Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Middle school year

DH went to Middle School information night last night. There are a couple points that the teachers brought up that made us wonder:

1. The 6th graders pretty much do things on their own, unlike 7th and 8th graders who are doing things together. The reason given was because "hormonally, they are in different place." For those with children at this age group, is this really the case? Does this affect gifties the same way?

2. The first 2 months in 6th grade will be team building, and teaching the 6th graders the 'intangibles' and there won't be much academic progress during that time. We understand that these intangible skills are important but does it really have to take away from the academic? For 2 months?

3. We're given the option of letting DS10 skip 6th grade. Given the above info (first 2 points), we're not sure what to make of it...

Anyone cares to advise? As always, your experience and insights are truly appreciated.

We just had middle school orientation, too, where we heard very similar things.

About #1: I've always figured the policy of keeping the 6th graders away from 7th and 8th graders had more to do with the parents than the kids. I think for a lot of us parents, middle school started in 7th, so it's hard for us to wrap our heads around the idea of our 5th graders heading off to middle school in three months. Keeping them separated keeps us from freaking out. It doesn't seem to me you can say definitively that there's more difference "hormonally" between a 6th and 7th grader than between a 7th and 8th grader.

About #2: Seems pretty fuzzy to me. Team building happens when there's something real--i.e., academic--to work on. I for one would have been bored out of my skull if I'd had to spend two months on "intangibles" in middle school (YMMV, of course).

Given #s 1 and 2: Grade skip must be looking pretty good right now...

I'll be curious to hear what you decide, and best of luck!

So, Dottie, are your kids in the same grade? How has that worked for you? Looking at my kids, I can see the potential of wanting to whole-grade accelerate my daughter who is one year behind my son. My son is much slower at things and socially less mature than my daughter, so I have a harder time imagining him skip a grade.

The first two months are always review, even in elementary level. By the end of the first week, after the assessments are done, our DS got really really bored So I agree, acceleration seems to be a better option. In this case, if he's accelerated, since they will be reviewing 6th grade material in the first 2 months, hopefully he won't get too bored

We spoke with our Principal and lent him our Iowa Acceleration Scale. It looks like the shadowing will happen very soon... We'll see what happens.

So there is no acceleration / differentiation even in math for your DD? Have you considered grade acceleration? Is the school open to the idea? I suppose this has to do with how some kids more worried about being socially acceptable than being smart. I wonder if it's more of a problem among girls than boys... We have 2 younger DDs so we'll start worrying very soon

At least they admit to it being 'what it is'...and gave you/your child an option.
I'd be considering that skip pretty seriously!

(and who makes these decisions about 'hormones', anyway???) weird stuff.

My 2 cents... I have one daughter who is finishing 8th grade & when she started middle school it was 6th-8th grade. She was not as prepared as I thought she would be for it. Academically, no real issues, but she was overwhelmed by some of the social issues. And she is/was in gifted (the 3 classes that are offered-history, language arts, science) & advanced classes. In 7th grade I had her placed in an 8th grade math class, but that was a teacher-related issue. She did fine. In fact, we have had more teacher-related problems than any others. Another post for another time...
Previous to middle school, she had been in a small gifted class of 7 kids for 2 years with the same 2 teachers. I think that may have played into some of her transition problems. She did adjust beautifully & has become an amazing leader of her class. She plays the clarinet in concert band, the alto sax in jazz band & has become a good artist; two skills/talents that were unknowns before middle school. This week she received an Outstanding Musician Award & today she is submitting her final project in Advanced Art on Louise Nevelson. She also designed a mural & led a team in painting it.
I suppose what I am trying to say (maybe not so well) is that even though she had an unexpectedly rough start, she has made it through middle school quite nicely & it looks to have been a good transition time to high school. We shall soon see...

