Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Ranges/Levels of giftedness

The exact wording I got from the district GT coordinator at the time we gave her the evaluation data for dd#1 was "highly gifted students don't last long in the public school system. Have you considered homeschooling?" and "the higher ups are philosophically opposed to meeting the needs of children like your daughter." I totally empathize with the responses you are getting.

We left that district the following year, but are back there now with surprisingly better results. A new superintendent, a new GT coordinator for the district, and a GT coordinator at the middle school who suggested the grade skip to us has made a world of difference.

Do you have other schooling options other than homeschooling?

We could check into the public school and their gifted program. I don't think it starts until 2nd or 3rd grade though. I'm not sure what grade they would put him in. Our local public school doesn't have a very good reputation. Hopefully they'd put him in first grade and in the gifted program if we went that route, but I don't feel too good about that option. I'm considering homeschooling until next school year. That way I can be sure to cover anything he's missed in kindergarten and all of first grade. We do have a montessori school nearby, and I'm going to visit tomorrow. I'm not sure if they have any openings or if they have waiting list. It's certainly possible, but hopefully I'll know more after the visit. I'm so exhausted just thinking about all of this. Thanks again for your response. It's good to know we're not in this alone.

At least the counselor was honest with you. HSing is great if it suits you and your DS. I know it's hard to give up on that traditional school ideal. Are there many HSers in your area? If you're convinced this school isn't for him, HSing the rest of the year sounds great and gives you and him time to explore other avenues. You can get to know other HSers, you can spend a day at other schools etc and minimize the damage being done to him in this current school. My advice was to find out if this was just the teacher or a pervasive in that school...sounds like you got your answer.

And let me say AAARRRGHHHHH on pushing the ADHD. I read from a pyschologist that you must challenge a gifted child to assess the behavior in that situation before saying the child is ADHD. The behaviors of a bored, gifted kid looks like an ADHD child. My son's 1st grade teacher hinted at ADHD all year long. Anyone that knew my child just laughed at that. Luckily, his 2nd grade teacher really got him and emphatically said that it wasn't that he was inattentive.

Regarding the Verbal IQ: check out this blog entry. http://themorechild.com/2007/12/26/why-elementary-teachers-overlook-the-verbally-gifted-child/

I spoke w/ a teacher friend of mine about this. She said she felt the same way when she was in school. She said imagine that you can understand things on a 5th=6th grade level but are forced to have directions and stories and content on a mid2nd grade level. With a math precocious child, you can subject accelerate more easily. With a verbally precocious child, he/she can handle higher level content in science, social studies, history, art appreciation etc.