Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Differentiation in Spanish class

Hello all--

I homeschool my children, and until now I've never felt the need to ask for differentiation in my children's outside classes, and so I have no idea how to do it in a way that doesn't ruffle feathers.

My 8yo son takes a Spanish class with our district's homeschool support program. He is in a group of 2nd and 3rd graders with wildly varying abilities both in Spanish *and* English. With this program he has taken Spanish for a few months of each year since K. The teacher teaches to the lowest level in the class, which seems to be a beginning Spanish speaker who can't read English. They color worksheets with Spanish captions a major part of each class period.

The coloring thing drives my son completely nuts. He remembers the Spanish he learned in previous classes, and his reading and writing abilities (in English) as well as his understanding of grammar are several years ahead of grade. In addition, he has been learning Latin for the past year, so he gets it about learning a foreign language on many levels (grammar, writing, speaking, listening, whatever).

I know this teacher, and I know that she will continue the coloring thing throughout the year. My son would like to maybe write some sentences in Spanish instead of coloring, maybe with a key or something to help with spelling. He understands things like verb conjugation and gender already, so he wouldn't need instruction in that regard.

Moving to a higher level class or removing him from the class are not options, and as we have him in the class for social reasons, having him do Rosetta Stone Spanish on a computer at the school would be less than ideal.

He has not been "officially" identified as GT (though he has been tested privately and qualifies for DYS), as the district doesn't test (using the CogAT) until the end of 3rd grade, so as far as I know they aren't required to do any differentiation for him.

Would this be asking too much of the teacher? How do I go about asking so as not to offend her?

This seems so incredibly trivial compared to some of the stuff I read about others going through here.

I'd appreciate any insight you may have. Thanks!

If you son is there to socialize with agemates, then color he must. I would suggest finding a different class - cub scouts or karate for socialization or hire a spanish teacher and invite a few selected kids who are more likely canditates for both Spanish learning and socialization.

I think your instincts that it would be hard to ask for more without offending the teacher are correct. It just plain may not be possible.

Best Wishes,
Grinity

It sounds like this Spanish class is an optional class through your HS coop. Am I correct in my assumption?

Do you have any other options for Spanish in your area? You could look at meetup.com. You might find some groups that are Spanish specific. Is a tutor a possibility?

But I agree in that the teacher will probably be offended.

It's a public school program. He's actually enrolled in public school but is being taught at home. Part of the program is going to classes twice per week where at the moment he is taking Spanish, science, and art. He is required to take the class. The district likes to say that they meet all ability levels in the classroom (which is their excuse for not having a real gifted program) so I was hoping (probably in vain) that the teacher might be open to the idea.

Okay ... now I understand. I see no issue with approaching the teacher. Following the lines of the best way not to offend is to compliment: I would explain the enjoyment your son has and how he is asking for more and then offer up the suggestions as you described.

My daughter is in a Spanish Immersion school and brought home a library book the other day. I have no ability when it comes to reading Spanish so it was fun for both of us. :P BUT getting through the book with her helping me along the way made me realize that she is close to reading Spanish. She is able to read in English and was reading the English part to me while I was working on the Spanish with my IPad and translator.... yeah, I'm that bad! And when I had it translated we would repeat the words and follow the text until we had it down. I'm thinking about approaching her Teacher about working on her reading in Spanish. I suspect all she needs in some one on one time with her and understanding of putting the sounds together.

If the class is required then by all means give advocacy a try. Perhaps bring in examples of materials your son would enjoy working with - books, worksheets, whatever you can find on the Internet or the 'teacher store' that looks about right for your son.

You can ask that your son be given something from the materials you provide while the rest of the class is coloring.

Worth a try

Best Wishes,
Grinity