Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Meeting Debrief

Thanks to all the great advice I get from this board, I went to the meeting feeling prepared. The meeting was w the principal to talk about accelerating DS8 in math. Well, the principal informed me that the teacher said my son did not know his math facts (addition), couldn't skip count and was unable to show how he got the answers. And the principal said he is working on the hardest second grade math book, so it must be challenging for him. So I explained to her that he does know his math facts and does the work in his head. I asked her if that was common for gifted kids and she acknowledged yes.
So I asked that they give him the end of the year test to show that he had learned the material already. Oh no, she says. "They keep those locked up, I can't get one." So I asked if there was another standardized test they could give him now so he can skip to more challenging work. The answer, "No ... I can't think of any." I did not tell her that he's taking the SCAT.
Anyway, according to the school my son has a MOTIVATION issue but they will work with him on that and will reward him by letting him do some third grade level work in the future.

Do you think they understand that leaving him unchallenged creates motivation problems? The answer about third grade work sometime in the future sounds pretty nebulous. Be patiently impatient about getting him appropriate work!

That is so frustrating!!! I deal with this all the time. "Your son has some behavior difficulties"..."Is he challenged?"..."Well, we can't trust him to do work on his own if he is not behaving."..."But what if lack of challenge is hurting his behavior?"

It's this horrible circular argument that I am ready to tear my hair out for.

Banging my head on the keyboard for you. Aaack.

Do you suppose that school admins take a class in how to be non-commital?

Thanks guys. I knew you would understand. It really is absurd the games they play. Maybe they're planning to stall me until he gets through 6th grade!

Oh and I forgot to mention the best/worst part. Another reward that was offered was for my son to tutor other kids. Do you think they were trying to push my buttons or are they just plain ignorant?

Tutor other kids?

They will pay your son to do this?

Are you now his Agent and not his Parent?

LOL

BTDT: There was a new student who just couldn't keep up and DS was assigned to "read" the instructions to her for independent assignments in 1st grade! This new student didn't like it and would kick poor DS under the table (they were clustered in little 2 desk pairs). When DS, who never tells me much about school, finally mentioned it to me and I discussed it with the teacher...Shudder! The teacher had the nerve to pull DS aside after I spoke to her and discuss how it is nice to be helpful and do things for others. Anyway, she did stop assigning DS to be this student's tutor...which is the what I wanted but...