My wife and I requested that our son, 7 years old and in 2nd grade, take the IQ Test typically given to 3rd graders. So he took the test a while back and we received the results this past week.

A couple days after receiving the results I was cc'ed on an email from the 'Lead AIG Person' for the public schools in my area to my son's teacher, principal, and another person that basically stated that significant differentiation needs to be given to him immediately.

So I assume they will meet, come up with viable options to best meet his educational needs, and then discuss those options with my wife and I.

So, for those who have been through this:

1) what options do you feel they may come up with?

2) what options worked best for your child?

3) what options did you find that didn't work very well for your child?

4) I'm not sure if it is one of the options they will come up with, but what are the positives and negatives of moving him up to 3rd grade?*

* to be honest I'm not sure if I would want this. I'm a teacher and have seen a couple students who have been moved up a grade level and when they reached the middle school level their maturity level just wasn't where it should have been and they don't excel like the year older AIG students. My son is very mature for his age but when I think of him as a 7th grader at the middle school when he's only the age of a 6th grader (if they bumped him up a grade) it concerns me.

Thank you for any and all input you can give!!

My wife and I are so proud of him but at the same time are seriously worried because, by our own admission, are neither one near as smart as he is and worry that we may actually impede his potential...therefore I've got five or so books I'm going to read on raising a gifted child and am searching everywhere for advice

TripleB

They may present a subset of the ideas listed in these articles from the Davidson Database:
Basic educational options for gifted students in schools
Types of Acceleration

Meanwhile, be aware of program buzzwords. You may wish to ask gently probing questions to determine "who, what, where, when, why, and how" of any proposals presented.

The Iowa Acceleration Scale (IAS) covers this well. Hoagies has a page on the IAS, and Institute for Research and Policy on Acceleration (IRPA) has information on both IAS and "A Nation Deceived".

There is also a current thread on "Grade skipping trade offs" which may be of interest.

This may be a common concern, however bear in mind that few (if any) people have the ideal conditions to reach their full potential, as there are always tradeoffs, and "opportunity cost". IMO, as long as parents are supportive and encouraging (not communicating that the child ought not to exceed the parents), and as long as the child is respectful despite surpassing the parents in knowledge and achievement, this can work out wonderfully.

Hi, Triple B! Welcome. I have 2 DC who have been tested, and the school has tried various modifications to meet their educational needs. We cannot speak to the issue of full grade acceleration, because we have not tried this (yet). Hopefully, others can speak to this option.

Because you are a teacher, you are probably already more aware of some of these options than are most parents.

Does your school have a G&T program? If so, what does it consist of?

One issue with grade acceleration: how old is your child for grade? I do think this makes a difference, as it gives you an idea of how much older the students are that your DS's future peers. Also, is red-shirting common in your area? If it is, your DS could be dealing with MUCH older children in the case of a single-grade skip.

As to other methods of accommodation:

*In class differentiation (teacher tries to teach children at various levels): this has NEVER seemed to work well for us.

*Leveled/Whole Class Differentiation: Switch for classes and grouped with other children of most similar level, and each class has its own teacher. This works better if there are many students per grade. If done well, this can provide some increased challenge.

*GATE/G&T Classes: Just having a program will unfortunately not necessarily cure all of your son's need for challenge. It really depends upon the quality of the program. Sometimes, G&T programs are more like "Leveled differentiation," which depending on your child, may not be enough challenge in the long run.

I am sure that other parents can speak to additional options used by their schools. Best of luck to you and your DS!

Thank you very much for the links as well as letting me know about the Pros/Cons of Grade Skipping. I will make sure I read each of those thoroughly!

I truly appreciate your words that I quoted above. Both my and I have been very upset (yes, at times there have been tears) since getting the news about his IQ Score and how his score related to all of the 3rd graders in the county. My wife and I thank you for what you said!!!

Have a wonderful holiday season!

TripleB

3B, you're very welcome. With your kiddo's scores being high, have you considered applying to the Davidson Young Scholars (DYS) program?

