Here's my question to all of you...what do I make of these scores? By that I mean, that the Dr. basically flat out said that no regular school would work well for DS, in the Dr.'s experience. He suggested 1) homeschooling, 2) a local private school for gifted children or 3) Montessori for a few years.
I just have to say that we heard from lots of people that "regular school will never work for your DS." I can't even tell you how many times I have heard that and had people ask "where are you going to send him to school...you can't do public school" I work in public schools and I too couldn't figure out what schools would do with a profoundly gifted child. I was very hesitant, but for us private school was not an option financially. On the flip side, I had also heard that for some children with exceptionally high IQ's, that private schools and gifted schools are not the answer because they assume they are meeting the needs of the general gifted population, but often fall short of meeting the needs of profoundly gifted. Anyhow, I also heard lots of negative school experiences from families of gifted kids...but realized that was from gifted kids in all settings, not just public school. So...
DS5 was tested at 4 yrs 7 months. He scored well above the criteria for DYS, we approached the school district and sent them the report. They met him and suggested skipping K and starting first. They also admitted that they would need to do additional acceleration. (also want to mention that we live in one of the 8 worst states for gifted education...there are no mandates and we live in a school district that has no gifted funding or obligations at all). So he started first this year. We have had ups and downs, but they have differentiated his spelling and reading and math. He works on a computer program for math and reading since he is way above 2nd grade in those areas and the school only goes up to 2nd grade. He also meets with someone once a week for math and meets with another student for reading that is an advanced reader. DS enjoys school. So at this point things are going well for us. They see him as an individual and are trying to meet his unique needs and I truly can't complain at all. Also we have him enrolled in odyssey of the mind through school as well which he enjoys. Anyhow, just wanted to share our experience...because I remember stressing so much and feeling like a bad mom for not paying for private schooling or montessori. Things could change in the future, but for now I am going to sit back and relax a little and take it a day at a time.
Good luck to you in your future planning, keep us informed in what happens!
