After my DS had his WJIII achievement test, scored 9th grade overall, the GT teacher said, " I had no idea, he's like a genius, Who knew they had above level testing like that?"
During a meeting with the principal, she said, "you don't have to work so hard at this(advocacy)." Obviously, she does not get my DS's position. It's hard to imagine a principal saying don't learn more, I think she would take this back if she understood.
AS a parent of a child who could of taught most of his 1st and 2nd grade I can not just sit back and say the school will take care of this. How could I ignore this situation when in 2nd grade he was given a SRA reader level books he read in K. This was after he scored 99% on IOWA tests. This seems like a reason for the school to watch out this child is being challenged.
This is not to say these are uncaring people. They just don't get it YET! I'm on a mission.
School counselor- I've never heard of a child getting sad because he wasn't getting enough math.
School counselor- He doesn't need more math he needs to work on his writing.
School District Gifted Supervisor: We'll assess him on the Stanford (an at grade level exam) and then look at what he needs.
Thanks for the place to vent......
A head at a school DH and I went to look at ..."I have never met a truly gifted child"... (needless to say DS never went there)
Ahhhh! Just when I needed this thread the most (I am *beyond* cynical this week....)
My submissions would all be related to the idea that national norms/percentiles aren't compelling indicators in our district (because "we have lots of kids like that in this district"). Even the measures selected BY the district apparantly mean nothing, never mind silly little measures like scoring in the 99th percentile on the EXPLORE.... Who knew that my kids were attending school in Lake Woebegone????
Hmmm...now that I think about it....since all of our students are apparently gifted, I guess all of our programming must be geared two years or more above the national standards for each grade level. Now how did I miss that?
My favorite, which has been said over and over to me many times by school officials and random people on the streets:
Grade skipping him now at age 5 (at the time) may cause a problem when he's 15 and all his classmates are 16 and getting their licenses.
Awesome.
My son's school informed me that they don't test kids who are at or above grade level.
Oh and the VP told me that 'Kids choose to be bored'
School IEP team- "We can't send him to Algebra class next year when he can't even sit still and pay attention in regular 3rd grade class. He will be doing grade level math." (After DS completed Pre-Algebra 8th grade on ALEKS at school in 3rd grade!)
He's been punished for not being challenged!
Fortunately, after being confronted by his WJ-III Broad Math score of 190, they changed their mind. He's been accelerated to Algebra this year (4th grade), and he is very happy. No attention problem in math class.
WOW what a math score. I'm glad you got some help.
Who knew that my kids were attending school in Lake Woebegone????
Hmmm...now that I think about it....since all of our students are apparently gifted, I guess all of our programming must be geared two years or more above the national standards for each grade level. Now how did I miss that?
LOL - we must be neighbors. We live in Lake Wobegone too.
Heard that tune many times.
When trying to talk to the 2nd grade teacher about DS7's anxiety:
"Of course he must be anxious--he is the youngest child in this class. The other children must be so intimidating!"
Ha! If anything DS7 was more anxious about the fact that he was still academically advanced even with his grade skip.
My son's school informed me that they don't test kids who are at or above grade level.
Oh and the VP told me that 'Kids choose to be bored'
Wow. I think we have a winner....
Ooh ooh, just heard this one today.
Your son is obviously very gifted and he is underachieving. I don't know how to motivate him. He isn't interested in any of the work we are doing (4th grade). Have you considered keeping him back a year so he can let his social maturity catch up and then he will be able to pay more attention in class?
I got this response from a school we are in the process of applying to for next school year. DS5 is in Kinder right now (should be in Pre-K due to age standards)
As far as your son being accepted into first grade, I can't give you a definite answer at this point. He would have to go through the process of the testing and interviewing and the final decision would be made by our Admissions Committee based on his current grades, the test results, the character reference forms, and the interview.
Even students that are gifted academically can sometimes experience challenges when they are much younger than their peers. This is one of the reasons that we do not encourage moving students ahead. If your student comes to *school name* as a first grader, he will be the youngest in his class (by more than a year) when he is in mid-school. Most of the boys will have hit puberty, grown ten inches, and like girls. If your student is still small, hates girls and still wants to play with trucks, it can be very difficult socially and emotionally. It is so much easier when a student is the oldest in the class instead of the youngest. The older, academically-gifted students usually become the leaders.
*school name* does not have a separate gifted program because our entire program is advanced to begin with and we teach to the upper half of the class. We find that students that are in the gifted program in the public school are usually on track with our students.