Well during second grade my son's teacher would get the rest of the class going on 5 daily review questions up on the smart board. During that time she taught my son the topic from the third grade book he was working on that day. Then he did his classwork and even home work while she worked with the rest of the class, he did the 5 review problems too, and he spent time on various math computer sites that the teacher assigned when he finished his work. She also came up with various math projects for him to complete. Granted my son doesn't need much explanation...he gets stuff very quickly.

For some reason the 3rd grade teacher didn't want to do this same method. So different teachers will be more comfortable with this method than others.

Thank you and I appreciate you giving me several of the possible options they may have for my son.

As far as your questions:
I do not believe his school has a "GT" program. They have a 'nurturing teacher' who works with the gifted children in grades 3 and higher. Before we received the IQ scores I inquired about this person working with my son and was told they would check into it. I don't believe anything became of my inquiry but it may now.

My son turns 8 at the end of March...so I would say he is right in the middle of the youngest and the oldest in his class.

I have never heard of 'red shirting' so I don't believe it is common here.

I'm a middle school teacher (my son's school feeds into mine) and we do not have a GT program at my school. Students are basically grouped based on their Math ability...AIG students are usually in class with 12 to 20 other AIG students (total class size 30).

Three things I currently worry about (other than what I mentioned above):

1) if they say he should be moved ahead a grade do I say yes or no (again, I will take a close look at the post mentioned above)

2) from what I can tell there are not many students very close to his ability level at his school (his 3 teachers so far have been AMAZINGLY AWESOME and are a huge reason he is advanced as he is) so do I consider moving him to another local school, or a private school, that has more gifted students?

3) them putting him on a computer with a program that lets him progress at his own pace (he's got to have that interaction with other students as well as receive direct instruction from the teacher).

Again, thanks for your help and I appreciate you taking the time to respond.

TripleB

Hi!

I recommend reading up on gifted education -- I spent a summer plowing through about 10 books. Well worth the time!

It's so hard when your school doesn't differentiate... or pretends to! It is such a hard decision to make, even if it is on the table.

Our school was willing to grade skip 8th grade for our 13 yo. She balked. Socially, she is too into her friends and was not interested in the idea of graduating a year ahead of her peers. They told me that 8th grade is a great year to skip if you're going to because you don't miss much.

A skip for our son wasn't even on the table. They don't like to skip elementary kids because of worries about maturity.

One thing our school system does do for some gifted kids is allow them to split their time between two grades. Last year, our dd skipped the rest of 7th grade math and language arts and took algebra and the second half of 8th grade language arts, while keeping her in two classes with her age-mates. It was meant to bridge her over to a skip, plus it is what the small school could actually do to accommodate.

Our son.. that was another story. They said they'd differentiate, but that was not the reality.

We opted to homeschool this year because we couldn't sell our house last summer and move to a better district with more opportunities. She would also have practically been forced to skip because of what they could realistically do for her based on what they did to accommodate last year. She was devastated... and cried and cried.

How far do they want to skip? 1? 2? If it's 1, then you could ask about splitting time between his current grade and the next one up.

As an aside, our school did skip one kid that I know about and he struggles so much with maturity. His is super smart, but truly lacks maturity due to asynchronous development. Sometimes his behavior is more like a kindergartener and he's in 4th grade. It's a tough row to hoe for teachers and parents alike.

For our son, though, he picks up things quickly, especially math and science. The spiraling schools do can be torture. With Social Studies, at least, he gets new material that he hasn't seen before.

Good luck! My only other advice is to know your rights and know that when they meet with you to present a plan, you are not required to agree/disagree on the spot. Take it as it is --- an offer. You wouldn't pay full price for a used car without haggling and you should approach the meeting with the mindset that there is some negotiating on your part that you can do to advocate for your child to get your child the best deal possible.

TripleB, I can totally relate to the tears, and to wanting your kid to learn along with others, not alone.

If you feel comfortable sharing the approximate range of your son's score it would help. What is great for one child can be pathetic for another child, and a large part of the fit is found in the distance of their IQ score from the mean.

TripleB, our DD is turning out to be far more musically talented than both my SO and I put together. I freaked out and cried a few nights last summer because I was so sure DD would suffer because neither of us was competent enough as a musician to help her practice at home past intermediate level.

It turns out, she doesn't need or want help from us. We did find her wonderful teachers. We take care of parenting the best we can and we leave teaching to her teachers.

