Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion 2nd quarter status and reality check

Ds9 did well last quarter in 5th grade. He is doing the activities he likes and a lot of them. Anything that has had selection he has wanted to do he has been selected for.

Ds14 finished first quarter with straight As and only used his 504 plan for extended time for one essay in English. He was asked to take the PSAT as a ninth grader (they paid for it). Can't wait to see those scores in December. He was on a high school sport team and did well. That season is over. He acts like he is happy. After AP exam in May he wants to sign up for an online Latin class to take over the summer just for fun...he still wants to continue in Spanish all through high school.

Sorry to hear that. We have that sort of problem with DS. It can be very frustrating and lonely, particularly when it feels like it's only your child. Have you been able to have a meeting with the teacher, administrators? Good Luck, I hope other threads on this board are helping you.

I think honeymoon is over for DD at her nature-based play school. She still enjoys it and seems to be happy overall but she has been pushing for math and writing at home. She even made up imaginary friends from other planets who love math. She's been asking to be homeschooled almost daily and wants to come home early.

DS4 is very happy at his new GT school - he loves the class and his new friends. This was after an unhappy few months at his daycare (he got bored and really could not related to his classmates until he moved to pre-k at 3.6 years, and then all his friends were in K, and left at the end of the summer, sending him into a short period of very unhappy few weeks despite moving to K to be with the older kids until his new school started). He loves it so much - especially that no one is telling him he should not be reading or whatever because of his age. We have had to carry him out a few times because he did not want to leave the school at the end of the day. Legos are his passion there, and he even talked the after care teachers to take him to the lego league before we had signed him up. Best part - instead of a wide awake kid who is trying to cram all kinds of stuff and books before bedtime at 10PM from lack of stimulation all day, he now goes down at a normal time, and content to go to bed after a few stories.

now, we just need his younger sister to go to bed at a normal time (she is in daycare, and I am feeling like they let her nap too long, but at the same time, all the other kids are sound asleep during the whole nap time so we can not justify them waking her up if they are all asleep - at home, she does not always nap that long but if we do too much physical activity and not enough nap, she crashes too early and then is up at 5AM, so we have not found that balance).

NotherBen, as your son seems to be a strategist at heart, investing time in seeking alternate methods to achieve things, the books of Elizabeth Wissner Gross come to mind. Two for parents, one for kids but you may want to read it first
What High Schools Don't Tell You and Other Parents Don't Want You to Know, What Colleges Don't Tell You, and Other Parents Don't Want You to Know, and Write Your College Essay in Less Than a Day. These books help parents and kids see that there are many activities helpful to kids when looking forward to college, and many approaches to essay about them.

In addition to being an author, Elizabeth Wissner Gross is an educational strategist coaching for college admissions.

Thanks, indigo! DS' English teacher suggested that for reflective-type writing, he remove himself somehow, such as writing from a character's perspective (which was in fact last night's assignment, and he seemed to do it a bit more comfortably).

His older brother whipped out good college essays in various styles in no time. But they are so different, I don't think he'd be able to coach the younger one. The books should be helpful, as will all the sophomore year writing assignments...if he can do them.

Things are going well here for both dd9 and ds7.

We just had conferences for dd, she is learning well, leading the younger students, and having fun at school. We are grateful each day for the TAG school where she is just one of the kids.

DS just brought home a progress report and his MAP scores. He is two grade levels ahead in reading and math. He said that he didn't try very hard on the MAP testing. Stinker! We have him at a project based charter school near our home.

It is shaping up to be a great year. I am thankful for two separate schools for my two very different children. Everyone is getting what they need.

So far, not too bad, teachers love DS8 and he is in a group that he clicks with. The home room teacher had them do numerical self-assessments of their strengths and weaknesses; his was very detailed, realistic, and well though out and the teacher agreed completely (check-> one key life skill looking good.)

However, he has had a marked decline in doing his own math at home. Which could be anything, from school working well, tired of waiting for algebra to start (should be next semester,) or who knows, in any case it is a bit disconcerting compared to his typical math moonlighting for the last few years.

A recent emotional meltdown with a floating teacher when she said she couldn't read his writing at all when he turned in an assignment has upped the stakes and may be moving us towards a 504 or at least some direct assistance.

Last night we had DD5's kindergarten parent/teacher interview. She is continuing to exceed all of their expectations - it's a two year program in Ontario and she is in the second year.

DH and I feel very positive about the meeting we had last night. Her teachers recognize that she is well ahead of the curriculum and are offering her a lot of enrichment/level appropriate work.

This may seem like a small victory but her teacher told us that we should be discussing giftedness and started talking about the IEP's and In School review committees...which is something I wanted to broach with them tonight anyway. It was such a relief to see that her teachers get it; even though, as I've read on this forum, it may be a totally different story next year when she gets a new teacher.

I feel like at least I've got a foot hold to allow me to advocate and it's nice to finally see an educator acknowledge her abilities. Up until now, we've only had weird looks out in public and doting grandmother, "don't push her!" comments. Right now she's at a second grade reading level and working on multiple digit addition. She is chomping at the bit to get to multiplication.

I have to thank all of the posters on this board for their input whenever I've asked a question and for the useful commentary and dialogue that occurs in this forum. It has helped us tremendously. Hopefully our year continues in this positive vein.

Have you seen SchoolYourself.org?