Hi jen in co -
I think you've got a great list of questions. I can't think of much to add except to ask how they deal with certain asynchronous development issues (e.g., handwriting). In our local school, it seemed that they were holding DS back in math because he wouldn't be able to keep up with the writing. We have since changed to a school for HG kids, and although they help work on handwriting issues, they do not consider it a reason to hold my kid back.
We have only been at the HG school for a few months, but there have been some dramatic changes. For example, even though DS was given lots of differentiation and pullouts at the local school, he still had a bunch of time in the regular classroom, and he would do things like pick super easy books for free choice reading, and complain about doing any reading at home. Now, he happily picks up books that are at his level and reads without me telling him too. In fact, I was amused recently to have had to tell the kid to stop reading - I didn't think that would ever happen. I think he sees what the other kids in his class - his intellectual peers - are reading, and he's just realized on his own he should be reading those books too. DS also made some good friends right away.
My other plug for full-time GT (if you have that option) is that at some point, the subject acceleration and pullouts become further and further away from the base grade, and differentiation becomes more difficult without acceleration (subject and/or full grade).
I see one of your questions is about class size. From our personal experience, we have now become believers that class size is irrelevant if you have a great teacher. Our DS is now in a very large class, in a very small room in an old building. But none of that matters once we found the right educational fit. Our DS leaves school skipping!
Last edited by st pauli girl; 04/18/11 05:28 PM.
