I never actually homeschooled my DS14, but a homeschooling friend told me that the essence of homeschooling was that the parent accepted complete responsibility for the child's education, and on that basis, I was a 'homeschooling mom' of sorts.
as you say:
It's clear we have to initiate and investigate any possibility of level adjustment.
It seems so obvious to us that the school 'should' be able to recognise when a child needs more academic challenge and 'should' have plenty of experience with providing that challenge. And yet the nature of averages keeps telling schools that kids who are unusual don't exist, so we don't need to develop expertese about meeting their needs.
One way to figure out 'gifted' from 'hard working and well prepared' is formal IQ testing. A much cheaper alternative is to have the kids take the SAT or ACT this December, possibly through the talent search. There is much more data for how gifted 7th graders score, but if they score well it speaks volumes to the school, and if they don't score impressively well you can breath a sigh of relief. Frankly, any 6th grader willing to sit and take the test impresses me.
Love and More Love,
Grinity
