where to start?
new here and was so hoping to find some answers, but I still don't see any kids "like mine"...I'm seeing accomodations and accelerations being made, tests being given and your educators taking them seriously. I'm seeing people say their kids complain of boredom and are asking, begging for more or different kinds of work, homework, classwork, other ways to learn and process information. My kid is not that kid
She only wants to read and maybe have art or do whatever else on the computer.
DD8, 3rd grade at a K-12 magnet (max enrollment 500). Has been there since K. We were told that this much smaller environment would be able to offer each child what they needed (differentiation I guess you call it), we were attracted to the K-12 aspect, that she could stay at one place, and with only about 20 or so seniors, EVERYONE gets into SOME kind of college. She is mostly quiet, though social with peers, has friends and is top cookie seller in her Girl Scout troop. She is respectful and obedient at home, to myself, though she pushes the boundaries with DH, but he allows that more.
I believe in my heart that this IS the right school for her, the environment that is but year after year, I feel like we have gotten no help or support, no real workable solutions from the teachers, except advising us to move her to one of the schools in our district with GATE tracking. I don't accept this solution for a variety of reasons, but mostly it's hard to justify moving her or giving her that more challenging work when she refuses to demonstrate (other than on standarzied tests) that she is capable of doing it.
She DOES NOT like school, except for the friends and if there is some kind of art. I have never EVER tried to extract even one more bit of anything resembling a test or schoolwork out of her, for fear I am "pushing her" or that she see being gifted as some kind of punishment that just results in higher academic expectations (which is not all kinds of giftedness) and more stress on her.
I'm ready to take on the school and make them give us what I feel she needs and if they flat out refuse or give me the run around any more, I will be FORCED to take her out, though I don't see homeschool as an option and worry it will wreck her socially to be without the few friends she has and enjoys. The teachers have repeatedly said they won't/can't give the accelerated work without her proving competency by completing the easier assignments and I'm torn because that hasn't worked for 3 years, but the test says she is capable of so much more and I also understand it from the teacher's pov.
I really need advice I think on what do you do when your gifted child "hides" their giftedness with poor performance/behavior? How do you get the teacher or school to look past that? I'm also stressed out at the idea of moving her to another school and that not working any better.
We are just starting to "jump through hoops" but so far, we have no "red flags" for learning "dis"abilities so I'm not getting much help or sympathy either. I was hoping I would come in and find a kid that sounded like mine, but everyone else's seem so much more compliant or willing to show that they have mastered something and moved on...
