I am so confused about what's going on with DS5's school. I made a request in November that he be accelerated to second grade next school year. The principal seemed receptive to the idea. Last week she approached me with another idea for DS--he is in half-day K right now, and she is offering him the opportunity to do language arts with a first grade class in the afternoon (after K is over). It sounds like a good idea, but she said they are only able to do this until the opening is filled by a first grader (our district is very overcrowded and all classes are almost always at capacity.) She told me it was DS' teacher's idea and that I should talk to her about it.
Well, here is the confusing part--when I talked to his teacher she seemed very negative about the idea of accelerating him to second grade. Her reasons:
*DS is young for grade
*DS only does "parallel play" at recess
*She herself was old for grade and ahead in K but was not accelerated.
*She has accelerated only one child in her 30 yr. career.
*DS is "on grade level". When I asked her about the reading test in which he achieved at a second grade level she said it was only early second grade and not truly two years above his current grade level as required by the district. Actually, the district board policy says "approximately two years". Also, the test he was given does not differentiate between early and late grade level.
*DS has a 504 plan. I said that the 504 plan is for a health issue not an academic issue. She said they only give 504 plans to students whose "learning" is affected. This is completely false--he is allergic to eggs and the 504 plan concerns accommodations to prevent his exposure to eggs. Is she saying she's giving him some kind of academic accommodations and that's why he looks so smart? Baloney! She is doing nothing for him!
I am very angry that she is pulling this kind of bullshit and I am wondering if this idea of hers to put him in first grade in the afternoon is a setup to prove that he is not ready for second grade. He is only five. It would be easy for them to see that he fails to measure up to something
I'm not sure what to do. If I don't agree to the subject acceleration to first grade then he will be denied the opportunity to accelerate to second. The criteria for acceleration include participation in all differentiated instruction that is offered.
She had me so upset I was starting to doubt that I was doing the right thing to request the acceleration. She doesn't acknowledge that DS is unusual in any way. But then this morning in the car DS was adding two digit numbers in his head with carrying (he was playing a game of doubling numbers) and he also brought along a spanish picture dictionary and was reading the spanish words to us to quiz us on the meanings. Then on the way home he asked, "If I took a photo of a postcard in the giftshop and then printed it out to make my own postcard, would that be stealing?" So we talked about copyrights and then he said, "But I could go to the same place where the photographer went and take the same picture myself and that would be ok." What kind of 5 year old thinks about stuff like that?
How can the teacher NOT see what he is??? Is she blind? I am at a loss. I am frustrated. I don't trust the school and I don't know what to do.
Cathy
