Help! How do I initiate the process of having my child evaluated? We (her parents and grandparents) have known since birth that she is GT.
To give some background: She is only 5, but her teacher is beginning to seriously "pick on" her and continuously gives her bad marks for talking (she is counting to herself by 100's in order to keep her mind stimulated during inactivity) and "being mean to others" (she is actually delegating and trying to lead her classmates). She also has an extreme sense of justice, morals, and right vs. wrong which is misinterpreted by her teacher as "being mean" and "disrupting". When she challenges the teacher on facts, etc. she gets into trouble. She rejects repetitious learning of things that she has been doing since she was 2 or 3, and the teacher interprets this as failure to follow the rules! Because of all this misunderstanding of her by her teacher, my child's grades are beginning to drop. Also, she is constantly getting N's on her report card for her "bad" conduct. I am terrified that her teacher might try to fail her b/c of her "bad" conduct marks and behavior!
So how do I get her evaluated? Should I ask for a new teacher? or should I ask for a mid-year grade skip (at 3.5yrs she was operating at a 1st-2nd grade level)? We just moved to a small town and I was assured that "our teacher's are trained to recognize giftedness, blah, blah" but I think they were just pulling my leg. I was told that she COULD NOT skip kindergarten and that grade skipping is "strongly discouraged b/c kids need to be in class with their peers". But I know my child and the way things are IS NOT working! Help!?
