Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments New to forum and giftedness-Need help please!

My DS6 attends a religious private school and has done so for the past 3 years. He is in KG and actually repeated PK4 due to "emotional immaturity". In April of last school year, my husband and I had private gifted testing done, and our son was identified as gifted. We shared the information with the PK4 teacher, KG teacher, and guidance counselor (who happens to be a LMHC). It was agreed that the PK4 teacher would provide project based learning activities for the remainder of the school year. Let's just say that the projects were not challenging in the least, and my husband and I were appalled when they were brought home. So, now he's in KG with a much better teacher, however, she's not trained to teach gifted students and is already focused on modifying his behavior. He talks a lot and had trouble paying attention. Well, the sight words that were sent home for him last week were "to," "the," and "and." My ds is reading chapter books. He's falling through the cracks, going to school and learning nothing! I keep hearing how the school performs in the top 5% of the nation, but I can't help but feel that my child's needs are not being met. He's only been in school for 2 weeks so far this school year, but so far I'm not impressed. There are 27 students in the class, and while there is an assistant in the room at all times, I still don't see how she is able to teach to multiple ability levels. Our local public school is not an option. There is a magnet school in the area, but we probably couldn't get in until next year. They have a gifted program, and they believe in project based hands on learning. I just don't know how challenging it is because I don't have any experience there. We have a second home, and there is a private school in the area that looks great, so that might be an option for next year as well. I'm seriosly considering homeschooling him for the remainder of this year. I've never considered that an option before. Also, is it possible to test him to see what grade he should be in? The KG curriculum is certainly not his level. I'm kicking myself for having him repeat a year of PK4, as at the time we didn't know what was going on. I'm at a loss, and if you have any guidance I'd greatly appreciate it. I apologize for being so lengthy. I'm just so worried and so frustrated. Thanks so much.

This is the private school I mentioned earlier. What do you think? I hope it's ok to post specifics like this. Thanks again!

http://discovery-academy.org/

Hi JenSMP - Welcome to the board! I hope you find it helpful. I'm not in your neck of the woods, so I've never heard of the school you mention. However, if you're school shopping for a gifted child, here are some ideas. It's great that you have options. FYI: the "best" schools are not necessarily the best for your child. Some of the schools in my area that boast the highest test scores, etc., feel their curriculum is already challenging enough for all their students, and make no efforts to differentiate, even when needed. Gifted schools vary in flexibility as well. General gifted magnet schools are great for most gifted kids, but there are different levels of giftedness and some kids will still need a faster pace. I believe the key to any school you find will be flexibility; make sure you ask prospective schools if they provide acceleration or differentiation if a student needs more than the standard curriculum, and ask if there might be any parents of gifted kids that you can talk to.

Just curious, why do you say the local public school is not an option? Some of the most flexible schools are local publics, who may not even have a gifted program in place. E.g., my local public school does not have any gifted programming until 3rd grade, but recognizes that my 5yo needs differentiation and is willing to provide it. They gave achievement testing to my DS last spring so they knew what level he was, and handpicked a teacher for him. (That said, he starts next week, so I don't really know how it will go, but we're optimistic considering all they've done for us so far.)

Homeschooling is also a great option for many gifted kids. Your child can learn at his own pace and you can handpick the curriculum. There are many homeschool groups that provide outings and classes. Check to see if there are any gifted homeschooling groups in your area.

The homeschooling parents here can probably provide you with a couple of links to find out what level your child is. Also, you might want to discuss this with prospective schools. You might be able to get him into 1st grade if that is where he belongs. It certainly sounds like some of the "behavior" issues might be caused by lack of challenge and inappropriate placement.

Those are just a few thoughts off the top of my head. Good luck!

Here are a couple of general links to get you started, since you said you were new to giftedness as well:

Hoagies: Gifted 101 (Hoagies is a wonderful comprehensive site with loads of info. Start here, and then peruse the Parents tab and more.)

Ruf Estimates of Levels of Giftedness

JenSMP,

Why is your local public school not an option? I feel it's hard to really tell about a school unless you've been in it a while. And then, it can be just a bad teacher that year. The goal is to find out what the school's policy is and if most of the teachers reflect that policy. Our district has a no acceleration policy and for the most part, it is adhered to by the teacher. At most there is one grade level up by grouping in the classroom for reading. All the other instruction was everyone on the same page doing the same thing.