In contrast, my other daughter is finishing 6th grade this year which has since been moved to the elementary school. She has enjoyed this year in some ways (her teachers adore her), but I tend to think the administration has not handled having these kids at the elementary level very well. They treat them like the rest of the children at the school which leaves them restless & quite honestly, feeling unappreciated. The 5th graders used to celebrate a sort of graduation at the end of the year. This class cannot wait to leave their school. It is really sad.
My 6th grader is not in gifted education*, but in the "top performers" group identified by state test scores (ugh). They have been pushed/pulled/dragged through this year because some of the kids refused to try. She has come home crying more than once as the teachers continually lecture them about how they should be doing better, blah, blah... They have told her that it isn't directed at her but it still has worn her down. I am so ready for this year to be over. Hopefully next year will be better with a middle school schedule.

*We are finding out that she is gifted, but also has a LD, just not sure what it is. I have been told by a specialist that she is dyslexic/dysgraphic, but of course FL does not recognize that as a specific disability.

Those diagnoses would fall under the category of "specific learning disability", and that is one of the categories that qualifies children for protection under the IDEA, if they require special education and related services. If she requires accommodations to access and benefit from the curriculum, that diagnosis would qualify her for protection under the ADA and section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. All of these are Federal law that states cannot opt out of.

Wright's Law

I often believe that middle school administrators underestimate the capability of this age group. Kids will achieve and behave the way they're expected to. Children at my son's elementary school switch classes for various reasons and it's not a big deal or is it a challenging exercise.

We are faced with a similar issue with our 11 year old. Our 5th grade son is skipping 6th and going to 7th grade this fall. Middle school here is only 7-8th. He's accelerating because they don't know what else to do with him academically. DS is in pre-algebra, and is finishing 8th grade spelling and vocabulary.

His last two teachers and principal all agree he needs to accelerate, yet the middle school principal is making him jump through many hoops in an effort to keep him out of the advanced language arts class, saying it just may be too much for him. Sigh.

I would consider the personality of your child in making your decision. My DD was very intimidated by the 7th/8th graders when she started school this year, and definitely appreciated the separation. At her school there seems to be a culture of "we had to be the bottom of the heap last year and you better bet we're going to make sure someone else is in that role this year!". Nothing drastic, but definitely the sixth graders are considered the babies of the school for a good chunk of the year. It took awhile for DD and other sixth graders to develop a "whatever" attitude and stop caring what the 7th and 8th graders acted like.

Just from looking at the way kids dress, there is a culture shift that happens over the course of the 6th year that would have been overwhelming at the beginning of the year. I like that she had time to adjust to that more slowly. As to whether the hormonal gap impacts gifties the same way....hard to say. In our case, I would say DD has been on the slow side with the hormonal shifts (also the young side, with a late summer birthday) but on the advanced side in her ability to notice and assess the way in which others act, form their groups, and treat other people. This has been a blessing and a curse. Her ability to see it for what it is makes it not at all appealing to her, so I guess it's good that she was largely among sixth graders where not everyone has crossed over. On the other hand, she is hyper aware of the unwritten rules and that she falls outside of what is considered "cool". If she were less aware she might try to fit in. As it is, I think that she is not, and probably never will be, able to act in a way that she finds at best, kind of silly, and at worst, mean and destructive.

OTH, DD was in a 7th grade math class, and while she felt a bit shy about it, no problems in the classroom at all.

She was bored to tears in her language arts until she was able to do something outside of the classroom, but has found social studies and science to be a good fit.

I guess the questions I would ask myself are:

How does your DS feel around older kids, and is he still on the naive side, or has he already begun to cross into the teen attitude?

How do you feel about him starting highschool earlier? This may depend on where you live and what kinds of issues kids are likely to be exposed to at his particular high school.

Do you think that there is little to be offered by the curriculum in all academic areas, or are there a couple of areas that you think would be appropriate? If so, can he subject accelerate in just the other areas?

Is it a now or never attitude with the school? Can he skip up mid-year or skip from 6th to 8th at the end of this year?

As with everything, there will be pros and cons to both.