Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Anecdotes Requested Re: Early Ed Experiences

WOW Questions! My stomach is in knots after reading your post lol. I edited my post to move you to the Hsing list. WOW o WOW. Give me all the details!

Dazey

Hi, all, we are still considering HS. DH wants him to go to public school (2nd grade, he'll be 7 in July - son not DH, but you gotta wonder about that, too). I think he'll be bored stiff and we'll keep having behaviour issues. Unless we get a terrific teacher and I haven't heard of one. Also, the school does no acceleration, no compacted curriculum"ing", no telescopiing, no subject acceleration, very little differentiation. The vice-principal and counselor have never heard of "A Nation Deceived" or "Iowa Acceleration Scale". They've never had a child skip a grade, although they have had some early entrances to first (K is not required in Texas). We're also looking at, but don't think we can afford, a private school. They want him to take the 2nd grade ITBS and they want to put him in 3rd, which I wouldn't do in the public school due to pressure of the state NCLB exam that is administered that year. I'm sure DS would do fine but it is extremely stressful for the whole school, let alone the 3rd graders. But, the private school has a max class size of 8, so he'd get potentially get a lot of teacher time.

The GT program starts for us in late K but it is only an "arts and craft" kind of thing 1 1/2 hours a week.

So, just thought I'd clarify that we are still in the "considering" camp for HS for next fall. We're going to try it some this summer and see how it goes and how well we get along (which is the sticking point for us). Son said today that "I'd learn more at home but it would be more boring because I'd only have you to play with". I've been following (well, I get everyone confused but other than that!) this discussion with interest. And, tomorrow I am joining a local homeschool group that has a gifted group within it. Their board had a special vote to let me in because we are not "currently homeschooling".

Boy, I really rambled. Hope I didn't throw this off topic.

A little late in the game, but DD 10 is homeschooled now, will do CTY stuff in the summer. She got accepted into a gifted middle school/HS. She really loves to be in school, so it was always looked at as a temporary situation, but we had a great time, and you never know, it could always happen again, although it would probably be more of an epgy situation, and less of me)
It does seem to me, from reading the posts, that pre-school to say 5th are the toughest years to educate these kids.

Hey, Dazey. No real details yet, other than the fact that DS is torn, realizing that he'll miss his teachers and friends and the fun part of school (upcoming concert, field trip, etc.) and is concerned that his friends, the teachers, the principal and the lunch ladies will be sad to see him go. So for now we'll just have him take tomorrow off and see how it goes.

Unfortunately, there are still about 30 school days left in the school year. If it was just a couple of weeks, I think it would be easier to finish out the year.

Questions - maybe if he knows he is not going back in the Fall, it'll make the last 30days easier so he can enjoy the fun stuff. My DS hasn't been having the nausea in the AM I think b/c of the fun stuff going on now. He has though been having headaches in the evening. Sigh...maybe he's replaced one for the other.

I am so glad that people are feeling empowered to make the best choices for their kids. They are hard decisions with implications for your child, your family, your community and I know they are scary. And I know that the decision to homeschool isn't always the most popular with the judgemental people in our lives. So I am really glad that our little community here is so supportive! Go Us!!!!

Remember, though, I am an "insecure" public schooler. I'm starting to feel at little lonely Since we just did a role call vote on who was homeschooling, would it be wrong to ask for the same for those of us who are making public school work? And maybe another list for private schools, gifted schools.

It might be good to see how the list breaks down as an informal survey.

I think that's a great idea, acs.

And just for the record, I'm 100% behind you and your decision to keep your kids in public school, too. If I thought I could make it work in our school, I'd be right there with you. I hope my "Mouseketeer sound-off" roll call didn't make you feel excluded or unloved! I mostly just wanted to see who all is out there, and I knew I was forgetting some people who were homeschooling. (Sorry, calizephyr!) But I'm a big believer that any parent who's making these hard choices deserves our support, and it's why I love this forum.

So back atcha, acs! Go you, too!

So who's got kids in public schools and private schools and GT schools and any other option we're not mentioning?

Ah, acs, that would include me. I feel like I now fall into the category of "insecure" public schooler, though I only feel this insecurity internally; it's just a constant tug I feel on my heart.

After fighting for DD6 to gain entrance to the school's GT program and succeeding, we're going to give it a try. And as I posted on another thread, I've been nominated to be the PTA president at our brand new elementary school that's opening in the fall. My heart is not completely with the public school, but I suppose that if we're going to do it, we're going to be completely in and try to make it the best situation possible. I've met with our new principal several times and I really, really like her. Our meetings have not dealt with DD6 at all, just general school stuff, so we'll see what happens if the time comes to ask for something special.

I am concerned that it's not going to be what DD6 needs or what we'd like for her, but we've decided it's worth a try because she has enjoyed kindergarten. If the feeling in my gut gets any stronger, though, we'll make a change.