Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy are you a gifted ed evangelical?

No, I don't mean to ask if you are an evangelical who supports gifted education. I mean, are you someone who sees value in educating others (mainly teachers and administrators) in the benefits and necessity of appropriate gifted education for your children? My story in a tiny nutshell: 2 years ago, if you asked me if gifted children needed "special services", I probably would have said no, they will be fine in the end, no matter what their classroom situations. Fast forward to this past school year and after seeing what DS 6 has gone through and after having him tested and speaking with professionals in the field, I am a believer! I often find myself wanting to educate my son's rather ignorant teachers, but am not sure how to go about it. For example, my son is currently subject accelerated 3 years ahead in math (in 1st grade and attends 4th grade math once a week). I recently had a conversation with my son's 4th grade math teacher who admitted that she was philosophically opposed to any acceleration but acknowledged that for my son, it was a great fit for him. He is happy and excelling in her class. So, in that moment, I felt a need to hook her up with lots of articles and resources so that she could "see the light" and be personally more supportive of acceleration. Is that appropriate? Is that something some of you would do?

Nope. I'm mostly a--

well, I guess I'm a post- Evangelist in this sense. LOL.

I've learned over the years that there are some people who can get it, some people who WILL get it if you lead/guide them, and then there are people who either cannot get it (they simply lack the capacity to truly understand) and those who WILL NOT (because it violates their belief system and cognitive dissonance is so uncomfy).

A surprising number of educators are in the last two camps.

They cannot be reasoned with. Only avoided and detoured around.

There are also those who-- like your son's math teacher-- are in that latter camp but have some peculiar selective blindness re: genuinely HG+ children. We've run into them, too. Honestly I don't rock their world, as much as I would like to. Generally I've discovered that if you PUSH them to accept what they aren't ready for, it backfires and then snap back to a more rigid stance with your own child instead.

I need the cooperation too much, basically. So I leave them alone, they give DD what she needs, and we all go on about our regular business.

This puts you in the camp of people who only believe it when they experience it.

So, would there have been any way of convincing prior you that "gifted children" need "special services".

Kind of like my father.

Me: "Can I be grade-skipped?"

Dad (the guy who actually runs the school system): No. I forbid it.

I did have lots of special powers, like the ability to alter my class schedule and miss school for activities at will, but grade skipping was outside the realm of possibility.

I live in an affluent suburb of Boston. Massachusetts students typically rank near the top on national tests such as the NAEP, and our school district ranks high in Massachusetts.

The teachers and administrators do not want to hear about gifted children. Here is the belief system:

"We have great schools -- give us more money (pass a tax override) but otherwise shut up. You are free to afterschool your children, but don't expect us to consider what your child knows. If he is in 5th grade, he studies 5th grade math. Period. What are you complaining about? Look at our MCAS scores."

Got the teeth guard and big padded gloves, but nowhere to go with them. The school gets it, the district gets it, the TD coordinator is on board, and the choir is busy.

I've been stirring for the argument since I was DS's age, and have found myself in a place where I couldn't fairly ask for more. On the other hand I am in one school with a magnet program that is speciically learner oriented.

But this thread has me thinking I should look at spreading the message further as I may be in a position to do so if only subtly.

Yes, I could have been convinced. I was not hostile to the idea of gifted ed. I was simply uneducated about it. A few key articles could have easily changed my mind I think. But I tend to be a fairly open person and am happy to take in information and change my mind about things. It's just now I feel like an evangelical! I want to go from door to door and spread the word at my son's school.

I did incidentally just land a position at my son's school. I will be working on curriculum development and lesson planning. I became the squeaky wheel this year and they have decided to put me to work!

DW and I have sought to educate our friends with younger kids who exhibit the traits of giftedness, because, "Oh boy, you have no idea what you're in for!"

As for the school, they think they know everything, so there's no point in talking to them.

Precisely. I was accommodated, similarly, via a combination of delinquency and absenteeism. Mostly.

I wasn't a non-believer in the past, just naive. I had no idea about the variety of giftedness, but I have learnt so much in the past year. Now, I am passionate about advocating for my son. Once upon a time, I didn't think it was appropriate to put my son in kindy a year early (scared of the "social implications"), but now I am demanding this and that for my boy. I also encourage other parents to look closer at their children; I have even led a couple of parents towards the idea that their child could be gifted.

My son goes to an apparent school for gifted kids, although they are quite reluctant to do anything to help gifted kids before the age of eight. I will be organising a gifted education coordinator (from a private high school) to go in and talk to the teachers. She starts off by talking to them like they're kids, and after 15 minutes of boredom she explains that that is what it is like for gifted children in class.