Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy What do I ask for to support my kids?

Hello,
I live in a rural, somewhat isolated area. My 9 year old twins were both diagnosed as gifted in a private psych-ed assessment. We finally have the documentation we need to push for support from the school. For some reason there are an exceptionally low number of identified gifted students in our board (the Superintendent of Special Education told me 12 out of 10,000 students). This means that there are also very few resources and programs available. My boys will not have access to a school for gifted students or even very much attention from a resource teacher. I think the school staff will do what they can to be supportive, but they don't seem to know what to offer. Our meeting is coming up and they have kind of put it on me to ask for what I want. I am not sure what I need to push for. Any advice?
A little bit of background, my boys are highly creative and very sensitive, have some social struggles and are under achieving at school.

Also, my daughter is in grade 2 and is also very bright. We can't under-go any testing until she is 9 but she too is advanced in several areas. She doesn't have the all same struggles as her brothers so it is easy to overlook her needs, but I want to advocate for her earlier if I can. I think she is around the age her brothers were when they figured out that they could avoid doing their best at the things they didn't like at school. If anyone has any advise about things to ask for from the school or to provide from home, I would greatly appreciate it!

Welcome ERM!

In case it may be of help, here is a discussion thread of collected parent-sourced tips, experience, and advice from back when the forum was quite busy (before the rise of social media).
https://giftedissues.davidsongifted...y_Advocacy_as_a_Non_Newt.html#Post183916

Here’s my suggestion:

* Read up on what your state requires for gifted identification and gifted services. In my state, the schools are required to identify gifted children but have no obligation to provide services.

* If the school has any gifted or acceleration, see what it takes to qualify and consider if your children match those qualifications. Sometimes you have to request testing or retesting.

* Look to support giftedness outside of school. What kind of creative are they? Music, art, building things, etc? What resources are out there?

* I also live in a rural area, things like scouts, 4H, FFA are available and encourage kids to pursue interests.

* look at your local community for opportunities: ours has a good library with free programs, festivals, farmers market, county and state parks. You can find enrichment all over the place if you are looking: birds of prey program at the park, D&D club at the library, science demos and author visits at the library. Beekeeping & honey harvesting demos at festivals.

* Family hobbies like fishing, hiking, camping, bird watching, board games, gardening, building things, etc can expand learning opportunities.

* Keep them in books! Read a lot!

Sorry for the late reply. millersb02 has elaborated on many things I would've said. However, to add on -

The school may agree with the need to identify the gifted and give support, but if their resources are so few, they may not have the capability to.

Enrichment is all well and good, but if school itself is mostly too simple, that's a lot of wasted time that could've been used to learn new things.

Perhaps you could look at the reasons the boys are underachieving at school? Simple boredom? Lack of organization?

If there isn't much the school can do, I would personally advocate for grade skipping. Saves time down the road, and gives them more to do.

[quote=indigo]Welcome ERM!

In case it may be of help, here is a discussion thread of collected parent-sourced tips, experience, and advice from back when the forum was quite busy (before the rise of social media).
https://giftedissues.davidsongifted.org/BB/ubbthreads.php/topics/183916/Analogy_Advocacy_Geometry Dash Lite_as_a_Non_Newt.html#Post183916/quote]
If the school isn’t able to provide differentiated programming, sometimes cluster grouping (placing your sons with others of similar ability in certain subjects) can be a helpful compromise.

In addition, you can opt for online courses or teaching plans, such as those offered by www.twinkl.com, teacherspayteachers.com, education, and others.
It'll be great to have additional educational materials available at home that can be readily accessible.

You're doing great advocating for your kids https://giftedissues.davidsongifted...y_Advocacy_as_a_Non_Newt.html#Post183916 Geometry Dash ! Consider asking the school for curriculum compacting, project-based learning, flexible grouping, and access to enrichment tools like Khan Academy. Even without formal testing for your daughter, documented strengths can support enrichment requests. Keep working closely with teachers—your voice matters!

You're doing a fantastic job advocating for your kids. Since your school board lacks gifted programming, here are key things to request at your meeting:

IEP or ILP for gifted learners with enrichment and differentiation

Subject acceleration or curriculum compacting in advanced areas

Independent projects or Genius Hour for creativity and autonomy

Access to enrichment tools (online programs, advanced reading, etc.)

Social-emotional support from a counselor for sensitivity and peer struggles

Regular teacher communication to adapt as needed

For your daughter, even without formal testing, ask for differentiated instruction based on her abilities.

At home, support with passion projects, SEL (social-emotional learning), and connect with gifted communities online. You're absolutely right to be proactive—gifted needs often go overlooked without strong advocacy. Keep going!