Just received DS6's 2nd semester report today, and feeling a bit sad. His teacher just does not see the same kid I see at home. Where I see a kid who is reading way ahead of his peers, has intuitive math sense and can learn at lightning speed, she sees a kid who is "meeting the standards." He has lost his spark; he just isn't as motivated and excited about learning as he used to be.

Maybe if your focus is on keeping the classroom orderly and conforming to standards instead of teaching the individual child, smart but efficient (lazy :)) kids like my son will do the bare minimum. I'm not sure exactly what's going on in class, but evidently he is not at all showing what he can do, probably because he isn't expected to. If he continues at this pace, he will indeed prove that "everybody catches up to the advanced children by third grade." And I think that would be a shameful waste of his ability.

Denial and doubt moment: Is it possible that a child who was reading and spelling at 2, studying the periodic table and drawing models of radon at 5, and doing multiplication and division in his head at 6 isn't gifted after all? Am I expecting too much?

On the bright side, we just made the decision to move him to a small, private school for 2nd grade, where they'll be able to differentiate the curriculum for different skill levels. The student/teacher ratio is 20 to 1 (public schools in our district are moving to 30 to 1 next year). I hope we'll be able to steer him away from this underachieving rut and get him loving learning again.

I am sending you a pm...

Is this teacher into Bonsai Trees?

She is turning your Redwood into a Dogwood.

Austin...love the comment!! :-) I am glad that you have some other options :-) You guys will have some new adventures next year and hopefully things will look up :-)
- we saw the same thing happening with our son and we don't have a lot of options in our area so we decided to homeschool.

Man! This quote just sums it up.

Are you going to switch him now or in the fall? What are you thinking of doing for him in the mean time?

Love your OP, BinB, so true!

Austin, you made me chuckle. You're right, though.

EastnWest, we're switching him in the fall. He's not unhappy where he is, and he copes with his boredom by being *very* social in class. At first I felt a bit sorry for his teacher. But we have discussed with her why he might be chatting and cracking jokes instead of working, and she hasn't really bought it, so I'm all out of sympathy.

So, we'll get through the next couple of months giving him more stimulating materials at home, and start our new chapter in the fall.

You got it exactly. Schools, driven in part by NCLB, have no incentives to provide for children who can work beyond the low levels required by the Archons of Standardized Testing and Edumacation. The schools actually have disincentives: if a school's average score is too low, the school can be punished (rather severely), yet anything beyond the minimum isn't singled out for a reward. In a situation like that, the approach of the schools is hardly surprising.

Our society has decided to focus on low achievers. Obviously, helping these kids is critically important. Somehow, though, someone decided that getting them to score well on tests that can be graded by a scanner is a good thing.

At the same time, everything and everyone else are being deliberately ignored. Millions of students are capable of much more, but aren't allowed to try. Gifted kids are hurt most of all, but they aren't the only ones.

"A mind is a terrible thing to waste" springs to mind as a counterpoint to NCLB and current edumacation trends.

BTW, I haven't met your son, but from what you wrote, he sounds *with pretty bright* to me.

Sorry to sound so ranty. I just get so frustrated.

Val

BinB - BTDT, don't doubt your son or your observations of him. You know that he is capable of so much more than the school has gotten out of him. So glad to hear you are changing schools. Keep your chin up!

It's as though you are talking about my own DD6! I've watched this child transform from a sparkling, animated, eager to learn child, into a disruptive talker, a class "behavior problem", unable to complete any work, silly and bouncing off the walls! Have you seen the work? No wonder she's bored! Even the average kid is bored off their rocker. Now take the quick-witted, race horse of a learner who's now reading at the fifth grade, studying Greek mythology in their free time, and learns math intuitively beyond where the kindergarten room will allow her? Well...now what? My options appear to be narrowing. As a child of educators myself, I've always been a supporter of public school. Now I find myself researching my homeschooling options for next year part-time. Never did I see my self as a homeschooling parent. But...what am I willing to sacrafice. Do I change my daughter to fit into the school, since the school can't change to fit my daughter?

I really hope the private school works for you. I think our public schools in this country are seriously broken. It's a sad demise for all our children, most especially our brightest ones!

Oh, I forgot to mention...my daughter is also "meeting the standards". Thanks to NCLB.

Uh, CrazyDaisy, you are describing my child. Are you plagiarizing my life?
We have to homeschool part time next year or she can't stay in school at all.
At least we grade skipped a year, but it is still not working and most days she refuses to go. This week is actually better because they are doing standardized testing and it's a break from normal schoolwork.

It is just not about kids.

There is a segment of the the population in every nation that seeks to yoke the best and brightest to one group of people for the political benefit of yet another group of people.

Gosh, it's so eerie reading about my own kid in other people's homes .

My son was refused a grade skip (it was just a one grade skip, hoot) and is now subject accelerated for math. He says he has to shut down to pass the day and yup, he's become very vocal and chatty just to occupy his brain in school. The teachers say he's not a problem yet, but his classmates are annoyed - DS turns their names into limericks in a heartbeat to amuse himself.

We don't even have the option of private school . Our only alternative is to homeschool, but given our personalities, I'm increasingly reluctant. I'm not sure how he's going to last out the year ...

crazydaisy - Your DD6 sounds so much like my GD5 (6 next month) down to the classroom behavior. I looked up your original posts and was wondering if you ever got an IEP and how her test scores came out. Have they done anything to differentiate for her this year? The school keeps telling us that her behavior has nothing to do with her intelligence or boredom - really? I'd love to her more about your DD.

Oh dear GMF...don't get me started on my testing and IEP. Let's suffice it to say, that even with the testing...that doesn't guarantee that they can/will/or are capable of doing anything. I know I must sound a little jaded. It's been a bumpy (slightly understated) year for everyone. Seriously, I really do think the school HEARS, sees for themselves, and they just really don't know how to do it. They have the desire, well, I think they do. They just keep missing the mark. And in a current atmosphere of worksheets and standardized testing, anything else is far outside todays norm.

I'm working on figuring out next year. We are in a rural community with no other opportunities within an hour. Can I change the school without myself getting a teaching degree specializing in gifted education? I don't really know. I worry about 1st grade, where the classtime increases to 5-6 hours a day. If my result is a kid who's a behavior issue now, what will happen with increased time everyday to do worksheets? On the plus side, they can subject accelerate her in math and reading next year. But, does that mean harder worksheets or more inquiry, higher level thinking? I just don't know. Nor does asking the question get real answers.

So, jeez...I don't seem to have any feeling at all on the subjec t! Ha! Listen to me rant. Can you tell it's a sensitive topic right now.

Long story short...they don't differentiate so much. The testing did accomplish the extermination of reading readiness worksheets and phonics. So, it's not all bad. They really are trying to figure it all out. I'm certain a gifted program would help, but it's non-existent.

Okay...now tell me your story! I would love to hear it. It makes me relieved to know all the others out there who have parallel lives and how you are finding solutions.

Blob,
It's hard to have so few options, isn't it?

I may join a parenting gifted kids group an hour away, just to feel connected to people who may have more answers.

Let me know what works for you!

Oh wow - you just described my son and his 2 year school experience so well. I have a kid that would not afterschool and would not show his stuff in regular school with any consistency. I'm so glad you have another option for next year.

For us it led to homeschooling, which has been a night and day difference. My DS does age appropriate work load and output. But can get input at the level he's ready for. He can also pursue his own interests. This morning he set up an experiment related to light and reflection because we've been reading about and discussing physics. Anyway, I hope your child's new school experience will relight his spark! Maybe a little time this summer to pursue his interests will help too.