I just wanted to say, I know exactly how you're feeling but your DS is doing as well as he is now because of all the support his parents have given him thus far. His IQ test result is not going to change that.

Agreed.

It would help whom? While there are levels of gifted (LOG), and a school may offer different tiers of service, some may say it is possible to introduce these ideas to a parent without needing to know their child's test scores.

Some may say that a child's interests, personality, learning style, specific areas of strength, and any areas of challenge may be important considerations in educational planning and advocacy. A test score is just a snapshot, a measurement at a point in time.

Funny you should mention the musical aspect. For the past 2 months my son has said that he would love to learn to play the piano. So I started researching it and many people said that unless your child has a piano at home to practice (they said a keyboard isn't the same thing) then piano lessons aren't really a good idea. I don't want to crush his want to play music (I played saxophone for 7 years growing up)...but can't afford a piano. What instrument(s) is your child playing? Any advice you can give?

Thank you for your last paragraph....makes my wife and I feel a lot better!!![i][/i][u][/u]

I appreciate your input.

TripleB

Long ago, there were "manual" typewriters and "electric" typewriters, and each had a different reach and feel. Specifically, the rows of keys on a manual typewriter were more raised, and it took greater finger pressure to cause them to strike the ribbon. Yet, many children whose families had only a manual typewriter to practice on at home learned to type on an electric typewriter, through lessons at school.

Similarly, many children whose families have only an electronic keyboard to practice on at home, enjoy piano lessons. Some may say at this age it is better to let him try the piano lessons, practice on a keyboard, and see how far he'd like to pursue this interest. What he learns from piano lessons will benefit him in other areas.

ETA: Kids can change their interests quickly. Gifted kids have been known to change passionate, intense interests quickly.

My just turned 7 year old pg son entered kindergarten early. So he's already skipped one year. But that clearly was not enough. Kindergarten was okay just because everything was new, but come first grade he flipped out. We had some serious behavioral, depression issues, so something had to be done. We ended up doing EPGY math, which I would go to the school and help him with. Little did I know that he advanced through to algebra in about a year. I'm no math genius, so we had to hire a tutor to come over and work with him. This is a teacher at the school who my son absolutely loves. So it's working out really well. Also in first grade, we pulled him out of reading class all together. The 5th grade reading teacher would work with him and so would I. My son does not mind learning without being in a classroom setting, but I know that some kids would feel isolated in a situation like this.

He is now in second grade and we ended up putting him in advanced 3rd grade reading classroom setting. They are working on the fourth grade curriculum, which seems to offer some challenge for him. The math is still going fantastic and he is absolutely completely challenged there. Is everything perfect? No ,absolutely not. But it is pretty close. I have kind of realized that the main thing is to look at the demeanor of the child and say to yourself "is he happy?" So we are leaving it as is. Another grade acceleration might be a good idea, but the fact is, he does not want it. I feel the day he decides he might want it himself, we might consider it. He is getting to know the kids he would be with since he does the language class with them, so if we did end up doing a full grade acceleration it wound't be too scary for him. I think it is important to look at the child, listen to the child. I used to think they have to be pushed to the level they are at, but I realize now that as long as they are happy in the situation and you know that they have certain areas they are challenged in, it really is all good. Yes, he complains sometimes that science and French is way too easy and too slow, but I think he still gets enough stimulation from reading class and math, art and music to feel he has a purpose to go to school . How is your son feeling about school?

My DD4 started as a string student when she was 3 but piano is her passion these days. We do not own a piano either but we did get her a starter digital piano.

A piano teacher published a series of blog entires on this subject:

http://fundamentalkeys.com/discovering-digital/
http://fundamentalkeys.com/digital-pros/
http://fundamentalkeys.com/grand-piano/
http://fundamentalkeys.com/further-thoughts/

Of course, it's only one person's opinion and she was already an accomplished pianist when she discovered digital pianos. My DD on the other hand started on an inexpensive digital and I can see that it's starting to impede her progress and we might soon have to upgrade to a higher-end digital soon.

Ideally, every piano student has a well-maintained grand piano at home with no neighbors in the vicinity but life doesn't work that way or at least it doesn't work that way for us. So we're doing the best we can with what we have.

