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Hi All

I have a question about my daughter who is almost 6 and has not skipped or been subject accelerated at this point. Upon reading the psych testing and our suggestions, the teacher did try to send her to upper grades for reading but she would not hear of it and stubbornly refused to go. As an overview, she was an early self-taught reader at 2, first words at 7/8 months, singing tunes at 12 months and wholes songs at 18 months, speaking in 2 or more sentences at 2 years sometimes up to 10 words per sentence. Used big words like 'frustration' at 18 months. Rote counted to 10 from 13 months - could one one one count to 20 approx 2.5 yrs. Due to her early milestones, testing was suggested for educational purposes. She tested at iq score 99.7th percentile on the weschler preschool test (verbal at 99.8th, perceptual at 99.6th and processing speed brought her down somewhat) and her WIAT reading words was at 160+, with a reading comprehension score of 8 years when she was only 4 1/2 years - which I suggest at around 5.2years was 9 years and would be (from my non-expert assessment) around 9.5 to 10 years now. Maths not as high - but 130. Her reading progress has slowed a bit as she is not as interested in books since being at school. We decided after must thought and discussion to leave her with her age peers (acceleration had been recommended by psych). This year has been quite a shock as the teacher tells us that she is not at all interested in doing anything academic like reading, maths and particuarly writing - all she wants to do is create art, draw, play make believe (with younger kids in class) or play on the monkey bars. She tells me her favourite subject is sport. The teacher says whilst the other children are putting up their hands in drove to write, read and do other academic and/or 'enrichment activities', my daughter is politely saying 'no thanks' I'd rather sit over here and draw a picture. The teacher says this remains so despite the fact she has quite complex books, puzzles etc out for her (I don't know how complex but she pointed to one which was colour by numbers (you had to add eg. 7 + 2 = 9 and 9 would be red). She says that around 10 other children in the class can write pages (and can write better) than my daughter already who just refuses to write. I wonder what is going on, she tells me "she is not comfortable doing those things in the classroom environment" (her words)and the teacher is forcing her to sit by herself and read more advanced books (the teacher says this is not true there are others at the table) The teacher says DD tells her DD does those things at home and just wants a break from them at school. I was astounded as she does these things of her own free will at home (although I have always provided my kids with books and other resources) - the teacher says she appears to be compartmentalising. However, you can tell that the teacher is now thinking the test results and everything is wrong despite the fact she was blown away by my daughter's reading at the start of school (when she actually did read at school). She later commented that any child would read like that if she had been read to as much as my daughter was read to at a young age. She said that she has had a child write entire scripts at DD's age adn DD is not doing any of that. The current teacher tells me that a relief teacher (who took DD's class for 4 months) did not know what she was talking about when she asked how DD was doing - she has no idea DD was GT. The current teacher also looked at me like I must be mad/stupid when I even mentioned subject acceleration. Yet, I am still consistently being told by other parents how bright she is (by the things she tells them, her reasoning and vocab she uses etc). I would be very grateful for any suggestions/comments or advice you may have for me as right now I am at a loss as to what is going on? Should I be concerned or not at all and let things evolve in their own good time?

Thank you so much for listening,
T

Oh man, sounds like she is going through a rough time. I am no expert by any means. My little guy is only 4. It sounds like underachievement to me. Could be a little of the dumbing down effect too. You may need to think about switching schools or possibly homeschooling if you want things to change.
GL

You DD sounds like a very bright little girl! She also sounds like she has a mind of her own, which is wonderful, but a little tough on parents sometimes! Is she maybe a perfectionist who is afraid of doing things in class in front of other people she doesn't know very well and instead finds comfort in drawing? Maybe, too, she feels like she already knows what the teacher is teaching and just doesn't feel the need to proove it. Just hypothesizing here . . . . If only school were more about learning and less about jumping through hoops!

And, I know how much I HATE it when people say my kids are the way they are because I "work with them at home," but try not to focus on her uneducated statement. You have assessments that prove that she is a fast-learner and a deep-thinker, and you can't teach that!

((HUGS))

One other thought: maybe she just thinks of school as a place to do fun stuff like play and do art. That's what K is or was supposed to be about. Especially for her, since she knows most of the academic stuff. Maybe that's her way of keeping it fun and interesting rather than frustratingly slow. Self-preservation, if you will. Also, maybe she does prefer art and playing and gym to reading, writing, and math. Just because you happen to be good at something doesn't always make it your favorite thing, and there's nothing wrong with that! Also, how can the teacher say other kids are better at writing if your daughter refuses to write for her?

