Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy I didn't sign the NORA

Thank you so much indigo! I'm glad I'm not some sort of crazy tiger mom that is demanding too much for my special kid (sometimes that's the way the school makes me feel).
I had not looked into dysgraphia before, while DD does "struggle" a bit she is still meeting all grade level expectations so I think it might simply be developmental (she is June bday so she is young for her grade). It is something to keep in mind though if it becomes more of an obstacle.
Thank you for the other post as well - I'm printing and highlighting all day!
Do you know what the next step would be in regards to not signing off on the GIEP - do I go back and forth with the school now for some time or straight to mediation? Is there a timeline? Is her current placement in jeopardy?

Hopefully others will chime in with recent experiences.

In the meanwhile, have you looked at your State laws and school policies? They may outline a process or protocol. The Wrightslaw website, and the old post with a roundup of crowd-sourced advocacy info may also provide some help or guidance.

It's quite possible to be dysgraphic and dyslexic and still not "fall behind." I have first hand experience. That doesn't mean you shouldn't get some sort of remediation, it just means that it may be harder to get that from the school.

I'll admit that being a newbie parent I didn't do all my homework for her Kindergarten or first-grade GIEPs, but I learned from my mistake and have assembled my obligatory advocacy binder. I combed through 3 years worth of emails with the school, state law, district websites, printed, highlighted, post-it-noted and I am still scrambling to keep on top of it. But it is amazing how much calmer I feel having all those documents at my fingertips instead of floating around in my brain somewhere. From what I have read so far, there seem to be very definite timelines associated with a due-process-hearing, but nothing I found about the NORA or if we have to proceed right away to mediation. I'm just occupying my time with printing and highlighting until I hear from the school.

mckinley - I didn't mean to sound dismissive - but DD entered kindergarten as a strong reader and speaker and was slow to acquire her writing skills because she was never the type to color or write before school started, so I am inclined to think it is mostly her exposure. If anyone has any writing resources or activities - maybe this summer I can get her to start journaling or something to help her out.

Not very positive but. Don't expect the school to meet her needs. Sort out maths extension for home, take her places and make sure she has lots of books. Take as many days off as you can and tell her to treat school as review and a social experience or experiment depending on how she feels about school.

I haven’t been on here for ages but your posts remind me where things were with my daughter a few years ago. She was always great at maths and I tried hard to get her differentiated work but by year 3 was told that she wasn’t as fast as some of the others and didn’t need differentiation. She still got everything right in class tests but when faced with something new did ok, but wasn’t amazing.

We ended up moving schools (from one private school in Australia to another) for all the children and everything changed. She sat a test to be considered for enrichment (top 10%) and did so well she was placed in a pull out class with 2 other children (out of 100). She lacked confidence initially and felt behind compared with the other 2 children but now, in year 6, has found her stride again and her problem solving is fantastic. She sat 6 external maths competitions last year and got at least distinctions in them all and does different class work and different homework.

The difference I think, is in the school’s definition of which students needed extra work. The first school thought it was the students who were fastest at the basics. Her current school appreciated that she had an inherently good maths brain. Of course, because maths skills build over time, she’s fast now as well.

Having said all that, things only worked for us when we moved schools and got a teacher who actually understood what enrichment should be.

I have a very mathy 2nd grader as well. He is in a public school that is not particularly strong on academics, but does an excellent job on character and leadership development. We’ve been patient with the school, choosing to focus more on social progress than progression in math. That said, we are beginning to push more for acceleration in math. He could do all the standard 2nd grade math when he was 3 or 4. We’ve had success letting him turn in 3rd or 4th grade beast academy work for homework, and when they do Istation on the computer, he can choose any topic up through 7th grade. These accommodations are helpful, but it is still frustrating that he hasn’t been taught a new math concept in nearly 3 years of school math (he absolutely lights up when learning new material). I don’t think typical schools will be able truly catch the young mathy kids where they are, so I am pretty resigned to just supplementing the curiosity at home. We’ve toured a top-rated public gifted program in our area that teaches 1 year ahead on the standards, and that still didn’t seem sufficiently challenging. I don’t really have any answers for you, but it is difficult. Best of luck

Sorry it took me so long to respond - I took the weekend "off" to try and clear my head a bit. Every time I start to second guess my decision to push the school for more accommodations, DD is right there to prove to me why it is necessary. This weekend I was ordering groceries and gave her a math problem: If 6 boxes of tea cost $30, how much is one box of tea. She quickly came back with the correct answer and then proceeded to spend the next hour teaching herself division, multiplication, and algebra. But, here we are in school doing subtraction smh! I wish I had more time to work with her at home, but school takes up so much of her day--and then there's homework, dinner, and bedtime. Most of her enrichment happens over the summer when I give her some above grade level workbooks to do a few pages in each day. She already reads extensively for pleasure, so this year we're focusing on math.
coffee- your post gives me hope! at least I know I'm not crazy for asking for more math! Out of curiosity, do you know what enrichment test she took? Since DD is preparing for an onslaught of tests to remedy her PLEP section, I have been looking into the various options.
I'll be sure to keep you all updated as I hear from the school about our next steps. I've been talking with another GT mama and am considering organizing a parent group for our second-grade kiddos. We can all advocate better together and these are her GT peers, so they will likely be with her straight through AP Chem in high school lol.
Thanks again everyone!

If I recall correctly, research has revealed that during the school year, gifted kids may experience slower academic growth than average kids... during the summer gifted kids learn more rapidly. These articles may be of interest:

High-Achieving and Average Students’ Reading Growth: Contrasting School and Summer Trajectories
Karen Rambo-Hernandez & D. Betsy McCoach
The Journal of Educational Research
Aug 8, 2014

Trends in reading growth between gifted and nongifted students: An individual growth model analysis
Tutwiler, M. S., McCoach, D. B., Hamilton, R., & Siegle, D.
(April, 2017)
Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Antonio, TX.

Keep in mind puffin's sage advice... the school may not fully meet your child's needs... then parents must redouble efforts to provide opportunities for appropriate academic/intellectual challenge and growth. It is not easy, but you are among good company, you are not alone.

Great when this works... bear in mind that there are levels of gifted, differing interests among gifted children, and differing parental viewpoints (including various degrees of hothousing, pushy, competitive, laissez-faire, free-range parenting styles).

Stay flexible & resilient. Maintain a sense of humor. These are great things to role model for your child.

One last thought - remind yourself that she is in grade 2. If homework is just busy work that gets in the way of her learning at home - jettison the homework. Depending on what it is, you can tell the teacher it's been checked orally with you, or just do the last math problem, or tell them what you've replaced it with - whatever is appropriate. Figure out what is the worse that the teacher can do (and we usually fear huge repercussions that never arise), and try to get comfortable living with it. There will come an age when grades matter, compliance is non-optional and useless busywork (alas!) may have to be completed at home regardless of its lack of value. But grade 2 shouldn't be it.