Oops, thanks Dottie! As for height, that is a concern of mine since right now, he's only in the 5th percentile for height... But I still think he'd be better off continuing on to 1st grade rather than repeating Kinder again next year.
These are all hilarious, but the phrase "so he'll be cool" hands Dottie the trophy.
Dottie, that's what I was thinking when I read her email. Right now, I don't think he realizes that he's younger than his classmates. I mean, heck, he only misses the cut-off by 4 months. That's why I'm so adamant about him continuing to 1st grade next year. I was "young for my grade" as was a friend of mine. Both of us said the only thing we remember being "behind" on was driving in high school and being 21 in college.
My vote is with Breakaway - let's bore the underachievement out of him until he's socially mature enough to keep it to himself! That actually make me really sad Breakaway that you have such an uphill battle.
The K teacher gave us the garden-variety: "I'm afraid to keep giving him harder and harder 1st grade math worksheets because, well, what will they do with him next year?"
This year his GT teacher urged us to look into an HG program "because I just don't want him to be held back by being so far ahead". Yeah!
Dottie, that reminds me of what my 5th grade teacher told my dad when I finished the 5th grade math book in the first two months. Dad went in to talk to her and suggested that she allow me to do the 6th grade math book since I was in a 5th/6th combo class. The teacher said, "I can't do that because it will make the 6th grade boys feel bad."
The K teacher gave us the garden-variety: "I'm afraid to keep giving him harder and harder 1st grade math worksheets because, well, what will they do with him next year?"
That's what DS's K teacher said early on! She gives him some 1st grade math but doesn't want to do too much because what will he do in 1st grade then.
Of course given that he does 2nd/3rd grade math at home I'm hoping the answer to that wouldn't be 1st grade math! (We're going to do CAVA k12 next year I think)
DD's teacher pulled me aside today to tell me that DD5 (turned 5 today) was complaining in class about being tired while working on a fractions job. I asked, "tired or just lack of focus"? She replied, "well it started with her saying she was tired and then I saw a lack of focus. And the fractions job was more of a puzzle/game, so I think we are just a little out of her ability range." (this was her not so subtle way to tell me that DD should not really be in 3rd grade)
I did not have the heart to call her on the fact that a year and a half earlier DD then 3.5 was the one who brought that exact puzzle into the school, since she was doing it at home and wanted to share it with her then preschool friends. The Preschool teacher thought the 1-2 level teacher would have more use for it, and had us deliver it current teacher's classroom.
I asked DD why she was saying she was tired, and she said it was rude to say you are bored, so tired was more appropriate.
What do I say now?
I did not have the heart to call her on the fact that a year and a half earlier DD then 3.5 was the one who brought that exact puzzle into the school, since she was doing it at home and wanted to share it with her then preschool friends. The Preschool teacher thought the 1-2 level teacher would have more use for it, and had us deliver it current teacher's classroom.
I asked DD why she was saying she was tired, and she said it was rude to say you are bored, so tired was more appropriate.
What do I say now?
You tell the teacher exactly what you just told us - having practised your serious, non-smug expression in a mirror beforehand! Good luck...
One of the major reasons we removed DS from his "gifted" hahaha private school:
Said by evil Kindergarten teacher, after she removed the book corner from her class to prevent DS from accessing the books:
"Children in my class do not just learn to read on their own. I teach them and I haven't taught HIM yet."
"Children in my class do not just learn to read on their own. I teach them and I haven't taught HIM yet."
I do believe this is my new favorite.
Here's one..."Until your son can show more responsibility, he will not be allowed to participate in any further reading"...Huh??? A TEACHER taking away READING??? Oh funny, funny, funny...No, actually sad, sad, sad...sigh.
Here's one..."Until your son can show more responsibility, he will not be allowed to participate in any further reading"...Huh??? A TEACHER taking away READING??? Oh funny, funny, funny...No, actually sad, sad, sad...sigh.
That's
really disappointing.
When presenting 1st Grade Teacher with "What a Child Doesn't Learn," and explaining that we were concerned DS (then 6) wasn't being challenged, she said, "You know, for some people everything in life just always comes easily. They just never find anything difficult." Disappointingly, I didn't think quickly enough to respond on the spot to say, "Don't you think that the people who grow up to find nothing too difficult are likely those who learned to overcome challenge when they were young -- hence learning that nothing IS too difficult if they apply themselves?"
I almost forgot one from the principal. When I expressed my concerns about the curriculum being used for DS (then 5 or 6) and explained that he wanted to learn his times tables, she said, "Oh, for goodness sakes, don't let him do THAT! He'll be so bored in 2-3 years when rest of the class is just beginning to learn multiplication." Like DS wasn't bored already when his K Math was limited to learning to write numbers properly.
