Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Blah (oh, just venting AGAIN)

We had another meeting yesterday with DS7's school - it felt like talking to a brick wall.

The classroom teacher just will not budge from the position she had at the beginning of the year - she has lots of very gifted children in her class, and they are all being appropriately extended. DS7 is not more gifted than they are, or he would be doing better work. For example...the whole class was given a wonderful open-ended creative writing exercise in which they had the opportunity to imagine what they might do if they were Jack, and the beanstalk didn't quite reach the land of the giant. And all my not-very-gifted child came up with was "wait for the beanstalk to grow". I thought this was quite a funny answer, because I wouldn't care either. (Aha!!- the bad attitude must be inherited!) BLEURRGGGH.

And then there was the guidance officer, who was just so very concerned about his emotional well-being if he was accelerated. I asked her if she'd read any of the research about this, and she hasn't read anything.

It turned out, too, that he's working three years above grade level for maths. It's the end of the year - isn't it reasonable to expect that someone would have told us before now? Perhaps they were afraid it would only encourage us.

I'm planning to send a follow-up email re statistical probability and with links to info on acceleration and gifted underachievement. I'll wait a day or two though - am sometimes less than completely tactful when I'm this frustrated.

Does anyone else relish the occasional secret vengeful fantasy?

Oh, you betcha! We have a meeting on Dec. 1st with the middle school for options for next year. I am not looking forward to it.

I'm with your DS, I'd wait for it to grow too...

I feel for you as I remember ds at 7 in elementary school. I know it is not easy!

Ha ha, I love that answer too! I'd say that is pretty creative.

That's a great answer! Almost as good as Calvin's "yakka foob mog chumble spuzz" when asked to explain something "in his own words" (Calvin & Hobbes is great stuff for gifted kids, by the way). You and your son would probably enjoy the oft-forwarded "barometer legend": http://www.snopes.com/college/exam/barometer.asp.

To me as a teacher, the great thing about your son's answer is that it shows an ability to internalize knowledge and use it in a creative way. Most children your son's age won't think about the nature of plants in a writing assignment, but the first thing that came to his mind was "plants grow over time". That means he's absorbed this bit of scientific information into his thought processes, rather than just "remembering" it as most kids would, and he can now apply it to whatever he does. That's important.

Can I ask whether you've considered moving your son to another school? Obviously how easy this is varies with your situation. But I have to say it sounds like those people aren't going to give him what he needs.

And if that classroom teacher really thinks she has "lots of really gifted kids" in her class, she's an idiot. Gifted means rare. Those kids who are doing so well on all her assignments are doing that well because, intentionally or not, she's teaching to the bottom of the class.

It sounds as though the teacher and counselor are working from a guide book that has every incorrect cliche out there. Good luck in you advocacy.

I was curious what my son would come up with when I asked him about being Jack in the situation the teacher gave. He answered that he would plant seeds at the top of the stalk and try to grow another one on top of the first. I guess he is equally not-very-gifted!

Hehe, this post prompted me to ask mine; he said he would climb up there and find out why it stopped growing, "maybe something was in its way" he said. LOL! Three different kids with such different answers, why on earth would the teachers not be prepared for a lot of unique responses?

Hmm...DS7 said he would jump! And I asked what if it wasn't that close, and he said he would just get another bean that would be taller and plant it.

What on earth are they looking for in these answers, anyway? I can't think of anything better myself.

I asked my DS7 - he said that he would plant another bean to see if it grew taller than the previous one, if not he would cut the second beanstalk and use it to extend the first one!

Me personally...all the re-planting sounds like hard work! I would stick with your DS BKD and "wait for the beanstalk to grow"...

Sorry for your dilemma BKD. That is so frustrating. I'm pretty sure Gifties are like snowflakes, even if you are in the middle of a snowstorm you won't find two alike (My kids are busy decorating the house with snowflakes hence the analogy). So I agree the teacher's reply that she has a bunch is a really naive one or you are sitting on a gold mine with a ton of gifties in one place. R u?

Anyways, I love the question so I asked DS7 also. He said he would jump too. And if he couldn't make it, he would go back down and water the beanstalk until it grew tall enough.