Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Acceleration or not

Maybe because I read the Ruf book when DS was 11 and I could see that he could do college work already, that quote actually validated my experience and helped me relax.

DS is 12 and has ACT scores higher than those of entering freshman at the regional liberal arts college where DH teaches. I'm still trying to make sense of that! So, it is clear that he could take college classes--in fact, since we are friends with the registrar (and he would get free tuition), it would actually be EASY.

And yet I don't think college at 12 is suited to his personality. He actually thrives being around 6th graders, playing dodge ball, and making bodily function jokes. (So do the frat kids at the college, but I'm really not ready for that!) He has not yet reached a level of academic curiosity that teachers, DH and I cannot meet his need. I know that there are a lot of kids who feel driven to learn in a certain subject or set of subjects beyond the level that parents/school are prepared to teach. And college makes sense for them.

Partly because DS's interests match our own (so we can meet his needs) and partly because he is curious but not driven, he is not yet ready for college. But I am grateful that we will have a college option when we need it.

Umm Dottie - I'm counting on my fingers, but assuming no further subject acceleration for your DS, at what age will he run out of HS Math? Maybe a CC math class or Online Collegel level Math isn't such a terrible thing for a young teen to be doing?

((standing by with the Defibrulator))
Maybe those School Admins are correct in assuming that we Moms of Gifted Kids can't count????

Love and More Love,
Grinity

((Big Grin))
She'll change her mind as the years go by....
Grinity

It makes me glad that DS3 isn't reading yet. (Though he is writing, if that makes any sense...I think there was someone else who had that some sort of weirdness with their child. CFK, was it you? Can't remember.)

Though I think my worries about 2E with him negate any sighs of relief I might have from his lack of early reading...

<taking two or three swigs before passing the bottle>

Oh, and I would TOTALLY do the gap year thing if my DSs were to finish early. We'll go bum around Europe, sleeping in hostels and seeing the sights, for a year or three.

That's my idea of heaven! Maybe with the HSing foundation, I'll get lucky and it will be their idea of heaven, too.

Ok. I'm trying to read all and reply in one... but this I'll forget. In our state, the state gives districts the "right" to turn you away at jan 1... but it is left to each district. we can petition our district... dd#1 was a dec bday so we only had to apply not petition just to get the form but we'll see as #2 is jan 2.

Kriston,

DD5 prefered to write before read. It didn't mean she couldn't read, just that SHE wasn't ready to.

Incog

So let me get this straight... If #2 falls anywhere between 3-4 deviations over like #1, academically we're probably good. K seems liked but not so big on 1. I should read Ruf but it will make me nuts. I'm freaking out about early entrance to K and now you have me thinking about future skips and college at 12 (are you trying to kill me?). Pretty schools aren't all they seem, sniff out title 1. We are super lucky because 2 quasi-local districts do have self contained gifted classrooms 2-8th grades. And should be thankful to be attending an all gifted charter school. And clearly based on stories and reactions... this isn't ever going to actually get easy.

F-bomb.

Well. Good to know. Rats. #2 and #3 finished in bath with dad which means I'm running out of time.

Uh... I'll address rest in another post - sorry.

Oh, the scope on options is that #1's all gifted charter offers a K program but it is all day. and i think selfishly I'm not ready for all day at 4.5 and I'm not sure she'd want to give up playtime for all day (but she'd have lunch and recess with #1 which would be huge - but less time to bond w/#3). Here's hoping she actually sits for her assessment. If the draw-a-person was actually valid she'd be a 200 :-) Crap. Now everyone is crying upstairs. God love my dh but he has the post bath parenting skills of a tomato.

Wow! Deja vous. I have wet kids running circles around me right now because their father can't see to find pajamas.

My DD3 doesn't really know the whole alphabet either (I don't think). But she has a bunch of sight words and has pieced together some shorter books. And DS7 did not "read" until kindy and now has overtaken his entire class in reading. There were lots of readers in his kindergarten class. He was approaching the top of his class by mid year. But for him, I really think it was he just didn't want to read until he hit about 3rd grade level. And he never said "I can read" until he could read where he wanted to read. We read much more involved stories when he was pre-school age - james and the giant peach, etc etc etc.

DS read signs from age two, but no early readers, ever. He started on Narnia books by 5. I just don't think he cared to spend his time reading books that were not intellectually engaging. That and he hated to sit still.