Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Elementary School Talk to the school before hand?

I second polarbear's idea to volunteer in the classroom. When I went to DS's kindy classroom, I could see that the teacher was differentiating througout the day, especially during group discussion times (even though it wasn't quite enough). The teacher would ask some higher level questions. Of course, even though I knew my kiddo could answer the questions, he wouldn't volunteer in class, so it didn't help the teacher see his abilities!

Yes, there is a lot going on in a kindergarten that is not academics. The trouble is that many GT kids go to school thinking that it's primarily a place to learn new things, and they are greatly disappointed. So they get to kindy, discover that school is not a place for learning and develop a bad attitude for school. At least that's what my kiddo did.

And even though it may seem obvious to the principal that we need to give the teacher time to get to know your kiddo herself, a few weeks is a terribly long time for a 5 year old. Add to that the amount of time it takes to really "see" your child, then the amount of time it takes to get some real differntiation in place, and half the year is gone. Sorry - just venting! I remember feeling the same disappointment when my kiddo complained about kindy too.

Polarbear's stories about letting your kids see you advocate ring so true. My son has come to believe that his parents will try to help him when things aren't right at school. He's just 8, but hopefully he will start to take over with the advocacy one day too. You're doing a great job punkiedog!

Ooops - we cross-posted. Never mind about the volunteering.

I was just talking to a mom last night who is still at my dd10's previous school (dd asked to switch schools this year)... and she told me that the school had just instituted this same policy - it's insane!!! When my kids were in early elementary so many of the parent volunteers came to school with younger siblings and it worked out a-ok... I think it's just horrible when a school puts a policy like this in place. Even parents who have family/friends and tons of babysitter connections need to bring little sibs along with them sometimes, and not once did I see that interfere with the classroom. When I brought my younger children I *always* asked first and would have left right away if they caused a problem, but the teachers were always happy to have them along with me.

I don't know how it will work out at your school pdog, but I'm sure that at my dd's former school the new policy is going to slash the number of parent volunteer hours in a huge way, and at the grade levels where it's used the most (K-2).

Sorry, I just had to rant a bit about that!

polarbear

insisting that we call him Jack. And I was Annie, and the rest of our members were other characters. He refused to break role."

We have had Jack in our house too, complete with notebook, torch and backpack! DS goes for days in character. Currently he is a mammoth and I am a sloth (recently watched Ice Age).

Maybe some of the moms/dads who want to volunteer can work out an alternating schedule helping with the younger sibs?? I'll bet there are plenty of parents who would agree to do that. I certainly would if I were in your situation.

I'm an elementary school teacher and I have a few parents who do that (since we have the same policy) -- Mom A volunteers on Monday mornings while Mom B watches the kids...then Mom B volunteers on Wednesday mornings while Mom A watches the kids! The only "problem" is that if Mom A has a sick kid or an appointment, it takes Mom B out of the volunteering mix for that day, but it's definitely better than not having volunteers!

As far as the school goes, it sounds like you've already got a great dialogue going with your son's teacher. Yes, kindergarten is definitely full of plenty of procedures and rules...but once the teachers have kids practice with the procedures with books and materials that ALL kids are able to understand, it's easier for them to differentiate with the levels of the materials. Hopefully it will be the same way in your son's classroom!