Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments subject acceleration success?

My DS5 skipped K and is in first. The pace is WAY to slow for him and he has started acting out. He is a kid who is doing double and triple digit multiplication, word problems, fractions, etc...and they are doing single digit addition. He also reads at least at a 5th grade level and the other kids are learning to read. The school asked to have a meeting to address the behaviors and academics as well. Our school is only K-2 and he is above the 2nd grade curriculum all around. So...I just wanted to know any other experiences that any of you have had with subject acceleration in a public school.

How did it work? Was the child taken out of the classroom and worked with independently? Were computers used? Did any school use online programs like CTY? Did they have one on one? Was it just for certain subjects? Did they work in small groups? Please give me any info you have. I want to have a plan and see what they can do. Thankfully I have support and a great advocate (the psychologist who did DS's testing) coming to the meeting with me. I just want to hear what worked for others to see if that is an option for us.

Wow, that is great that they have bussing back and forth. Surely there are other kids in DS's school that are gifted. I doubt there are any PG, but gifted at all would be nice to pair him with for some things. We do have math and reading specialists...But they are for the whole school and there are like 270 kids there...so not sure if they are only focused on helping those who struggle or not. But that is a great idea, I will ask about that during our meeting.

Yes, I have been thinking about that literacy group that you are referring to. I also think he would do just fine reading in the classroom while other kids are doing whatever, and then he can answer questions about what he is reading. He does need to work on explaining what he is reading, even though he does comprehend it because he is able to answer questions when I ask. And he could work on more abstract questions related to reading...like "why do you think so and so said that?" and things like that.

Good luck with your DS this year!

Hi! I don't know if this will help or not.

My DD8 is HG+ and was given early entrance to kindergarten and then last year was in 3rd grade in the mornings (math, reading, writing, p.e., art) and then 2nd grade in the afternoons. The afternoons were pretty much useless academically but allowed her to eat and play with her same-age friends. This year she's in 4th full-time and it is working out really well.

I have a few suggestions of things that worked with my daughter and might help a little bit to differentiate with your son without too much work for his teacher.

1. If your school has the AR program, maybe his teacher could allow him to read level-appropriate books on his own during reading instruction time and then take AR tests on what he reads. I know that you've said that your DS has great computer skills so he would probably be able to take the tests on his own without it having to take up any of his teacher's time. That way, too, you can document for the school just how he's reading and comprehending. My kids have always liked AR tests and they didn't take away any joy of reading. My DD8 started taking them in K when no one else did until 2nd grade.

2. Also, during reading instruction, maybe your son could use the time to write about the books he's reading that are on his level. I know my DD was a very good reader, and her writing skills were above grade level, too. But, in comparison, her writing was not as good as her reading and this gave her a chance to practice composing as well as the handwriting itself.

3. I don't know how well your DS does at self-direction, but it sounds like if the material is interesting that he does self-direct his learning. Perhaps it could be as simple as requesting that he be given the math materials (book, workbook, homework) for him to use during math time in his regular classroom. If he has trouble understanding something, maybe his teacher could arrange for him to meet with a more appropriate teacher once a week after school for a short time to answer all his questions for the week.

Also, I know that you're hoping not to single him out from the class in any way if possible, but I wanted to reassure you that these days all kinds of kids are pulled out from the class at varying times during the day (reading, behavior, speech, pt, ld, etc.) and the kids notice, but don't really care. Maybe when they get older (4th or 5th grade) they start to care more, but at young ages they just don't. They probably will notice that your son is smart, they just won't assign a value judgement to it. To kids at that age, it's really just like noting that his hair is blonde or that he's tall or short.

HTH! Good luck and I'm rooting for your DS!

Two answers: first, one about me, then one about my son. You asked about experiences with public schools, and I went to public schools. DS goes to a private school.

I was allowed to work independently on reading, math, and spelling in 3rd grade. I just went to the teacher when I had a question. This worked out reasonably well for the most part. I had to repeat some Language Arts stuff the next year, even though I'd tested out of it, though. You might try asking them about this approach. Just make sure your son won't be repeating stuff next year.

