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I just want to pick you up on this - do you mean the teacher is telling you these have to be done as a whole class, or are you just assuming it? Because these are two areas where my DS6 is getting individualised work, and I think this is pretty common, actually. He gets his own group of spelling words (sometimes words he's spelt wrong in his written work, sometimes a printed sheet of words with a particular pattern that he and a couple of other good spellers in the class get together). For maths his teacher uses a lot of different material, mostly provided by the school but also including the odd ALEKS worksheet from home. It seems to be going well. If these two are the only problem areas for your DD, I think I'd be pushing for differentiation in those two areas, and only arguing for whole-grade acceleration if they try telling you differentiation is impossible. (You might find that differentiation becomes less impossible once they find out that's your fall-back position, too :-)

Hi Hhugh,

Welcome to the boards. When my DD was in 1st, the teacher let her "teach" the class. She stood in front of the class and went over the morning work, calling on kids to answer, etc. Plus going around helping kids individually with seat work or reading. At first I thought it was kind of cute, but I soon realized it was developing into behavior issues as she was ostracizing herself from the rest of the class. The teacher had given her the 2nd grade math book and would meet with her individually to go over any questions she had, but she never had any "real" lessons. She also had her own spelling words. We had her tested at the midyear point and asked for her to be able to actually go into a 2nd grade classroom for reading and language arts. When the school year was coming to an end, we realized we could not put her into 2nd grade as she had finished the year with kids doing reading, language arts, and had finished the 2nd grade math book so we begged for and were finally granted an acceleration for her. It wasn't easy or pretty, but the the hard work paid off.

Hands on Equations might be of interest.

Thanks for your reply. That's a good question. From conversations w/ DD and her teacher, it sounds like the class all sits together and slowly (slowly, slowly...) goes over the math and spelling lessons. Whereas, in most other portions of the day, DD can do her own thing while the rest of the class does their worksheets/reading/centers, etc. So DD is actually getting some individualized "work", but not "instruction" ie she gets harder spelling words to do on her own, but not lessons teaching her the spelling rules that apply, etc. So math and spelling are so painfully boring b/c she has to sit and wait while the lesson is being taught.

And honestly, I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand I want her to know real challenge (common theme on this board, it sounds like!) on the other, learning patience with slower learners is an important life-skill too.

Thanks for your help. I will try to stop stealing this thread now! Sorry!

Be thankful that your child is at least doing the work. I have the child who just simply refuses to do the 3rd grade work b/c he already knows it. Teachers will not differentiate b/c they say he has to show he can do their work first

Patience is a virtue, but asking a 5 or 6 year old to practice it for more than minutes at a time is asking quite a lot, from my personal perspective. Hard work is also a virtue. You will send your daughter a message loud and clear by how you handle this situation: Which virtue matters more in your family?

I myself do find 'being left to do one's own thing' in 1st grade sounds very appealing in a romantic sort of way. But given the current society that we live in, I don't think you are going to be sending the message that you really want to send by leaving her to that. I think that - at least during the 'group work'-you could expect her to be sent up to a classroom that is teaching what she needs to be learning. And I do mean ASAP, not at the end of the school year.

If the school is willing to do formal IQ and achievement testing, that would be a good start. If not, I wouldn't blame you for wanting to have that done professionally before doing the gradeskip - but no matter what the tests say, her current situation isn't meeting her current educational needs, and therefore needs to change.

Love and More Love,
Grinity

Grinity,

Wow, thank you! That was such practical, yet inspirational advice. I think I am going to like it here

Thanks again,
Holly

And we are so happy to have you here with us Holly!
Grinity

I have an excellent memory as well - steps over into photographic sometimes - and never needed to learn how to study. After I got to university, I ended up discovering that I actually do WORSE on exams when I spend time studying. Your son may be like me: his mind picks up everything it's ever going to on the first or second pass. If that's true, my opinion is he'll probably never benefit from the experience of "studying for a test"; his time would be much better spent learning NEW things.

I'd like to see someone not study for a Thermo or Organic Chem Final at a top tier university and get an A.

The real question is what amount of preparation is necessary to meet one's goals? And how do you know with certainty what that preparation is?