Wednesday
Gifted and Talented Children Update
So I mentioned earlier that I have a meeting scheduled for tomorrow between myself and one of my sons teachers. Well it also includes the principal and some other school staff. ( As you can imagine I was quite upset when I requested this meeting. ) Basically what it comes down to is that my son isn't doing so great in class this year. However in years passed he truly excelled. Last year he was placed in an advanced math course as a first grader and worked on addition and subtraction using 2 and 3 digit numbers, money math, basic geometry, and basic pre algebra. Yes it actually was listed as basic pre algebra concepts. This year he was not placed in the program and is bored out of his mind. Heaven forbid I suggest this to the teacher though. She is convinced he's not bored and not applying himself. Well my younger son was placed in advanced reading and because of this the school sent home a sheet listing 2 resources for parents of gifted and talented students. The National Association for Gifted Children (nagc.org ) and the Minnesota Council for the Gifted and Talented. (mcgt.net) These websites have turned out to be an absolute Goldmine, everything on these 2 sites supports my case that I am right and the teacher is wrong in her approach! AND best of all I don't have to say that my son is bored and not being challenged enough. The resources on these sites provide all of that for me. They detail what is and is not appropriate teaching for children like my son. All I have to do is go in there and say well I'm having trouble understanding how to help my child in the classroom because I can't be there, however I did some research on the topic with resources provided by the school to find out what would be the best aproach. Perhaps you could detail to me which of these categories this school falls into. Ta Da! as my 2 year old says I am no longer on the defensive. The school is now in a position of defending there programs and practices and I didn't accuse anyone of not doing their job! So excited. (Never thought I'd say that!) :D I'll keep you updated!
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My older two children are in gifted programs at school as well. The problem is that they are in gifted programs at public school whereas they were also in excellerated classes in private school. Due to a drastic change in income, I became unemployed, they were moved from private to public. Well, my eight year old is doing fine, and though my 12 year old's grades are okay but not what they could or should be, HER BEHAVIOUR HAS BEEN OUT OF CONTROL!!!! I know that, besides dealing with kids whose parents are a lot different than me, she is bored too. I so understand your position!
ReplyDeleteThis is such a difficult thing to deal with. You want what is best for your child but so much of their education is beyond our control... You could check out this website www.nagc.org it's the national website for gifted and talented children. It has links to different resources in different states. We have a "council" here in MN and I was able to find some extra activities for my boys to participate in outside of school that aren't too far away as well as parent support groups.
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