Hello,
I have been reading so many posts here leading up to my DD6 being tested last Saturday, trying to understand whether her behaviors and characteristics are indicative of a gifted child. We had her tested because prior to reading books on gifted children, I had moments when I believed she had Oppositional disorder or even Bipolar on the worst of days. In a nutshell, she is a sweet loving child who is incredibly intense, has major sensory issues and a overwhelming need to figure things out for herself. Although she started reading simple words when she was about 4 years old, her reading only has just taken off, primarily because she loves having older chapter books being read to her. I was surprised at how quickly she went from simple easy reader books to chapter books and reading difficult words. She also can do simple multiplication and division work and understand basic fractions, but is definitely not a math whizz, like I see how some young children on here are. Her verbal ability and her ability to conceptualize abstract thoughts and make complex connections have always amazed us but having a bright 8 year old sibling, we weren't really aware of her capabilities.
So you can imagine our surprise when we received WISC IV results.
(Scores removed)
I literally started crying from disbelief and realized this gives a small glimpse into why she behaves the ways she does. I also feel guilty that I haven't done more to advocate for her in school. She was born on Christmas, so she did not make the cutoff for Kinder when she was 4 turning 5. The problem I am having with her kinder teacher is that she just doesn't understand or see her as a gifted child. While she acknowledges that she is bright, our entire time at her parent/teacher conference was about her impulsivity and speaking out. I even had to point out to her that on her report card, she marked down that she needed to improve on many classroom behaviors such as speaking out and working ahead of others, but marked her "meeting" all her academic goals. Only after I pointed out that she basically knew all that was being taught in class, she offered to change the meet to exceeds. However, she will not differentiate her work at all, aside from worksheets she is given when she finished her work quickly. I have been wondering why she hasn't offered to pull her out for reading or math but I haven't asked previously because she just seemed so oblivious to her abilities.
The educational psychologist informed us to try to get her grade skipped as soon as possible but to also start thinking of homeschooling her since, as she put it, traditional classrooms will not meet her needs despite grade skips. That really scared me!
My husband had a brief discussion with her this morning and gave her and the principal a copy of her report to request a meeting. Bearing in mind that our school district does not start GATE identification until 3rd grade, should I contact our district's Gate coordinator to discuss DD's results? I would really appreciate any input regarding how this is typically handled, particularly in California. Thank you!
