And although she was in every gifted program offered for her age we were told repeatedly that she needed to learn to fit in, be less arrogant, that �there are other kids just as smart as her,� �it�s a challenging curriculum,� �the teachers differentiate,� �just wait until high school, that�s when she�ll really soar� (this was in 4th grade�what should she do for the next four years?), �you can learn something in every class
We've had this exact experience....who else?
We got:
�there are other kids just as smart as h(im),�
�it�s a challenging curriculum,�
�the teachers differentiate,� ((And they did, as we moved along the advocacy process, still too little too late, though))
and then we got:
"Were you grade skipped? We find that parents who were gradeskipped often think that it's the only way to help a kid, but it isn't!"
and
"Our math specialist spent time with him, and he really isn't a deep thinker in Math." (This in 4th grade - all we were asking for was subject acc into 5 th grade math - like how much deep thought is required for 5th grade Math?)
But looking back, what alarms me the most, is that the school just seemed unable to believe that a child might have a 'mind of their own' during the elementary school years. Thankfully there is more of a recognition in Middle School that a child might have their own wants and needs seperate from the local Adult expectations. I want and expect my kid to express himself politely, and be kind to others, but, looking back, the very idea that he had a mind of his own seems to be what the finger pointing was mostly about.
((scary))
Grinity
