Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Push for grade skip now, or wait?

Familiarized? I may have memorized "A Nation Deceived"!

I will likely have order my own copy of the IAS, as our district does not seem to have it (but they are looking).

The district administered the WISC & WJ:
He's @ >99.9 across the board on WJ-III (160-175 on broad scores)
He's @ >99.9 on WISC-IV (>175 Verbal and >160 FSIQ)

He scored 90% on the end-of-year 4th grade math test, and 75% on the end-of-year 5th grade math test. Both were taken at start of 4th to justify subject acceleration into 5th.

Spelling & reading are comfortably off the charts, so I have no concerns about testing there.

For Science -- it's a rehash of last year (same text)

And for SS, while he might not know the material now, I question the necessity of 180 days to learn it... or to hold him back in general because he's yet to write the much-vaunted 12-page report on his home state.

I just got off the phone with one of the district psychologists and he said that while most likely a candidate for a grade skip, the problem will resurface in short order, in that he'll quickly exhaust the curriculum or be bored with the pace of instruction.

The folks at the district want very much to help, but have no real suggestions -- no real plan, so right now it is "leave things as they are." This is where I think that Davidson could be a big help (if accepted), but, again, that seems like an eternity of waiting.

Argghhh.

Yikes! It sounds like he is a candidate for radical acceleration. If you need to leave him in PS (homeschooling isn't an option), I'd advocate for a grade skip right now and then probably another a year or so down the line.

Yup... already got this push back!
"But we just started the year!" And I said, "Yeah, but we're 1/10th the way through it already!"

I've looked ahead @ the other subjects and just don't see planting him on his buttocks for 180 days to get to something that might be challenging at the end of the year.

Realistically, this is year three of an ongoing conversation. And this year is starting out exactly like the others. I began this current "round of talks" back in May when he did very well on a verbal test at school. [I'd say "blew the lid off it," but this isn't the brag thread ]

And then... and then... and then... it's next year. And nothing's been done. Again.

Sounds like you've answered your own question

My question to you is, why not get started? I don't think Davidson has a magic wand...

He'll be eight within a month. So technically, he's only one year ahead, as our state has a December cut-off for starting K.

Most kids in his class though, are turning 9 & 10... and a couple will be 11 this year.

He takes piano lessons outside of school (3 yrs), but they wouldn't let him join the school band until 5th.

I like the idea about foreign language. I'll bet there's something on-line for that.

I really don't care what classroom he's in as long as he gets to a.) be challenged, and b.) move forward at an acceptable pace.

It's not like I'm asking for the moon & the stars here... or at least I don't think so.

Have you considered the fact that with all the scores you menetioned on this and other posts, your son may not fit into any public school class? They may not move fast enough or be broad enought to meet his needs, in that the school psychologist is probably correct. My DD doesn't have scores that high and without gifted legislation in our state our school district finally said they just can't meet her needs in most subjects. (They hold fast to chronologic age and aren't going to move on that while this superintendant remains.)

I know you mentioned homeschooling wouldn't work for your family, are there any other options in your area?

Bottom line is I don't wanna get them all twisted-off.

They honestly don't know what to do... and some admit that openly. Of course, I gots me some idears, but -- in their eyes -- what could I possibly know? I'm just a parent.

My hope is that the Davidson Group will be able to bring a more objective set of recommendations into the school, or at least have suggestions -- based on their research -- as to what sort of acceleration works best for kids like mine.

Yes. I'm hearing this already from people at the district and a private doctor. The more I poke around, I see that we'd be facing a pretty hefty move to find a campus that is well-suited. But such a move would not be wise for us in this economy. I really don't want him learning all about "tent cities" through immersion.

Only a private school with far fewer resources.

One reason I'm wanting to stick it out here is that unlike many of the stories I read about, I believe that the school & district genuinely want to help. The teacher, well, he'll come around in time -- but everyone has been fantastic. And that's one heck of a good starting point.

I know there's a solution in here somewhere... I just gotta turn over some more rocks.

Well, you can do some research yourself to start things off...maybe you already have?

Miraca Gross' book Exceptionally Gifted Children comes to mind.

What about an "I know you want to help, so let's work together and figure this thing out" approach. You show them some studies you've found supporting acceleration and showing (as in the Gross study) that not accelerating is usually not a good option in these situations.

Emphasize that doing nothing is a choice for the status quo. It is not a "safe" option and it is currently not a viable option. Doing nothing because one grade skip may not be enough down the road doesn't really make sense. You need to find an appropriate placement now for your son's current needs. His future needs will be assessed and addressed in the future.

I don't think they can fault you for being a concerned, involved parent. Isn't what they're always saying they want? For parents to value education?

Later on, (if/when Davidson comes into play), they will be able to back up what you've been saying all along. Won't that increase your credibility?

On my shelf now after learning about it here.

I've got the diplomacy down pat. But I was too passive in earlier meetings & also didn't have these test scores banging around in my head -- so I just didn't understand the scope.

This year, I've added some urgency to the diplomacy. I think this is what got the jump to self-paced math.

I took in the Gross study, as well as "A Nation Deceived," but that was overkill -- "just too many words."

I started down this road last week. But I don't think I've sufficiently wrapped my mind around that argument to be convincing. And without them reading the studies that back it up, I just sound like a worry-wart parent.

THEN they said, "Well, you know, he's not even the top in his class. There are kids who are doing better in some subjects."

AND, "He's making mistakes on easy stuff that he should know."

At this point I could feel the blood boiling and knew that my diplomacy was about to depart.

I think that could be a plus... but for the opposite reason I'm left hesitant to push. What if the DYS advocate -- or someone else who has professional, hands-on experience -- comes back & says, "Why in the heck did you do THAT?" Ouch. (This part gets me trapped into endlessly over-thinking the what-ifs.)

Whether or not our family is able to work with DYS, something has to be done, that much is clear.

But after reading the thoughtful suggestions here, it's clear that waiting four+ weeks to maybe get help from DYS would be time wasted. (Especially knowing that we'll still be multiple weeks away from anything at that point anyhow.)

At least by starting now, the proverbial ball will be rolling... and conversations taking place. I was able to get math taken care of in just a couple of weeks, so maybe one chunk at a time.