Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Letter to school re DS and math - response!

Hi!

It's been awhile since I posted. The last time I had just had a P/T conference and the principal had gotten involved. At this point he is in a pullout GT program for about 20 mins every two weeks. It is not a very defined program, they really don't know what to do with DS5, but is more than I believe they have done in the past so I am rolling with it for now. This seems to focused on the Language Arts side of things.

The problem is math. They are just now getting around to doing anything on the math side. They tested all the Kindergarteners for end of year math and decided that they have a large group of kids who would benefit from a more challenging program. They are going to start, on Monday, a combo K/1 math class for this group. However DS5 should probably be in 2nd or 3rd grade math. I've tried to be OK with this program but I'm just not. DS never comes home excited about something they did in school except when his teacher gave him a little extra challenge in math. It is always easy for him but he is excited that he got to do anything extra.

I've thought about this and have decided that I need to see if something more can't be done. I would love any feedback you could give on the email I am thinking of sending to his teacher, the principal, the GT teacher, and the math specialist.


Hi,

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! I know it didn't seem like two weeks to me.

I've been doing a lot of thinking since our last meeting. I am still really concerned about math. I know we discussed the combo K/1 class which is about to begin and I said that I would wait and see how that worked out. The problem is that if I wait and don't say something now I fear it will be too late later.

DS5 is excited about math. He loves working a problem. Mr. Teacher gave him some multiplication the other day and he was delighted. I think he would benefit, his attitude about school would benefit so much, by working at a higher math level. After looking at the math curriculum I believe that he would do very well on the end of year 1st grade assessment and not badly, or even well, on the 2nd grade assessment. Can we have him assessed further than the end of Kindergarten and then see what other options there may be? I really want him to come home from school excited/proud about something. If it happens to turn out that I am wrong about where he would place then at least I know that I've done everything I can for him.

I appreciate all the help that you have given me so far and look forward to continuing to work together. I am very grateful for the concern that you show towards DS5.


Can you think of something else that should be mentioned or a better way to phrase something? I am really trying to keep a good working relationship with the school.

Thanks!!!

It looks good to me.

I would add a little something there about why you would be concerned if the level of math being offered stays well below his level, long term. You've given them the upside of evaluating him further, and upgrading his math exposure if they find you're correct (kid would stay excited), so I'd also give them some downside... whatever that downside might likely be, given your son's personality. Would he be the kind of kid who might dumb down? Tune out? Act out? Since this is January, you've probably already seen how he's handling it.

Good tone overall. One thought is to include something where you are offering to help as part of the team.

I think it's a good letter and agree with Dude and Zen Scanner's points too.

You probably know this from being around here for awhile, but FWIW sometimes the easier approach is just to 'afterschool' or do outside enrichment. It shouldn't be that way, of course, but that's what worked for us...after months and months of promises about in-class acceleration. And that was at a private Montessori school, where a big part of the 'sales pitch' (especially at that school) was learning at your own pace. But I hope your approach works. Good luck!

One question: do the different grades have math at the same time of the day? Subject acceleration in math is such an easy solution that it seems like a no brainer for them to just put him in the 2nd grade class for math and then have him return to K for the rest of the day if that is feasible given the timing of math in the various grades. Of course, the assessment of his math skills that you mention should be done first.

Do you trust that they'll accurately assess your ds's math achievement and has he had any ability testing (IQ) done yet? The only problem I've ever seen with math subject acceleration seems to happen much later (around Algebra) with kids who were accelerated solely based on high achievement and whose ability doesn't lend toward them continuing on the trajectory of acceleration later down the line.

Thank you all for your responses. I incorporated your suggestions and this is what I ended up sending:

Hi,

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! I know it didn't seem like two weeks to me.

I've been doing a lot of thinking since our last meeting. I am still really concerned about math. I know we discussed the combo K/1 class which is about to begin and I said that I would wait and see how that worked out. The problem is that if I wait and don't say something now I fear it will be too late later.

DS5 is excited about math. He loves working a problem. He loves telling us how he got the answer or why that is the correct answer. Mr. Teacher gave him some multiplication the other day and he was delighted. I think he would benefit, his attitude about school would benefit, so much by working at a higher math level. As we discussed at the last meeting, DS5 does not seem engaged in much at school, except centers.:) He is often just staring at nothing. The questions I keep asking myself is why and what can I do about it? He is obviously not a kid who can't learn or is disinterested in learning. I'm afraid the his disinterest in school will just worsen, it is definitely not getting any better, and that would be heartbreaking. After looking at the math curriculum I believe that he would do very well on the end of year 1st grade assessment and not badly, or even well, on the 2nd grade assessment. Can we have him assessed further than the end of Kindergarten and then see what other options there may be? I really want him to come home from school excited/proud about something and unfortunately he doesn't right now. If it happens to turn out that I am wrong about where he would place then at least I know that I've done everything I can for him.

I understand that I am asking for something that is not the norm. Please let me know if there is anything that I can do to help out whether it is coming into the classroom more or something else that may be needed.

I appreciate all the help that you have given me so far and look forward to continuing to work together. I am very grateful for the concern that you show towards DS5.



As for afterschooling we have resources around the house that he can access whenever he wishes. The problem is that he doesn't want to spend his time doing "work". He wants to play. He just spent 6 1/2 hours at school and I keep reminding myself he is just 5. It is really not fair to him to make him repeat school each day and it will possibly turn him off learning. We turn whatever we can into a teaching moment so he still gets a bit.

Cricket2 - I don't know what the 1st/2nd grade math schedule is. All the grades eat lunch at a different time so even if he tests as I believe he will it might not be very easy. DS5 has not had any testing, I keep debating that question, but everything points to IQ not being a problem later. I'm sure that is part of what the school is questioning.

this is the issue that I have with the enrichment at home suggestion also. We do enrichment at home with my DD7 but during the school year it's just sort of when we can fit it in and she is interested. During the summer she has been doing a more formal kind of online math curriculum and enjoying that, but during the year, like you said - she spends all day in school already! After school she has ballet, gymnastics and sometimes girl scouts, plus her homework, so there really isn't a lot of time during the week to add extra stuff in without making it seem like punishment or another item on her to-do list.

If he's passionate about math, just having the resources in the house for when the fancy strikes him works for us. DS7 uses Khan Academy, Beast Academy books (which he asked for for Christmas), random workbooks, MathDude podcasts, calculators, etc. They are just toys for him to play with when playing with math is what he wants to do.

Eibbed, I really like your letter! FWIW, I wish I could hire you to ghost-write my letters to the school

polarbear

One place where you could assess his Math ability and get a really detailed report to show to the school is ALEKS.com (but the first grade they do is 3rd grade so you would need to think that he would do pretty decent in third grade math). And they assume you are a good reader, and if he wasn't a good reader you would need to sit with him at the computer and help him read.