the administration of every standardized test and worry that an accelerated kid couldn't keep up with the drills. This seemed to confirm vague rumors I had heard about public schools deliberately holding gifted kids back for the sake of the school's standardized test scores.

The school rep, who had not met my son, also assumed my son had no social skills, repeating over and over again that what he needs most is to learn how to communicate with kids his own age. This is a kid who has been invited to four birthday parties in as many weeks.

When I expressed concern that my son might not find many true peers among his age-mates, the rep told me that "statistically-speaking" my son "has no peers" and that I'll never find a good school fit for him (I had already found a great fit at a private gifted school but was hoping not to have to pay for it). At least they were consistent about the low expectations part! They would have had me give up on educating my son without even trying.

This may be going too far, but I'd probably run from anyone who claims to know your kid and what they need better than you do.

Actually, I think that's fabulous advice. Especially when they've never met the child or only had a 2-minute conversation.

[quote=Kriston]

Took me almost a year to learn this one... This has to be the possibly best advice I have ever heard. We ended up choosing our Independent Studies program/teacher specifically because she believes that we know our child better than she does. It's a lot harder to find someone like that than you might think...

ALL CHLDREN HAVE GIFTS, BUT NOT ALL CHILDREN ARE GIFTED.

OH MY OH MY OH MY....

CAN'T OUTSMART THE SYSTEM HERE, KID
Q: What about a kid who is working ahead in math?

Teacher: Oh, that doesn't happen, and I make sure of it! I tear out the math workbook pages so they can't work ahead. <insert satisfied, knowing smile here>

Not much to say to that one....turn on your heals and RUN!!!!!!!!

We are looooong gone....disappointment doesn't even begin to cover it. There are a few other words that come to mind that come closer...