Hi,
Newbie here and based in England where structured gifted and talented programmes are essentially nonexistent so thank goodness that I have stumbled upon this amazing forum!
I’m hoping for some pointers on what I should be expecting from an elementary school as a minimum.
My son is 7, summer born, youngest in his year. Currently in second grade. He’s seen as age-appropriate.
He has been struggling with the physical work and organisation of writing for a couple of years. I took him for assessment as the delta between his verbal abilities and written work was outrageous.
WISC V was highly superior in all domains except processing speed which was average. It’s currently looking like he’s dyspraxic but we’re waiting on final paeds sign-off.
His school have seen the Ed Pysch report and have just shrugged their shoulders. They seem to think that you can only be gifted if you are able to demonstrate it academically in very traditional modes - exams, essays etc - and currently my son isn’t able to perform in written tests under time pressure.
Consequently, he can’t get into the enrichment streams that are reserved for kids seen as high ability with the top test scores.
He’s happy at school and super social. It’s his main reason to go to school I’d say.
We do lots of projects and trips out of school that follow his interests but I’m worried that he needs more from the expert educationalists as he approaches third grade and they currently overlook him as having any cognitive talent.
Is home-led enrichment enough around an average education or is it now time to start pushing for more from a school to unlock his potential?
I’ll be so grateful for your views.
