PennQuaker09

Exactly.

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Kaytee

Where have you been Penn!!! I've missed you!!

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If you can't stand behind our troops, feel free to stand in front of them!
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aliinnc

Thanks, Penn.
Ali

musicmom

This is very true. Most of our elementary schools do not have but half time gifted classes (they pull them out one day a week) there are other elementary schools that have full time gifted but you usually leave your district (in our case) so my son would have been left behind.
Exactly like Shari said, the curriculum is based on an average learning child and the gifted child just gets all A's and sits there. (Zzzzzzzzzz)
It's hard for me because I have two gifted children and one average student.........try that! Nothing wrong with either. I personally HATE labeling and I do not like to call my children "gifted" but that's what they call them. I would prefer "advanced" because it makes my average child feel left out.
I'll tell you what though........it's making her learn a heck of a lot better now because she wants to be up there too.

BethInAK

Damn straight. Why should she waste her time learning something she obviously already knows perfectly.



In terms of gifted children:
I think that it depends on the schooling situation. in Anchorage, we have a truly amazing gifted program for highly gifted kids. Its not just more work and a little more advanced, its a really enriched program full of REALLY NICE KIDS. And the really nice kids thing is appealing, especially when really gifted kids sometimes have a hard time in the social arena. I'll consider this program for TheMonk if he is eligible.

most kids who show signs of giftedness are tested in kindergarten. The school district may have a pull out gifted program, which couldn't hurt at all.

I think that No Child Left Behind has really hurt our smart kids - because the teachers have to kill themselves trying to teach those less quick kids stuff and have less time to offer more interesting subject matter for the brighter kids. If NCLB isn't thrown out after the Bush administration vacates their arena, I'd certainly consider the gifted program because a bright child is likely to be bored to tears in the regular classroom. Thats how i ended up in Quaker school - my second grade teacher insisted i do phonics workbooks when i could already read extremely well without phonics. my mother ( a reading specialist) suggested the teacher let the kids who read very well just have their own reading group and she refused. At Quaker school, just like at Quaker meeting, everyone is considered an individual and taught to their ability. Was an excellent experience.

musicmom

In our district they do not test until they are in second grade.
I requested my daughter be tested on my own. She is in first and they said they will get to it this year so next year she will be put in half time gifted class. (if she's accepted) So until they get to middle school they are going to be pulled out on Tuesdays for the gifted program. I don't want to take them out of their school because it is so structured and I don't think the other elementary schools are like this one.

The Quaker schools sounds great. Your mother was smart. The schools are so regulated anymore that a teacher can not stray even a little on anything.

If they are reading a story about the solar system they have to stay within certain boundaries when kids ask questions. So the gifted kids questions do not get answered. I found that sad.

FionnaK

I can see all sides to this. I think what some people don't realize when they say things like "all children are gifted" is that when we are talking "gifted" we aren't talking special or better or anything like that. Sometimes I wish they would just change the terminology. It is too confusing and leads to bad feelings.

My experiences where I live is that the school system caters to the lowest common denominator. And I see absolutely nothing wrong with doing all we can for children with special needs or any child for that matter. But the truth of the matter is that they spend a lot of money, time, energy, and attention on the neediest children. A very large group of children are being ignored. Their needs are not being met at all. People figure if they are not struggling they have no needs. No, they have needs, but they don't bring the test scores down. So that is the only focus or concern (it seems).

I have personal experiences with this. I homeschool my son because his needs would not be met at our local schools. There is no gifted programming. They give all children a test in 3rd or 4th grade to see if they might be gifted. Then some children get asked to join a program that meets less than once a week (more like 2 times a month) to work on an extra project. That is their gifted "program".

The school he would have gone to has 30 children in the Kindergarten class. It is a full day K class also. There is one teacher in the room. That one teacher cannot possibly be able to meet the needs of many of the children let alone a gifted child.

Now my son. Ok, he started reading when he was 3. Yeah so what, there are lots of early readers. He learns at an insane rate. I literally have gone through 3 reading programs in half a year with him. We "school" for 2 hours a day (so no I'm not pressing excessive amounts of work in his face). He learned most of his multiplication facts in 2 weeks. Two weeks! Some kids in 3rd grade never figure it out. My son would be in Kindergarten as we speak. I'm not trying to display him like a circus freak for all the world to see. I am simply trying to describe where he is at right now. What would a K class be like for him with children who are learning their letters and numbers? I imagine it would be like any one of us in a class which taught us the numbers and letters. I think he would become very bored and agitated and probably be labeled as having ADHD because he wouldn't be able to sit still like that. And if he did manage to sit still he probably would learn never to put any effort into anything because he would never be challenged.

Now yes, there is garden variety smart kid. They do great in school. They often shine. But then you have the kind of "out there" gifted kid and they often do not shine. They often have quite a few problems because their needs are not being met. It is almost like a learning disability for some because often times they need very special ways of being taught. They need to dig deeper on some things, they need to go faster on others, they need modifications because they can think like someone 10 years older, but can write like a 4 year old.

FooserX

Sounds like one amazing kid, Fionna!

That reminds me of the part in the movie "Parenthood" where Rick Moranis is telling Steve Martin about his little girl who can speak French, and do all this complex math...and then asks how Steve Martin's kid is doing. Then they cut to his kid banging into a tree with a bucket on his head. lol

FionnaK

LOL!

BethInAK

Thats my kid.