Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy have meeting tomorrow finally and question

Ok, I know many of you have been through this but here we are. We finally have a meeting with DD9's school and SAT tomorrow morning. After months and months of trying to get something started, we have our meeting. Not though, until they set up a meeting, gave DD9 the appointment paper, told her to give it to us and of course, it sat, unopened, in her bookbag until a week passed after the appointment date. *sigh* She gets it honestly as we both are just as scattered as she is. So I couldn't get mad at her really, just tryed to drive it home to try and organise.

So since so many of you have been through this already, I was wondering if you can recall what specific questions you had for the SAT folks? I have some questions in mind, but you may have encountered some stuff that I havn't thought up of yet, and I would like to be prepared. Ultimatly we are wanting her to be placed in a gifted class if there is such a thing, otherwise possibly grade skip to 5th. I wish I was more of a confrontational person, this might be easier.

Glad to hear that you have a meeting! Since they are willing to even set up a meeting, I would go in feeling confident and eager to work as a team to get your DD her appropriate placement. It never hurts to be optimistic, especially in the beginning, and your confidence that you will find the best placement for her might rub off on them. Too, sometimes it helps to take the approach of, "there's a problem and we need your help to fix it." That approach shows them respect as educators. You don't have to be confrontational, just polite and direct.

That being said, as you know from reading these boards, all doesn't necessarily go well. You need to be prepared. If you have test scores (IQ, achievement, MAP, ITBS, etc.), have those available for everyone. Find out before the meeting if they do have a gifted program at her school or in her district, and find out what it entails (full-time, pull-out?) and what the qualifications for entry are. Find out what your state's guidelines are for gifted programming (are they mandated, funded?) and try to use phrases like "appropriate education" in your discussions. Look into the Iowa Acceleration Scale so that you can bring it up during the meeting as a way to more quantitatively evaluate your options. And think about what you think would be the best placement for your DD and what you would be willing to settle for. For instance, if your school has a once-a-week gifted pull-out, that might not be enough if she is very advanced in one or more subjects and would have to remain in the classroom being taught those subjects at an inappropriate level. Would you prefer subject acceleration or whole grade acceleration? If you are wishy-washy, the school might very well feel no need to commit to anything. And finally, while you do not necessarily need to share this information with the school, talk with your DD and find out what she likes and doesn't like about school and what she would ideally like to happen.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

Oh my, I've had that look already. As though like someone else in another post had said, that they were told if their child were truly gifted then they would act like .... I think they are looking for the child in Matilda, took herself to the library at 4 years old and reading War and Peace.

Thanks everyone for the advice, I'm looking forward to tomorrow.