I wouldn't let a lack of an acoustic piano at home deter your DS from learning piano. However, you might want to calculate how much piano lessons and related expenses are going to add up if he were to continue until college. We went in thinking that it's keep her for a year or two and I didn't really consider about the long-term financial consequences. We're really feeling them now.

As a one-time serious pianist, I am biased toward good acoustic pianos for children, as the ideal, but I also think that a decent digital piano is not going to introduce irretrievable technical flaws into a young child in a short time (at least, not any more than a poor piano teacher will). Given the staying power of even a GT child for interests, I wouldn't make a big investment in a piano until you have some sense that this is the real deal.

Also, you can buy a decent digital piano with weighted keys for less than a good acoustic. And it saves you a few hundred a year on tuning, which I think is a consideration for young children comparably important as touch. Especially in children with really good memories, and thus some potential for absolute or near-absolute pitch. (Though a really good digital piano/keyboard can run into multiple thousands--right up there with a passable upright--as I know all too well from SO's keyboard habit!)

It is reassuring to know that as an experienced pianist, you think starting on a digital piano is not a deal-killer for young musicians.

DD has an excellent teacher who have raised two aspiring concert pianists. She has mentioned a couple of times that eventually, she'd like to see DD practice on a grand piano and she wouldn't mind if we come to her studio as often as we can to practice but I wouldn't want to impose that often so we are exploring alternatives but not with a sense of urgency. DD is only 4, after all and there is so much she can do due to her hand size and strength so I am hoping that we don't have to upgrade until she is tall enough to reach the pedals.

I'd be mad if she decides to quit after we get her a nicer digital piano that costs $3,000+ but we'd be saving over $2,000 a year in tuition so maybe I won't be all that upset.

The biggest problem with owning a digital pianos aside from it not being an acoustic piano is that every few years, they'd release a newer, shiner version and you have to resist the temptation to upgrade over and over. I'm sure you've seen this effect in your household.

OP, I'm sorry if if this was more than you ever wanted to read about piano lessons!

But if her child has an IQ of 132, there are many many options, and I'd be quite confident that most schools would be able to do very well at helping them. If they have an IQ of 150, then even mentioning a once weekly pullout to study video editing or other non-accelarative enrichment is a waste of typing, and misleading to the OP. Those people who say pullouts are great and their child is perfectly accommodated or that buying a house in the advanced Smithville school dstrict fulfilled their kids needs are not lying, because there's a range. IQ's not perfect or even complete, but it does give you a ballpark. I'd hate to cry doom and gloom at the OP if it turns out her kid's going to thrive with a few common interventions.

This illustrates my point that information can be shared to introduce these ideas to a parent without needing to know their child's test scores.

On the educational needs ~ Gather information on what sorts of options people have seen, and go for those that seem to be the best fit for your child. A grade acceleration might be right for one kid, and not right for another, even with the same levels of IQ and achievement (and IAS score).

On the piano ~ What are your goals for learning? What are your son's? If they are to become a world famous concert pianist, then certainly, you need a great instrument. If they are to be capable on a piano, learn discipline, and learn a new skill, then find something he can practice on, and reevaluate the physical piano in a few years. You should also find a teacher who supports your goals. As a parent, I'm seeking an activity that challenges my child, gives them the skills they need to persist on something difficult, and to introduce musical skills. I've not spent much time with teachers who tell me that my DD needs a $3k flute or that my DS needs a better (half size!) violin. I've selected teachers that instead teach the skills, encourage efforts to be self-directed in their learning, and help my kids love the music on their own terms.

I just had a quick comment about pianos. We bought one last year for DD and decided to go with a nice once because we knew it would get used (even if she didn't play seriously, which was never really a consideration). It has been great; she plays and composes.

However, the place we bought it from has a rent to buy program so you can try me out and see if the child sticks with it. There is no extra cost for renting over buying except you have to pay the delivery fee; it's actually a great deal because everything you pay in rent goes towards purchase. We only decided to buy to save the delivery fee because we were fairly sure we wanted to buy.

I don't know if there is an option like that near you, but it may be worth asking around. They also allow you to trade up for a nicer piano at a later time at our store; I think piano sales are relatively low these days, so promotions may be more common than they used to be.