From my dd's then 2nd grade teacher on hearing that dd read at a high school level: "I was only hired to teach second grade."
From an administrator (not at my school): "All children are gifted. We treat them all the same."
And my all time favorite: from the gifted teacher at dd's middle school on discussing scheduling for how to get her to the high school to take honors english:
"But we only have one bus to take gifted children to the high school and it's for MATH students."
Reading these is a choice between laughing or crying!!!
Here's an really positive one though. What is ridiculous about it is that most people don't get it. It was said to me, Wolf's teacher and the district psych who has a TON of GT experience by a (possibly the only) GT staff member in the district (who I might add has nothing to do since there is NO funding and NO program this year...). Slightly paraphrased since I don't remember the exact wording."
"What most people don't get is that these kids aren't just gifted a couple hours a week during pull out classes. They are gifted 24-7 and need to be treated as such."
When my daughters K teacher first suggested my DD get tested for GT. I was shocked, excited, and proud. In my excited shock I mentioned in to my BF.
Her reply back to me, was that they had wanted to grade skip & test her oldest DD back in K, but they declined it, because they think that "kids need to be kids".
It was a hard blow coming from my BF. I thought if anybody would have been excited with us, it would have been her.
I have since learned that parents seem to get defensive if a child, other than their own, does something that their child can't do.
In hind sight having my DD tested was a great move. Getting her test results back was a huge wake up call for us. We started paying attention to her cues and gave her the choice to move at a faster pace.
Needless to say in the 2yrs since K the gap between my DD and the "above average" kid has more than doubled.
*** And from time to time we even give her permission to "be a kid" LOL ***
i had a meeting just yesterday with DD5s principal (of our regular neighborhood non-gifted elementary school) and she actually said.."I hate the term gifted because ALL our children are gifted.".. Alert the media. Kids in my area unusually intelligent. Everyone gifted!!
irene
Here's one from the head of a pricey private school we talked with, as he explained how great the school was for G/T kids. This was his answer to our question about differentiation. "Oh, the really smart kids don't need special programs. They pretty much just teach themselves anyway." So, why would we want to pay this school $15K+ annual tuition so our kid could teach himself?
Wow....these are good.. I have so many not sure where to start.
"boredom is a choice" - school principal
"we are required to meet the needs of profoundly gifted individuals" - school principal
"whose choice was it to move him up to first grade and skip K....since he is already way above the first grade curriculum anyhow maybe he should have just stayed in K" - teacher
"he is going to grow up to be doogie howser" - many many annoying people
"maybe you should have him tested for something, because I have never seen a child that intelligent that did not have a disability" - teacher when DS was in a 3yo pre-k
"your son may be really bright, but there is something else wrong and I worry about when he gets to school because he is going to need a 1:1 aide with him all day and probably have to be in a self-contained classroom". said by director of 4yo pre-k program that was play based and director did not have any degree in education or anything. (DS acted out in their program because it was all play based, unstructured and no learning component, rules, limits, or consequences). It wasn't a good match. We took him out and put him in a Montessori program where he had no behavior issues. Imagine that.
"how did you teach him to read before he was 2?" - lots of people
"does your son ever just play?" - lots of people
"he is already doing some algebra now. We aren't really sure what to do. If we give him the 4th or 5th grade curriculum now, what will he do next year?" - teacher
Thankfully our school situation is going quite well now, but there were those early comments (some not so long ago) that really made us nervous and confused. Looking back on all that, I realize just how far we have come...even if many tears were shed along the way : )
"But we only have one bus to take gifted children to the high school and it's for MATH students."
Oh my.
I'm so glad to read another ridiculous story about a screening test. After the ESE Director spent 20 minutes screening my son for the gifted progam when he was in Kindergarten, she told me that my his Nonverbal IQ was below average and his overall IQ was "at least" average. When I had him tested by a psychologist one month later, his Nonverbal IQ was 146 and his FSIQ was 145 on the SB-V.
It's so interesting that all of these comments essentially boil down to "we have one system--everybody has to fit the system as it currently exists". Despite all of the hype about differentiation in the regular classroom, my sense is that teachers just don't receive much support for recognizing the uniqueness of each student's learning needs. The more our kids diverge from the norm, the more they threaten the school system's stance that we can treat them all the same and the kids won't rebel (with behaviour outbursts, unhappiness and anxiety, or social adjustment difficulties in the absence of true peers) or challenge the system themselves by asking to have their divergence from the norm recognized.
