Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Here we go again

Nathan will be starting at the same school that Aiden currently attends in January, after a week-long assessment - happening the second week of November.

Aiden will go to Grade 0 (equivalent of K) next year and Nathan will be starting pre-school (he will be 3 years old).

He will have the same teacher that Aiden had in that class too. She was lovely, and is a mom of 3 (well 2 and a new baby) gifted kids herself. She was the one that picked up that Aiden was hiding abilities and she was the one that thought he may have a photographic memory too. BUT she was in her first year of teaching then, and so kind of kept to the other teachers' suggestions in terms of offering work etc.

ie - even though they knew Aiden could read when he started, he was not tested for reading level/ability until the second half of the year, and even when he was writing randomly, he was not encouraged to write at all until he insisted towards the end of the year.

My question is - do I approach her after the assessment and suggest a meeting to plan ahead and to show her a portfolio of what Nathan is doing now? Do I wait and see? I would like to avoid Nathan going underground like Aiden did (but then Nathan has not really ever tried to hide abilities like Aiden did from baby days)

I myself would want to show examples from the beginning because i would want to see her response. I don't know if that's prudence or impatience. It's nice that you already know and like each other.

I think, since you have a previous relationship and she has shown herself to be understanding, it might be better to offer to bring her a coffee or something and make it a real casual chat.

I think you should give her a chance to show you what she can do first though. She has more experience now and it sounds like you know more about what is going on with this child than the older one. I think it's ok to ask questions and she will probably be more understanding than most.

thanks for the feedback I think I will casually chat to her after the assessment and mention that I have examples of stuff that he enjoys doing if she would like to see it, and then mention how he is the same and how he is different to Aiden. I think I will also mention that I am looking really forward to working with her to make it loads of fun for Nathan (who is REALLY excited about starting school in her class.)