Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Oh help! Radical acceleration issues!

ebeth, I truly believe my DS8 would do just fine in 7th grade science (with accommodations) if he were so lucky to have had it offered to him. Not sure if your DS is in public or private, but our district's detailed curricula are posted online. Not only that, but our district's 7th grade science refers the kids to the kid sites, while DS has spent hours (or months, as the case may be) on the regular sites. Writing, and probably reading, would be a big issue for him, however (and he'd have to catch up on the math, depending on the course, which does not appear to be an issue for your DS).

So, thought I'd mention that we are training him on Dragon Naturally Speaking 10. He's only had one session, and as long as he doesn't mumble, it hears him almost perfectly. I expect your DS8 would be able to use the software very easily. I just got it. The new version is still on sale for $99 (Dragon Preferred 10). It is great. They also have portable transcribers, so he could dictate his observations into his lab book. Of course, being 8, he'd probably be too self-conscious to do it, but you might want to look into it. It is the great equalizer, as far as I'm concerned. The only problem I've experienced so far is that my DS doesn't want to type or write, just dictate, now that he sees how easy and how much fun it is (especially in the early round where it misunderstood him.)

Maybe this helps?

I just would make sure to ask what your 7th grade science entails. My DS is in 7th grade science which is life science. He said they got their texts yesterday and everyone flipped to the section on the human reproductive system. There was much blushing and giggling since they are all 12 adn 13. I am quite sure DS would have been able to handle that material at 8, but I am not totally sure it would have been fun for him to be with a bunch of 13 year olds while he was learning. KWIM?

As science is his greatest area of academic interest and intensity, I am certain that my son would have loved the strong 7th grade science class at his previous school at age 8. The teacher there is a true science guy and was known to be demanding, but if he didn�t penalize too harshly for spelling errors on tests, I think ds would have done really well! He really would have loved it and if given the chance, we would have subject accelerated him to that level in a heartbeat! I think you should give it a try.

My only concern is if your ds doesn�t receive math acceleration commensurate to the science instruction, will he be eligible for continued science acceleration into high school level classes? According to some books and articles that I have recently read, math acceleration is a required accompaniment or possibly a prerequisite for rigorous high school science courses.

Could you request a math evaluation by a middle school or high school teacher to determine his eligibility for math acceleration too?

I spoke w/ a mom in my district whose son is the only whose been accelerated, perhaps ever lol. She said something to the effect that to have DS tested in 5th grade on the end of year math test for 6th grade. If he passed it, he could go into 7/8th grade honors math. This would then make him eligible to accelerated in science. So it sounded like math acceleration was required for science acceleration.

My son�s middle/high school describes AP Chemistry as a rigorous math based course which requires math department approval.

My daughter�s school requires concurrent or prior AP calculus in order to be eligible for AP physics.

Hummm... So if he skips to 7th grade science now, how much of a math skip would he need in order for the math to keep up with the science? Would he have to skip all the way up to 7th grade math, or would a partial skip (merely up to 5th or 6th, ROFL!) keep him close enough?

I don't know what the math sequence is for our school? Is Alegbra 2 in 9th grade then for your school Dottie?

I'm so confused... He was in second grade six months ago, and now I'm worried about Algebra 2? Ye gods!

Oh, ebeth! I feel this way every time someone starts talking about college for 10yos. Can we get 'em through 2nd grade first? I'm so not ready for that!

You have my deepest sympathy!

You know, I had a thought, so I'll throw it out there. Feel free to reject it out of hand...

Does the acceleration have to be SO radical? Could he go to 6th grade science, for example? It's rare around this forum to ask for LESS of a skip, but maybe in your son's case, that's a better choice. It might solve some of these problems. Is there a reason why 7th is a better choice than 6th (beyond just that it's harder, of course...)?

I posed that very question to the acceleration committee, Kriston. They all agreed that 6th grade science was an option, if we wanted it. It think that they felt that 6th grade science would not fit his ability though. I went into the meeting thinking that they were going to offer 5th grade science, and so I studied up on the course curriculum for 4th, 5th, and 6th. All of it was material that was very basic for him. I even went all the way up to 9th grade science before I could find any material that he had not already mastered. He came home from the WJ III testing talking about moles and what they measure in chemistry, so he had to make it up that high on the testing. He nearly passed a college level physics course that was a conceptual based physics class (very little math) while in 2nd grade, and he routinely picks up my college level chemistry book and reads it for fun. He can chat happily about covalent bonding and the electron orbital shell model. He can read any adult science material that we have laying around... i.e. Scientific American magazine or Discovery magazine.

I think the acceleration committee thought that 7th grade would be as far up as the could comfortably place him due to writing and social issues. It was about half way up to where they thought his science ability was.

So I am toying with putting him in 6th, to avoid the issues surrounding Jr. High. But if you are going to jump them up 2 grades, you might as well go up 3 if it is a better fit with the material. Am I crazy to think that?

BTW, we asked DS what he wanted to do with the acceleration. He was all for it. His eyes got kind of big when we said that the school had agreed to let him go up to 7th. (we had asked him about going up to 5th before the meeting.) But even with my explanations about 7th grade might have more homework and a lot more writing (which he is not too fond of), he was very excited. We asked if he wanted to go up to visit the classroom and the teacher to check it out. He said that there was no need... he was just ready to go!

No, I definitely don't think you're crazy to think that! Not one bit!

I only asked because if the 7th grade class won't accomodate his writing issues--which he's BOUND to have!--I fear they're setting him up to fail.

I guess I was thinking that if the choice is between two academic situations that are both covering material he's mastered, then he might as well be in the one that will accomodate his other needs.

But that's just an idle thought, and even then, only if they won't accomdate his writing issues. Trust your gut.

If they WILL accomodate his writing issues, then personally, I'd say full steam ahead, and on to 7th grade!

Okay, so given that DS wants to skip up to 7th grade science, what do you think is the biggest lag or gap that can occur between Science and Math accelerations. If DS goes to 7th grade Science with 4th grade Math, then by 9th grade Science he will be in 6th grade math. That doesn't seem like it is going to work. A two year gap between Science and Math seems like the bare minimum? And if his WJ III math scores were high enough for a DYS application, then it seems like I need to talk to the school again.

I thought that maybe I should ask the 7th grade teacher to see if she would meet with DS... maybe sort of an interview process. I would trust the teacher to be able to judge fairly quickly if DS could handle the various aspects of the classroom. I also thought that I could ask her for samples of a typical homework or project then.

And yes, Kriston, I did worry that they were setting him up to fail. I keep seeing both sides of the coin... as it spins, and spins, and spins....