Blogs, op-ed columns, and news media everywhere are discussing the year in review. What are your thoughts on 2013 as viewed in relation to gifted issues?

For example, what was your book of the year? What books did you read? New ones/old ones?

What did your kids study/learn that may have left a lasting impression, resonated deeply with them, or changed their course?

What successes and highlights did 2013 bring?

What were 2013's setbacks and opportunities to learn and try again?

What do you hope the new year brings? What books are you looking forwarding to reading, projects are your kids hoping to tackle, or goals are you setting for the new year?

Here's wishing each of you the opportunities you'd like to see materialize and the successes you'd like to bring about for your DC's educations in the new year! ... fueled in part by vicarious learning from reading gifted forums...!

2013 was a big year for our family. I first started thinking and reading about giftedness this year following some concerns with DS7's fit with his educational environment. I started by reading "A Parent's Guide to Gifted Children" and "5 Levels of Gifted" as well as regularly reading this board. We finally decided to pursue testing and found out that DS is indeed gifted. 2013 ended with him being accepted into DYS.
My big hope for 2014 is to now use this information to find an appropriate educational fit for him.

indigo, what a wonderful topic. Thanks for providing the opportunity to capture the highlights and hopes. You didn't share your story. Hoping you do.
2013 has been a good year for us! DD4 started at a new preschool. And while I was very unsure of my decision, the school has worked out well. I am most proud of the homeschool I setup for DD. DD continues to spend hours in there on days she is home. DD can effortlessly and without any instruction do any first grade math and some second grade as well. And I am so happy that she has started to read! She can read almost any word now (phonetic or not)and starting to read small picture books. She is slow but improving. She is into poetry and wrote a wonderful winter poem that she read to her entire school on the last day of school. She is a delightful, funny, creative 4 year old and I am loving life right now.
2014 is going to be a year to decide whether we move her to public school and save money or keep her where she is happy (not a hard decision but still needs pondering and discussions). Also, we need to decide if I can continue my part-time work so DD is homeschooled 2 days a week or if she attends school all 5 days so I can bring in more money. So hoping for a good balance!
Would be so nice to hear from others here on this topic.

What happened over the past year?
- Confirmed via testing that DD is quite bright
- freaked out after the initial glow had passed and the reality of keeping someone with a preternatural ability to digest and synthesize knowledge engaged and challenged set in
- found this forum - enormous relief
- found great cognitive psych to help DD become more aware of her OEs
- learned a lot wrt gifted Ed in a hurry and got solid support from DD's teacher
- DD accepted to DYS
- learned *a* right way to get DD accelerated (thanks to this forum)
- DD now happily socialized with her new classmates - night and day pre versus post skip

Next year?

- Hopefully DD can take a breather from changes like skips for the time being
- hopefully the worst of the OEs are behind us (God willing)
- will sign DD up for the AoPS pre algebra class starting Feb (thanks ColinsMum for such detailed yet desiccated review of their geometry offering)
- fasten seat belts because who knows?

This year not great. Could not relate to ds6's teacher, he did not believe in gifted, ds claimed he didn't learn any maths at school. New year = new academic year = new teacher. I have my fingers crossed.

My 2013 year-in-review book-of-the year may be an old one: With the focus of Common Core, ACT, SAT, Avid, college board and others on “preparing students who are college and career ready”, I've been revisiting an analysis of decades of educational research studies describing areas of overlap, probable trend, and theories which have emerged. Previously mentioned here.

Expanding on this theme, 2014 plans include looking into degree inflation (similar to grade inflation). Began with this old thread.
2013 Highlights: Officially and in our home, 2013 was the year of quinoa.
For our family other highlights included pomegranate arils, healthy Mediterranean cooking, gluten-free, Dr. Oz, mini-books for a kid to keep in their pocket to help fill time when waiting, many other books, articles, and experiences…

2013 do-overs: any junk food, being stymied by indecision or lack of information…

Good fall for us thanks to DS6 getting such an amazing teacher for first grade in private school. Highlights:

*DS6 getting to do EPGY math during math time every day mentored by junior/senior high school students. Allowed to skip all instruction of 1st grade math and only do he tests. Working at his own pace; currently midway through 5th grade.

*Me being able to provide DS6 with language curriculum of my choice. Sending in daily worksheets with him moving along at his own pace. He does the 1st grade work as well but finishes so fast at which time he does the provided worksheets.

*DS6 really excelling in athletics, going from having no interest and lagging way behind, to catching up with his year older classmates. SO happy he is able to get "out of the mind and into the body".

