Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Do I advocate from the start?

Or let things run their course a little bit?

A little background, my DS 4 1/2, was tested with the WPPSI and the WJ-III back in November. He was accepted into a gifted charter with early admittance to K. (he is a fall b-day that misses the cut off.

The psych doing the eval was very impressed with his reading, and told me that he would need to be accelerated at least to first grade in reading, if not more, and wrote that on the report that was sent to the school.

So what I'm wondering is if I should start the conversation now, or if I need to let me DS enter school and see how he does?

I know that there isn't really a right answer to this, I guess it's more of a WWYD?

This is a tricky question, since your DS will be going to a GT charter, where presumably things will be advanced. When my DS was going to a regular local school, I went well in advance and told them about my son. But when I switched him to a GT school, where they were used to kids like mine, I didn't feel the need to do a whole lot ahead of time.

I guess if I were you, I would want to know about how the school differentiates. Since it's a GT charter, I would be hopeful that they would already be doing typical 1st grade reading, and there are probably a lot of kids that will be in the same boat. But the only way to find out is to ask. (E.g., my son was tested at this level. Will there be groups of other kids learning at this level as well?) Do you happen to know if the psych meant that your DS should do typical 1st grade reading or 1st grade reading at the GT school, which is likely to be more like 2nd grade reading?

Also, FWIW, my experience of advocating ahead of time before K didn't do a whole lot of good, since the teacher wanted to see for herself what DS was like. This delayed differentiation for about 6 months....

Thanks for the reply st paulie! The psych is affiliated with, and thereof familiar with the school, so I'm assuming he means their first grade, not nd first grade.


I have a feeling they will want to see for themselves, and that makes me nervous. DS had a rough pre k year, so I want to try to resolve some of the issues this year. if he has to spend 1/2 the year reading things below his level, I fear he will shut down.


I keep thinking about HS, but I'm afraid to commit. Plus we have this gifted school, it would feel wrong to "waste" it.


Aaaah, decisions, decisions!

If you decide to homeschool, you aren't "wasting" the gifted school, you are opening up a space for someone who will find it to be a better fit than your child will.

This above is enough of a reason to ask for a meeting, with the psychologist present if possible. I would call the school and ask them what provisions were being made to do as it says in the letter, and I would call the psychologist and ask her/him to contact the school on your behalf. He can always drop back to kindy for reading if 1st doesn't work out....you can't expect to get it perfect, but you can sure ask for what you believe to be correct!!!!

Smiles,
Grinity

I never thought of it that way! Thank you for the fresh perspective.