Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Advocating for kids/parents non English speakers

I now work with families who for the most part, are composed of parents who speak little or no English and children who are bilingual. Every once in awhile I have a client who has that "spark", and because I parent a HG child I recognize the need to advocate on behalf of that child. It is doubly tough though, due to the fact that the parents have no notion of "giftedness" nor do they have the skills, language, or knowledge to ask for services from the schools. I do my best to find resources for these parents AND to educate them about their kids. Once the parents realize what is going on, they jump on board and start to self-educate (usually).

So, I now have a little client whose previous teacher had her teaching her classmates because she was so advanced. Current teacher responds to the client's desire for harder work with the statement that she will learn more next year. Mom can't read the homework so she has no idea what is going on. Client says she is getting "kindergarten work". Mom says she would love to find an online program so her daughter can work at home. So here are my latest wishes:

-An online learning tool that can flip between English and Spanish (other languages too maybe?) so the daughter can share/get help from mom. I will go check out Khan in a minute to see if it has this capability.

-A device that can scan a page in English and translate it into another language so my clients' parents can help the kids with their homework?

If anyone has any more advice on this situation, I would love it. My little clients are great, and I will not let them fall between the cracks.

I use the google translate app on my phone to translate my kids' homework all the time. You can take a picture, highlight what you want to translate and then see the result. It sometimes comes up with some funny translations but it gives me an idea and it is better than my personal translation skills.

Can you match the family up with a native- or nearly so speaking family? My niece went to a bilingual school where this was done for all the families, as every family spoke at least one of the two languages.

Is it possible to attend school 1/2 day and homeschool 1/2 day in your school district? (it is in ours - it isn't exactly advertised, so most people don't realize it's an option, but it can happen). My first thought when you asked about an online program that can switch between Spanish and English is - why not just let her enroll in an online Spanish course? I realize the one trade-off is lack of exposure to English, but if the child also attended public school for 1/2 day during PE/Music/etc and studied 1-3 core classes at home at her own pace, in Spanish - the child has intellectual challenge, the mom can be involved in the study, and the student also has the chance to be with other kids as well as practice immersive English for part of each day.

Even if she chooses full home-schooling, I'd still consider enrolling her in some of her courses in Spanish so the mom doesn't have to focus on translating but instead can just enjoy being able to help with her daughter's studies.

The other thing I'm wondering - is their a gifted program available in the public school for her grade? If so, you should be able to request testing that is intended not to be biased against non-native English speakers (if you are concerned she wouldn't test to her full ability on a test administered in English based on growing up in a bilingual household).

Best wishes,

polarbear

Will definitely pass this along to my parents! Some of them have a verbal translator app which usually works, but the homework situation needed something else. Thanks!!

I wish there was half time homeschooling!! I would jump at the chance for my kids!! Interesting thought about homeschooling. I know of many many resources here to support homeschooling families. What I don't know is if any of the families speak Spanish (although some of the groups are very diverse they generally are not composed of families which speak Spanish).

I will mention this. The mom can keep an eye on how she is doing plus she will strengthen her skills in Spanish (that's an issue in itself - many of my clients speak another language but do not learn how to read or write in that language).

No gifted services until 3rd grade. Even after being identified kids get about an hour per week with the gifted teacher unless the school adds a bit more because they feel strongly about this.