Val wrote:
I too wonder if my son will even out by 3rd grade from not being challenged in school. The other kids are catching up skill-wise but I still think there are pace issues for DS. Getting all the testing done just seems to take so long and I wonder about getting achievement testing done now given he's not made much progress this year in school. I doubt achievement testing now would accurately reflect him.
I agree with the talented/not gifted students starting out ahead because they were brighter to begin with. Good point.
I address the pacing problem by being an unabashed hothouser. My eldest works on mathemathics with me for ~2-3 hours per week. We got halfway through grade 5 math a while back and skipped ahead to algebra. We fill in the gaps as we go. I do reading lessons with my kindergartner (plus paleontology) and my three year old.
It's amazing how far you can get with a little bit of focused instruction --- and they stay challenged.
Val