Hi T - you could be writing about my youngest daughter *sigh* I agree that she's probably just trying to make school as fun as she can. Art, sport, music, drawing - are probably survival strategies and coping skills. It's easy to blend in and feel just like the other kids when you're doing this. It's harder to feel the 'same' when you're reading chapter books when everyone else isn't.

Like me, you're probably wondering whether a 5 year old really has the capacity to dumbdown to this level. Perhaps she's not really that gifted after all? Because surely if she was then she would be running rings around everyone, completing work way beyond the standard of everyone else, self-motivated to study algebra while everyone else is counting to 10... Not gonna happen!!!!

What I have learned thru watching my eldest daughter is that when you get a good fit with the teacher, when you're not the smartest kid in the class, when you have to apply yourself to get good grades, when you have to learn how to try, when the material you're learning is interesting (not just finger-painting fun!)... learning becomes addictive and exciting and satisfying!

Keep your chin up and let me know if you come across any answers... jojo

Thanks everyone, there is some good insight there. Jojo, I agree you do start to wonder - is this child really gifted? Did I imagine all of this and are the test results all wrong in some way? Was she just an early spurter? The only tip someone has given me is that she needs to be in a multi-age/level class where everyone is working on their own level so she cannot discern "the norm". Yes, she certainly has a mind of her own and when she is motivated and determined she moves forward quickly and in huge leaps - she just hasn't shown that at school this year. This is not a child you could easily force to do anything - if she does it (as she feels its mandatory) - it will be a mediocre outcome at best.

Norm referencing is interesting T because I think we assume that this happens much later than it does. Miss 5 is in a multi-age class and, as it turns out, is the second youngest in her class (by way of being a 27 May baby when the cut off in Oz is 30 June). But... multi-age doesn't necessarily mean multi-ability which is what you really want - a range of abilities above your child, at your child's level and below. In this situation, it may be harder to discern the 'norm', depending on where his/her friends are performing. But going for a multi-age hasn't solved anything for us because the ability range is too narrow. Does that make sense? I would agree that multi-age is VERY important but with caveats...

jojo

Your DD's profile is very similar to my DS(7)'s, except DS is stronger with perceptual and weaker in verbal.

DS waffles between much higher level novels and picture books that fascinated him 4+ years ago. At school there were issues with boredom during free-reading time because he was picking those easier books at the beginning of the week and getting stuck with them for the rest of the week. We talked to him about his responsibility in picking something that will last, and the teacher also gave him permission to change books as often as he wants during the week. That seems to have resolved the problem.

What I notice is that he reads more difficult books when he has time to really get into it, and when he has no big distractions. School is a big distraction. He knows he is different, and he wants things to talk about and share with his friends. At home he relaxes and will switch from high level books and pick up Robert Munsch (or the like) for some laughs. Stacked by his bed are books ranging from grade 1 level straight through to near-adult level books and he enjoys them all.

It sounds like, with your DD, there is a bit more than this going on, but it is worth exploring. She is probably well able to handle a discussion about good reasons for varying her choices in reading. I talk to my sons about the need to challenge themselves, but I also make a point of laughing with them at the easy books so they know it is okay to enjoy all levels.

A bright side for you is that her teacher knows very well that she is performing below her level. Perhaps over time she will get comfortable enough to challenge herself. It has taken a while for DS's teacher to understand that my sons are more capable than they show in more than just language arts and sciences which are the most obvious differences.

Yes, my daugter does that too - flipping from easy picture books to more advanced chapter books and non-fiction. HOwever, at school I notice she selects the easiest books - I will talk to her as to why. She also came home from school yesterday saying 'I was the last one to finish my maths worksheet and I had to be told to stop talking 3 times'. Apparently, the teacher had to help her finish it as she was taking so long.... tHis is very easy maths - she passed this level plus more in the WIAT achievement at 4.5 and does maths on her brother's maths program at home - which easiest level is about 2 to 3 years ahead of this school work. Go figure?

My DS8 will do this, and I think I finally understand why. He is a voracious talker and extremely social. I have found that he does not view math homework as a solitary activity-- he wants an adult to be right next to him, chatting with him about every problem. If I leave the kitchen table (where he's doing his math work) to work on dinner, he suddenly doesn't remember the order of operations or he'll take 5 minutes to remember 7x7 (7x7 being the simplest part of the complex math problem).

Your daughter may have learned that by stalling she can get the teacher to come "socialize" with her.