Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy how do you know how much to accelerate

MON, he literally gets 45 mins of fourth grade math a week. During first grade math, he does what the class is doing. He doesn't take fourth grade tests. He gets one hw assignment a week. Math is an extremely fun passion for him. Science too. When he says it's a littlehard he means, "I've never seen that before." What the teacher sees is he doesn't know what a line segment is, therefore he isn't ready. We showed him what a line segment is. Now he knows it. The other issue for him is he is slow with computation. He is completely self motivated to spend 15 mins a day working on speeding.up his times tables. The plan to send him once a week to fourth grade was done to throw us a bone since we've been complaining that DS doesn't want to go to school anymore. There is a scheduling conflict for the other days of the week. Also, they were super concerned about his ability to fit in socially. The teacher says that he fits in beautifully. I am thinking now, that he's still got 6 weeks of school left. If he actually spent 5 days a week doing fourth grade math, he would be completely caught up by the end of the year. Does anyone else think that I should push for that? The school will not like pulling him out of first grade math while we send a tutor, but what other choice do we have? Finally, the actual problem here is that no one in the school has any gifted training or experience. They have never encountered a kid like this and have no idea what they are doing.

YES. We have not pushed DS to the highest level of math he could accomplish, but have placed him enough ahead (2 yrs) that he's learning some as well as a place where the work is not overwhelming in quantity, and where the age and maturity gap with peers is conspicuous but not shocking.

I do not particularly want him in the high school building before he's more ready to handle the executive function things (remembering to turn in the HW...remembering to write down the HW... not leaving his musical instrument in the hall for a day or two...) that come with being there. For DS, a 2-year grade accel. in math is not perfect but has been an okay compromise.

Totally agree with MON: your DS should get full inclusion in instruction at whatever grade level you decide to put him in. One day a week makes him not fit anywhere and not be a part of any class. He should simply be a member of the class he's accelerated to, with all the same responsibilities.

DeeDee

Three years up is not at his highest level. I would say 4-5 years would be his max level. Really the only thing slowing him down is the computation.

Eastcoast, I don't even know where my DS10's highest level would be. He went up through ALEKS High School Geometry as a young-for-grade 4th grader. (I called a halt at Algebra II because there was simply no sense in letting him go on at that age; I diverted his "running ahead" into science, which then has caused further placement issues.)

The minute you find the "highest level" on a kid like this, s/he whooshes past it anyhow. I have chosen not to homeschool my DS-- our particular kid needs peers in his areas of interest-- but there is no place to put him in a classroom for absolutely optimal pace and content.

My aim has been more modest: find a class where DS can be happy to be there, engaged in on-topic conversation with the other kids, and learning some. Teacher match has been absolutely key in this-- having a teacher who understands how interested he is in this material-- and having some peers who are also excited about learning is also important.

DeeDee

Dee Dee, I feel like our goals are modest too. His teachers (except for one specials teacher) don't get it at all. They keep trying to slow him down and it is becoming more frustrating for him. His current class has a lot of below grade level learners. There is maybe one other kid who is above grade level. He is out there, a total outlier. I think the teachers are honestly glad that DS is one less kid who needs remediation, so they do nothing. I mean NOTHING for him. One comment I got from a teacher, "aren't you glad he's not struggling like so many others? He can just relax." (That's the old "aren't you glad I'm not on drugs" speech I use to give to my mother.)

Thank you for the clarification. That makes sense in terms of acceleration considerations-- though on the other hand, for an administrator to use that as a measure of mastery in a class/teaching context would be inherently flawed since it would indicate that most students do not attain concept mastery.

Which, come to think of it, may be just fine if it's EveryDay Math we're discussing.

Well, that's.... just... weird.

Why would he be doing math at TWO levels??

What is the pedagogical logic behind that?

FWIW, I agree with MoN and Deedee about not pushing to the maximum extent possible for your child.

You do need to make it tolerable, though-- and it sounds to me like that is what you are attempting. No, the 65 wouldn't bother me in light of his other performance, though I'd want to remediate that at home to make sure that he understands those concepts better than the grade would indicate. My DD got a 42 once on a math test. Ai yi yi... she knew the material perfectly well. She just didn't bother exerting herself for the test, being six. LOL.

Full time instruction at his 'readiness' level (that is, not at his "maximum potential" level) is what he needs. How to go about getting that, though...

That's great, MON, that your daughter's school supports skipping two grades! I am envious

I also agree with MON about deciding based on your child's interests. I wouldn't bother with the tutoring if my son wasn't interested. He had been begging his teacher for months for harder work, so I chose tutoring to make do until his grade skip next January (Australia's first term).

I highly recommend tutoring. My son is a high achiever and to not be challenged has been hard for him. His tutor is teaching him the state's curriculum, plus there is free time to learn anything he wants. The difference in my son is amazing: he is so much happier and confident in his school life, knowing he can just enjoy school and learn with the tutor.

Plus, you get to see how far your child can go with their learning without the limits of the class year's curriculum.

Honestly, I think most students don't master grade level material (at least in math), and I think the highest level of mastery for average adults is prealgebra (and that may be pushing it).

If you are only doing one day a week and everyone else is doing 4 or 5 AND you haven't done several years of maths that they have - it would seem reasonable that you would find it a little hard.

Are they setting him up to fail?