We did do the acceleration to another classroom one year. Unfortunately, either her teacher didn't "get it" or didn't do her research, because the classroom she was sent to had a very traditional approach--read these chapters, write down the answers to these questions, write a summary for each chapter, come to group and take turns telling the teacher what the answer to question _________ is. Even though some questions were open ended, the group wasn't organized in a way that promoted discussion between the students. It was disappointing and a LOT of work for my DD who (unlike the students in her group) had all that reading and writing to do at home instead of having classtime for it, and no accomodation for the fine motor/writing speed differences between 7 year olds and 9-10 year olds. Very disappointing experience all around.
Sometimes I think I should just relax and let it all go. DD reads and reads and reads, so her reading vocabulary continues to build and her passion for books shows no signs of receding. I just can't help feeling that she should be recieving actual instruction. I know (because we've talked about it), that she would like the opportunity to really "dig in" with some similarly abled/motivated peers and some ongoing teacher modeling of new skills. The Junior Great Books seems potentially promising. I'll have to spend some more time exploring that possibility....
Again, thanks to all who have chimed in with their suggestions and experiences--I appreciate it
Taminy
