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Posted By: mick Working with public schools - 10/22/09 09:01 PM
I'm looking for information (articles, advocacy groups, anything) that will help out in trying to work with a public school. Background: HG+ kid, but not ready in parent's mind for a skip, though it was offered by the school. Now the school doesn't really want to do much more in terms of differentiating, feeling they've done what they could. Kid's been tested as HG+ but any more testing would be on family dollar, not schools, and finances are a problem. Not sure if she'll qualify for Davidson yet, but probably, which'll help.

Specifically having issues with behaviour (acting out) that may or may not be related to being bored in class. Hard to know what those lines are. Kid has some additional issues, but is not learning disabled. I know there are resources out there, but am not sure where to start looking for "real" stuff. The internet is so full of stuff that may or may not be useful.

Hoping you guys can help me out, as I'm not totally sure where else to look! It's for friends of ours, and my kid is not yet school aged, so, I'm feeling like I don't know where to send them, despite loads of research into the topic (my own kid may be HG; time will tell, but I like to be prepared and have some intellectual overexcitabilities of my own).

Thanks in advance!
Posted By: traceyqns Re: Working with public schools - 10/22/09 09:18 PM
Hi Mick,
We have had a rough run with the public "gifted" program.
Today we decided to enroll him in a local catholic school.
We just hit the wall with public even after my DS6 finished the math book in 3 hours. They simply cannot give him another book, they cannot go against the standards. Well our school anyway. So we threw in the towel . The catholic school principal said "she can do whatever she wants" So she can pull him out for math, she can let him do john hopkins, she can give him hard books to read. Although other catholic schools have not been willing to accomodate us. I wish you have a better outcome.
Posted By: EastnWest Re: Working with public schools - 10/22/09 10:27 PM
maybe it is not too late to take the skip. Have you read the recent thread: "Not showing giftedness "?

See if your friends will join this board.

They can read about the IOWA scale and other tools. Most importantly, they can hear from many other parents facing similar challenges. We are all doing the best we can and learning as we go.


Good luck!
Posted By: mick Re: Working with public schools - 10/22/09 10:39 PM
Cool! Thanks. I'll recommend they join, but her Internet access can be a bit spotty. I think she'd enjoy the resources found here, though, for sure. IOWA scale is definitely something to pass along to her that I'd not thought of.
Posted By: Cathy A Re: Working with public schools - 10/22/09 10:47 PM
Could they do the skip on a trial basis? This is what we did for DS, and it helped us get an idea of how things would be in the higher grade. It helped us make a more informed decision.
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