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I am so confused about what's going on with DS5's school. I made a request in November that he be accelerated to second grade next school year. The principal seemed receptive to the idea. Last week she approached me with another idea for DS--he is in half-day K right now, and she is offering him the opportunity to do language arts with a first grade class in the afternoon (after K is over). It sounds like a good idea, but she said they are only able to do this until the opening is filled by a first grader (our district is very overcrowded and all classes are almost always at capacity.) She told me it was DS' teacher's idea and that I should talk to her about it.

Well, here is the confusing part--when I talked to his teacher she seemed very negative about the idea of accelerating him to second grade. Her reasons:

*DS is young for grade
*DS only does "parallel play" at recess
*She herself was old for grade and ahead in K but was not accelerated.
*She has accelerated only one child in her 30 yr. career.
*DS is "on grade level". When I asked her about the reading test in which he achieved at a second grade level she said it was only early second grade and not truly two years above his current grade level as required by the district. Actually, the district board policy says "approximately two years". Also, the test he was given does not differentiate between early and late grade level.
*DS has a 504 plan. I said that the 504 plan is for a health issue not an academic issue. She said they only give 504 plans to students whose "learning" is affected. This is completely false--he is allergic to eggs and the 504 plan concerns accommodations to prevent his exposure to eggs. Is she saying she's giving him some kind of academic accommodations and that's why he looks so smart? Baloney! She is doing nothing for him!

I am very angry that she is pulling this kind of bullshit and I am wondering if this idea of hers to put him in first grade in the afternoon is a setup to prove that he is not ready for second grade. He is only five. It would be easy for them to see that he fails to measure up to something

I'm not sure what to do. If I don't agree to the subject acceleration to first grade then he will be denied the opportunity to accelerate to second. The criteria for acceleration include participation in all differentiated instruction that is offered.

She had me so upset I was starting to doubt that I was doing the right thing to request the acceleration. She doesn't acknowledge that DS is unusual in any way. But then this morning in the car DS was adding two digit numbers in his head with carrying (he was playing a game of doubling numbers) and he also brought along a spanish picture dictionary and was reading the spanish words to us to quiz us on the meanings. Then on the way home he asked, "If I took a photo of a postcard in the giftshop and then printed it out to make my own postcard, would that be stealing?" So we talked about copyrights and then he said, "But I could go to the same place where the photographer went and take the same picture myself and that would be ok." What kind of 5 year old thinks about stuff like that?

How can the teacher NOT see what he is??? Is she blind? I am at a loss. I am frustrated. I don't trust the school and I don't know what to do.

Cathy

Oh, Cathy, I'm right where you are, with a 5yo ds in K whose teacher just doesn't seem to "get it." As my dh (who, incidentally, is not ds's father) put it, "I don't know how anyone could spend a day in a classroom with him and not see that he needs more." I also feel like there are blinders on!

Truth is, it's easier for teachers to look the other way and decide that the child is fine.

Does your school use the Iowa Acceleration Scale? It's a questionaire for use by schools to determine if a child is a good candidate for a skip. It uses a lot of indebatable facts to assess the child and is pretty straight-forward. I bought the manual (which you can get for $30 or something on Amazon) to check it out ... the only thing is that it relies heavily on test scores (24 or something of the 80 possible points come directly from test scores). Has your ds been tested? Is that an option? Anyway, that's one route you could try to take.

Personally, I wouldn't want to send him to first grade unless it was guaranteed he could stay there if he's successful with it. The jumping around doesn't seem fair to him or to any of the teachers involved.

On the other hand, if he's really a good candidate for a skip and he won't be able to unless he does the first-grade pull-outs ... that's rough.

One of the points schools often make is the "social development" angle. You could come at it from that point: "It's clear ds is ready for a more challenging academic environment, but we'd like to keep his environment as consistent as possible through this change. So we'd prefer that he either be placed in first grade for the afternoon and stay there for the rest of the year, or that he be skipped directly into second grade in the fall." Something like that, maybe?

Do they do subject acceleration in the classroom, or any enrichment at all? At my ds's school, they don't do a lot of full-grade pullouts, but they do break down reading groups fairly well -- ds works with a group of 5 Kers brought in from the seven K classes. We've also pushed the issue and they've agreed to give him advanced work every day of the week, not just those two days. Do they do any differentiation in the room at all?

Your ds sounds very bright to me; it's too bad more teachers aren't able to enjoy these kids and see them as a difficulty rather than a challenge. Welcome to the wonderful world of advocacy! :-)

Mia

My only concern would be putting the child in the classroom with that teacher. She seems so close minded and has such strong opinions. That might not work out so well for DS.

