and not for the better.
Remember when I wrote this:
We went to the first of the program I am trying to access the other day. They offered us a trial membership. It was great, but I wasn't expecting it to affect us all so much. It was only a couple of hours long. But my LO just came alive. We hadn't even started - we were just waiting for our names to be checked off and my LO started watching a little girl write - with all of the frustration of not getting it right and all that - and he wanted to write. That is only the second time he has even tried. And it wasn't perfect, but he didn't care!
Then we went in and he was chatting to everyone, and showing off his knowledge and asking questions. The people in charge were talking to him and listening to him. I got teary and I had to leave the room for a second. I really wasn't expecting it to affect me in that way! I still can't even really say why it affected me so, but even now I keep getting emotional thinking about it.
And my LO - it was like a light switching on! He was so enthusiastic and excited. He was really playing with the other children, and they were picking up his ideas and playing with them. He was still all 'alight' the next day, investigating things, asking lots of questions, just so beautiful to see.
Well it's never quite been as good as the first time (different presenters) but it has still been ok, and probably the best thing I've found for my DS. But now, they are changing it. The set up will be a bit different and there will only be two meetings a term. For my son's age group, nothing much will change in some ways: parents still have to be there and there will only be one session (older children will have now have two); they are going to have the same presenter they have been having - who is nice and tries hard, but is a teacher and I don't think she really GETS gifted kids; but at more than
double the price!Now if the program was AMAZING we could find a way to pay for it, but it isn't. I know it's time for us to move on, but I just wanted to have a whine first. Because all of the things we have tried here - the gifted group, science club, museum programs, etc, they could be FANTASTIC and they just end up being mediocre, and disorganised. And everyone seems happy with that. This just ain't an intellectual city
Maybe my expectations are out? Maybe the LOG we are dealing with is higher than I think? Maybe the programs are just bad?
An example (supposed to be for gifted 3-5 year olds) was to make a face with fruit. Another week it was a shape tower. (and some other parents complained that the children we using glue - seriously!
)
Or a museum activity we did that was supposed to be about archeology, and my DS is really into that right now. I stretched the truth and only told his (home school) class level rather than his age to get him in. Then the archeology was a Plaster of Paris letter in a paper cup half covered with sand and the children discovered the clues by tipping the out into a box. My son was very disappointed - he knew that wasn't how you did real archeology. That was supposed to go to 12 year olds!?!?!
The clue was a letter that when put with the other children's clues spelled out the name of the street.
So it's back to the drawing board. I know with my background and, ahem, perfectionist tendencies I can arrange something better for my children. But it is such a lot of work, because my son gets most enthusiastic when he can be around peers, and at his age, it's DH and I that have to find them, and usually we have to organise whatever it is. I have a baby due in a couple of months and I'm studying.
I just wish it wasn't so hard to find quality experiences that meet his needs.