When I was in fourth grade, it became apparent that language arts class was too easy for a small group of kids in my class. They found someone who spoke Spanish and pulled us out of LA and we did Spanish instead. Everyone was a lot happier: we weren't acting out in class and we were learning something fun and useful. So you could also suggest letting him do something completely different like a language or music or whatever.


My DS9 has had two skips (2->4 then 4->6 this year). He goes to an extremely small private school that understands gifted kids. Overall, the work seems to be 7th grade level.

He's also doing algebra. He had done a lot of algebra with me already and we decided to start him at the beginning to give him easy math while he gets used to the new grade level. His work at school is finally meeting his needs. It's great --- really great.

Anyway, he also had subject acceleration in math last year. It worked very well for him. He just sat with the sixth graders during math class. No special accommodation was needed because he was just sitting with the sixth grade kids. It was easy-peasy.

Just wondering: is there a K-5 or 6 school that he could attend instead of his current one? To be fair to the school, it'll be hard for them to meet his needs given that they're not set up for older kids.

Val

Thanks Val



No there isn't. This is the only school for the district we are in. When he goes to 6th grade the highschool is right next door...but until then not sure. We don't have the finances to do a private school right now and really not sure it would be a good fit anyhow unless they were familiar with kids like him because he is working at so many grade levels ahead. I do know it must be hard for them. They said it wouldn't even make sense to put him in a group of 2nd graders for reading because he is so far above that. I am thinking that when he gets to third he can go in with some 5th graders...but again he probably will be ahead of 5th when he gets there. I anticipate he will need another whole grade acceleration but I am avoiding thinking about it. How did it work out for your DS?

I disagree with this. In every class you will have some working at grade level, some behind, and some ahead. By putting him with the 2nd graders there is a better chance of finding someone working closer to his level and therefore someone he could potentially be grouped with. Clearly not the ideal scenario but possibly an improvement from the current one.

I am starting the think this way too, rdrsquared. Before DS5 started kindergarten, we were told by our K-2 center team that based on his test results, he would need differentiation even if he were in 2nd grade, so he may as well get differentiation in kindy. Seemed fair enough, especially since DS needed to learn to write and to "do school." But then I thought he would at least be getting something closer to what he needs if he were in the 2nd grade class for some subjects, and it would probably be easier for the teacher to differentiate a little bit rather than 2-3 grades, and it is much more likely that there are kids at similar levels there. I still have the worries about DS not being able to write as well as the older kids, but it didn't take much to learn how to "do school." We're in the process of brainstorming ideas for our conference next week, and I think I'm going to push for this, since it doesn't seem like they're differentiating at all so far in kindy.

I agree with you. I realize he is still reading at a higher level, but he could still benefit from being with those kids. At least they are reading and not reviewing how to read. I think that would be better than where he is now. But they say that they are looking into doing some reading from an on-line program and some in another setting. I don't really know yet.

Count me in here too, for all the same reasons.

Also, second grade reading is more interesting than first grade reading: they read actual stories, for example. So even if the reading is too easy, at least it will have a plot he can pay attention to.

As for the second grade skip and my DS: he's only a month into it right now, but so far so good. The work is definitely good, and he gets along with the kids so far.

My DD skipped K this year and it's kind of working out that she does 1st in the morning and 2nd in the afternoon. It just kind of happened. She does 2nd grade reading (still kind of easy). The teacher thought she'd try her in second grade phonics and she gave her a worksheet from mid-second and she got 100% on one side, but did less well on the other (fill in the blanks). I'm not sure how well she understood what she had to do. In any event, the teacher decided it was good enough to start her at the beginning of 2nd grade phonics. She also put her in in 2nd grade spelling, which is a challenge for her, but not outrageously so. So far, it seems okay.

If you're trying to decide about another skip, you might want to get a copy of the Iowa Acceleration Manual on half.com.

Val