I have DD in K and I am working towards asking the school to start her in 2nd next year, so I will be watching to see what happens in your situation!

I am supposed to have a meeting next week, but haven't heard back yet. DD's kindergarten teacher doesn't think she is anything special. Actually this relates to my concern for you because DD seems to have intuited this and internalized it. It is creating self esteem issues for her and it's not good.

Incog

I would go and talk to the 1st grade teacher and probably try it. I would see it as a step in the right direction. At the very least it's an acknowledgment that your son is ahead of his class and may need more. Hopefully he will prove that he can work on the 1st grade level and you can then use it to your advantage.

I would be quite angry about his K teacher too. Most of her comments were plainly off. Try to ignore it if you can or perhaps prepare good replies if it ever comes up again.

Okay, I think I may have confused this one . Is the teacher which you speak of the current K teacher? I was thinking the first grade teacher made those comments.

If it is the K teacher speaking, I would take any opportunity to get child out of her class!!!

Incog

I am going to be the devils advocate on this one.

Cathy, why are you looking for a skip for your son? Is he unhappy in his current class? You mentioned he is two years ahead in reading. How are his other skills? math? writing? The reason I am asking this is that I have seen younger kids struggle when put in classroom with older kids, specially at that young age. The other children tend to either "baby" or worse yet to "bully" them.

Just from experience. My dd is actually one of the oldest in her class. I wouldn't have it any other way. This has been great for her. She is self assured, confident and happy. She started reading at 3, so when she started 1st grade she had been reading chapter books for years. Her reading/writing is still way ahead of her current grade level, but her teacher is doing a great job of meeting her needs in this area within the classroom.

I don't know you child, so forgive me if I am putting my foot in my mouth on this one, but at 5 I wouldn't want my child to compete with 7 and 8 year olds unless he is globally gifted, extremely mature, unhappy where he is AND his needs not being met. Have you considered subject acceleration?

Of course, if his needs are not being met and he is miserable in his current situation than I guess I would be doing what you are doing.

Okay all, I'm going to apologize in advance and barge right in on Cathy's thread since I see myself and child in a similar situation.

"Of course, if his needs are not being met and he is miserable in his current situation than I guess I would be doing what you are doing."

Bianca, interestingly, my older DD looks a lot better on paper to GS, but DD5 is the one that I would push for at this point if it came right down to it.

She is a late June BD and one of the youngest. She is HG compared with PG older sister. She is far less mature than older sister was at this age. Indeed, she appears immature compared to grademates at times. I've actually questioned myself quite a bit because even to myself it seems confusing as to why I would push for DD5 and not for DD8.

Basically, I'm looking at all the info and the whole picture for both girls and my gut is telling me younger DD's situation is more likely to head for disaster. Personality. Teacher mismatch. No good fit in the 1st grade teacher pool. Rejects agemates and only wants to play with sister and sister's friends.
And, you know, I've never seen it from a perspective of competing with older kids in the next grade.

It just seems like a more realistic fit, even though it shouldn't. I know that's a little abstract, does it kind of make sense?

Incog

Mia, they don't use the IAS, although I have a copy. DS was tested last year and scored above the 99.9%ile WPPSI-III. They say they do differentiated instruction but I have seen no evidence of that. I have been differentiating his homework as best I can and volunteering in his class.

Bianc850a, I am looking for the grade skip because this school provides no other option. They have refused to do subject acceleration (other than this temporary afterschool thing) and differentiate the in-class instruction in name only. There is no pull-out or enrichment.

He is not miserable, but he is very bored. He has little in common with his classmates. He is quite mature and globally gifted. I believe the reading assessment that showed he is at grade 2 in reading to be an underestimate. His teacher is not meeting his needs in the classroom at all nor do I have any expectation that next year's teacher will be better (my DD is older and has already been through this set of teachers.)

If the gradeskip doesn't work, I will probably end up homeschooling him.

It seems like this process is taking forever...it's almost March! I'm going to be patient a little longer and wait to talk to the first grade teacher. If she seems willing to include DS in her class and actually teach him something, it could work out.

Cathy

ETA: DS was tested privately last year, so the school will not "accept" his test results. Nor are IQ tests part of their acceleration criteria.

'Neato,

It does make sense to me. Kids are more than numbers and formulas.

I think you trust your gut if there's no clear reason not to...and even if there *is* clear reason not to, I'd tend to trust mom's gut! I'd just check it twice to be sure I wasn't missing something.

The problem then becomes selling the skip to the school when it doesn't seem to be the obvious choice.

Cathy,

I am sorry your child's school is not willing to accomodate.

I agree with Kriston, we know our kids best. If you feel a grade skip is what he needs, then go for it!!

Bianca