Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Elementary School Help! What do I ask for?

I've been struggling with our school for DS6, who's in K. The school switched him to a different K classroom in Nov. so that he could be grouped for reading and be given more of a challenge. Even so, the school's not keeping up. The latest fiasco (and there have been a number of them) is that the teacher wrote a much lower reading level on his report card. After I e-mailed her and the reading specialist, she changed the information and said it was a mistake in her rush to do report cards.

So now what? DS6 has been assessed at the end of grade 3 reading. (he's jumped 1 1/2 years since school began in the fall) And the teacher marked him as proficient in nearly everything kindergarten-related. I've got a P-T conference next week to discuss what now. What solutions have you found in your experiences? Any suggestions of what I should try to get for him?

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I have no experience with this but here are some ideas:

- mid-year grade-skip. if his other subjects are high as well and you think it would be helfpul (check the IOWA)

- having him placed with a 2nd or 3rd grade class for reading

how is your son doing? is he frustrated by the current pace? further defining the problem might lead you towards solutions to ask for.

We've had good luck this year with DD5 and subject acceleration. She goes to a 1st grade classroom in the morning for reading and math. In the afternoon she joins her K class for specials (PE, science, music, art, etc.) Have you considered this type of arrangement?

My 6 year old is in 1st grade - since conferences in the fall, he has been going to 2nd grade for math - would this be possible with your son ?

I'm sorry Mom22b,
have you gotten professional testing for your DS6? Do you have an idea about what 'level of gifted' your son is? And about what 'levels' the rest of his classmates are on? Is the school willing to do an individual IQ test?

It's very exciting that your son sprang ahead in reading. In some classrooms reading at a 3rd grade level during Kindy is common, in some it is unusual, and in some it's unheard of - sort of depends where you live. There is even a chance that your son is actually reading at a much higher level than 3rd grade, but that the teacher stopped the test at 3rd grade.

If you haven't already, try to get permission to quietly observe your child's classroom for an hour. It's really important to see 'how much of a freak' you kid is in that particular setting. (Not that I think that your child is actually a freak, but I'm making a point about educational needs being about the distance between a child's needs and the general needs of the children in the classroom.)

Love and More Love,
Grinity

I would have your DS try to do some 2nd-3rd grade reading skills work books. Harcourt makes some good ones.

If you son can acurately do the comprehension, context clues, and vocabulary lessons, than I think you should push for, at the very least, a subject reading skip. Take in the work books and show them what he can do.

It also depends on which type of assesment your shool uses. Some use schools use "frequent word list" while others use vocab/comprehension for assesment. I would inquire as to what method they use to asses reading level and get his percentile if possible.