I understand the concept of differentiation, I just don't understand the practice. If all the kids in class are working on counting to 100 and DD can count to 200 -- what could they possibly offer her that is of meaningful benefit? Surely the class does work as a whole and every item in her curriculum can't be adjusted to allow for something different just for my child.
For example, earlier than gifted pull-out was available for DD, the teacher was assigned a high-achieving cluster for math and that cluster worked above standards when possible. Meaning, the teacher had a topic unit for the class, had a brief instruction period to the class, then the three groups rotated stations (group meet with teacher, work independently, and group work on project or game). She looked at the standards rubric for standards mastery one year ahead, and provided material at that level to the top group. She was unable to fit in a full year ahead of material, but DD did get to work above level, along with doing some more engaging logical thinking challenges. It wasn't perfect, but it was above-level differentiation. This year, we have a different arrangement due to different circumstances. In fall, her school assessments (MAP, which goes above level) show her scoring in math in the mid-90s percentile for those two grades ahead. It really depends a lot on working with and supporting the teacher.
For reading, in our school, they also break out into small group book clubs at different levels. At times they go to a different classroom for one teacher to instruct that higher level to students from multiple classrooms. General literacy isn't very differentiated, though, which can be frustrating. DD would complain about having to pick out the main idea of a three sentence paragraph and wanting to have more detail to read.