*DS4 being with the most loving PreK teacher. Same as DS6 had. Really coming out of his shell and gaining confidence. OE's a lot more manageable.

*DS4 allowed to skip circle time and read books 1 on 1 with the teacher.

For this upcoming year:

*Testing in January for DS4 at the same private school DS6 is at. Testing for early entrance into Kindergarten. See no issues, especially since he already IS accelerated.

Continuing on this path which I couldn't be happier about!

2013:
- ds was tested and gained lots of info from this.

-ds has a very sweet, caring teacher this year- which is making school bearable.

- I gained confidence about what I felt/ knew about ds.

- continuing saga with school and trying to get ds what he needs-challenge.

2014:

- finding resolution with school. Either school willing to help more or different educational choice.

- getting ds around some intellectual peers.

early 2013 - terrible time for DD5 in Pre-K. mercifully, i eventually found you lot - who have saved my sanity every single day while we tried to figure out the depth of our issues and some solutions for them.

late 2013 - fantastic start to homeschooling. effectively a triple-grade skip and additional math acceleration. all going well.

looking into 2014 - relieved to have finally made peace with the fact that certain friends & family don't really want to understand what we're doing or why. they'll reap the rewards of it (happy kid, back to her old self!) and that will be enough for me. wheee

Welcome ericl! There is a lot of information about finding a good educational fit, and also good information for positive advocacy approaches. Here are just a few (which you may have already come across?)...

1- Parenting tips on educational advocacy - http://www.davidsongifted.org/db/Articles_id_10286.aspx
2- Recommended readings for educational advocacy- http://www.davidsongifted.org/db/Articles_id_10291.aspx
3- Guidebook - http://www.davidsongifted.org/db/Resources_id_14781.aspx
4- Reforming Gifted Education - http://www.davidsongifted.org/db/Resources_id_14056.aspx
5- Academic Advocacy for Children: A Complete Guide http://www.davidsongifted.org/db/Resources_id_14511.aspx

Spring of 2013 Ds in 4th grade had already maxed out the curriculum in 3rd for his elementary school. They promised to work with us but it never really happened. We found a GREAT high school Senior young man to tutor once a week as my son went through AoPS pre-algebra. It worked out perfectly.

Fast forward ds started 5th in a Private Gifted School in the Fall of 2013. The start was kind of bumpy. He just had to make some new friends—find his way. He is not the academic stand alone he was at the old school. He knows this is where he needs to be and all seems to be going great. He ran cross country and is now playing on the basketball team.

He has always been a voracious reader but kind of lost the love. He is back to his old self and is rifling through the books again.

Keeping fingers crossed in 2014

This thread is a great idea indigo.

2013 was a mixed bag for us. Things changed for the better when we pulled DS out of his PS that was a mismatch and put him into an academic oriented private school. But, we are still afterschooling to meet his need for acceleration.
We got 2 excellent mentors for DS for his extra curriculars - they have already helped us in several ways.
2013 also drove home the point to me that, as a parent, if I did not handle issues with DS's educational needs earlier on, those issues will come back to bite me multifold at a later date. As a parent, I have made some miscalculations regarding my child's educational needs and I reaped the consequences of those in many departments - from decline in behavior, lack of any motivation, personality changes, decline in work ethic, arrogance that everything was "too easy" etc in my child.

2014: we are testing for entry to yet another private school that claims to meet my child's acceleration needs.
We are going to add in more activities where my child can meet a more advanced peer group.
Focus more on second language acquisition.

SO nice to see our kiddos regain that spark, whether it is related to reading, general motivation or whatever part of themselves they may have lost for a time!

Activities to meet a more advanced peer group sound great! Chess is a favorite activity in many areas. What language is your child focusing on?

2013 was a crazy year for our family in terms of education.

We withdrew my then 16 year old son from the IB program at the only private high school in the area in January, and he enrolled at the community college in March. I felt like I was stepping off a cliff--I mean, how do we explain his weird progression through high school to four-year colleges? But I see now that the decision was the right one for him. He is now able to pursue his interests (STEM stuff) with others who have the same passions, and he even has time for a part time job as an assistant engineer. At the IB school, he was constantly being stuffed into a humanities box, and he was miserable.

We also decided to do a second skip for my 11 year old son. Socially, it's been ok but not great and academically it's still not enough. We're currently trying to decide whether to homeschool him for the next few years or try some sort of partial homeschooling thing.

What data do you have that it is still not enough? (struggling with this here in my sons situation).