After having a disasterous K year and still seeing the ramifications of it years later, my VERY biased opinion is if this is a toxic environment for DC and you can homeschool the rest of the year, go for it. And in the meantime, get in to magnet school, see if you can find some parents to ask very tactful questions to. See if you can observe the 1st grade class. Find out what the policy is on subject acceleration etc.

There are several ways to test to see what level he is at. I'm not sure which is better than the others. There are several online assessments. One is at mindsprinting.com which does math and reading. There is one for a fee, which I recently purchased for $15 through homeschoolbuyers co-op. The reading assessment is supposed to be extensive and give you scores for 8 aspects of reading (decoding, comprehension, spelling, etc). You can purchase achievement tests from online services. I used Brewer's testing service to purchase the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. You could give this out of level, ie give him the 1st grade or 2nd grade test and see how he scores. That covers grammar, reading, science, math, social studies etc. You administer the test and send it in for scoring. You can have a testing service and/or psychologist administer an achievement test such as the WIAT or WJIII. Those only have a few questions per grade level so they aren't useful for placement purposes but would give you an overall feel for where DC is. You could then follow up w/ out of level grade level testing.

I'd be happy to answer any HSing questions you may have. This is my 2nd year homeschooling my 4th grader and my 1st year HSing my 1st grader. I also have a 2.5yr old.

Dazey

Wow! Thank you so much. What a wealth of information you all are. I am very grateful. I will start with the suggestions you have offered. I've always been reluctant to home school for various reasons, but I'm certainly open to anything that will help my child. Dazey, what is your experience so far? Do you feel your children are thriving, and are you planning to continue homeschooling? My son loves the idea of school and spending the day with his friends, but once he begins each year, it doesn't take long before we're hearing, "I don't want to go to school." I loved school when I was his age!

Maybe I should visit the local public school again and ask more questions before making a final decision about that, but it's in a rough area. I worry about how he'll fit in there and if he'll be challenged enough. It's not rated as a very good school, and I've spoken with other parents and teachers (from other schools) who have had experience there, and I haven't heard anything positive.

I love the school where my son goes now, but I'm not sure it's serving him well. I'm just now sure it's the best place for him, although other children do quite well there.

I think I will do the at-home testing to determine grade level, gather as much info as possible, and then ask for a conference at school. I feel like I need to go in there armed with as much information as possible. I did apply to the magnet school, but I doubt we'll be able to get in until next school year at best. Again, it sounds great on paper and in theory, but I'd like to know for sure if they live up the expectation. To their credit, I've only heard good things about that school.

Because my son's school is private, they can advance him if they want. He is six and repeated kg at their recommendation to begin with. Obviously, it didn't help, but we all thought it was a good decision at the time. We had not had him tested at that point, so we weren't aware of the gifted dx. I'm just not sure if it's the right environment regarless of whether they move him because it's such a traditional learning environment. Definitely not my son's style at all.

St. Paulie Girl, thanks again for the warm welcome and for all the info. Dazey, I'm so grateful for your help as well. I will certainly consider all of your advice and begin by doing my own testing!

Like SPG, my DS6 goes to a public school that has nothing in place for GT kids. And like SPG, my son has been catered to. He was radically accelerated to 4th, with 7th grade math on-line. So don't count out the PS just yet.

Thanks Shari! That's good to know, and I will certainly look into it more. Is your DS6 in 4th grade all day? Or is he receiving 4th grade work in the first grade class? Again, I'm new to all of this, so please forgive my ignorance! : )

Hi JenSMP,
I just wanted to say welcome. You have definitely come to the right place for parents' input. I find this place extremely helpful. I have a DS7 who is doing an online ps. He was accelerated 1 full year into the Gifted program but is being bumped up again one year soon. They have been awesome so far as far as finding the right fit for him. I see you are in FL and I believe it is an option there. It is called Connections Academy. They seem to get the needs of gifted kids so far. I really like it because I don't have to plan any curriculum and he is in a public school system so if ever we need to put him back in school all the records are right there in black and white yet he is doing his work at home or he can do his work on the road. You might like the flexibility of that since you have 2 homes like us. Good luck!

Thanks! I will check it out! Right now, I'm beginning to learn toward homeschooling, but there's a lot to work out logistically with that option. A friend of mine did a similar program to what you are describing, and her son loved it.