It's so interesting that all of these comments essentially boil down to "we have one system--everybody has to fit the system as it currently exists".
You mean this person has one brain cell and cannot imagine that things exist that don't fit in it.
When discussing my DS's behaviour/progress with his 1st grade teacher and trying to figure out what was going on (No idea about GT'ness at this stage).
She suggested he might be bored but determined he didn't need any advanced material because "he doesn't get everything right you know".
I'm diverting a little so hope you don't mind...
In my son's K screen that decided he was lacking in motor skills like catching a ball.
At the time, he was skiing black diamonds among his other sports and hanging with the better crowd in ability. What's with that?
All of these "if they do this now, what will they do next year" ones really crack me up. Because, you know, it's not like there's any higher level of math, or anything. Once you learn multiplication and division, that's it.
One of the reading ones had me laughing, because my mom got a line like that about one of my brothers. His kindergarten teacher told her that he was going to have to "unlearn" all the reading that he already knew and start over to learn it all "the right way". Needless to say, he wasn't in that class for long.
All of these "if they do this now, what will they do next year" ones really crack me up. Because, you know, it's not like there's any higher level of math, or anything.
And then there's the implication that it is somehow worse to be learning nothing in a higher grade than to be learning nothing in a lower grade.
All of these "if they do this now, what will they do next year" ones really crack me up. Because, you know, it's not like there's any higher level of math, or anything.
And then there's the implication that it is somehow worse to be learning nothing in a higher grade than to be learning nothing in a lower grade.
And once you get out into the REAL world, you ONLY work with people YOUR age...
My favorite, which has been said over and over to me many times by school officials and random people on the streets:
Grade skipping him now at age 5 (at the time) may cause a problem when he's 15 and all his classmates are 16 and getting their licenses.
Awesome.
This is what my dd's kindergarten teacher told me, when trying to convince me to hold her back (forget about skipping)! My dd makes the cut-off date by a day, thus is the youngest in her class.
I love that random people on the street feel free to 'set you straight'!
We have heard that ALL GT people have social issues (this might be news to some gt folks who get along great with others...) Granted, my ds9 does have social issues, but my dd seems to be a social butterfly...and I do alright too.
"Grade skipping him now at age 5 (at the time) may cause a problem when he's 15 and all his classmates are 16 and getting their licenses"
oh, I am tired of hearing that comment as well...I heard it from DS7's First Grade teacher as well when we gave her the full psych's report that stated he needed 1, possibly 2 grade skips in math and reading. When talking with a friend the other day, this topic came up and she said the exact same thing. How do they know!
"Grade skipping him now at age 5 (at the time) may cause a problem when he's 15 and all his classmates are 16 and getting their licenses"
You could try saying- with a straight face - well, everything is within walking distance at most universities anyway, so I don't think it will be a problem.
Or - if you are just 'fed up' try:
Well, everything at Harvard is within walking distand anyway, so I don't think it will be a problem.
I guess I've used up my portion of snark for the week, but it did feel pretty good.
Smiles,
Grinity
I'm diverting a little so hope you don't mind...
In my son's K screen that decided he was lacking in motor skills like catching a ball.
At the time, he was skiing black diamonds among his other sports and hanging with the better crowd in ability. What's with that?
I posted in the brag thread about a girl who soloed in a plane when she was 12.
A lot of farm kids drive farm machinery and trucks on highways when they are her age or younger.
Ok, well, first let me say I'm not a gifted parent. I am a gifted student. I am in high school (unhappily might I add). I get so unbearably bored in all of my classes. Honestly, the way my school system works it seems like they're trying to force me to just give up and say screw my future and my life for I am a gifted student who gets bored in all her classes and gets straight A's. I don't know HOW I force myself to complete any assignment day after day at the torturous facility oozing with annoying people who refrain from understanding me. They are all blissfully ignorant of anything for gifted students and believe that AP classes will satisfy us. They could never have been more wrong. It's not that I need MORE work. Oh, gosh, no. I am such a procrastinator and indubitably lazy. They don't understand that I need to do things that interest me, or they could at least track the classes so I could move at swifter pace without my need to spend all but probably about one or one and a half of my hours at school drawing, writing stories, crating theories of the world, reading and entertaining myself in any way possible. I learn everything I need to at this school within about an hour and a half or possibly less. I spend exceedingly grand amounts of time just waiting for others to "get it." Anyway, I should probably stop here. I could go on all day ranting about the school system and how I, as a gifted student, feel about it.