AggieMama Posted June 18, 2017 Share Posted June 18, 2017 Ok, to make a long story short DD 1st had a horrible year. She was not given many learning opportunities that matched her ability and struggled to maintain focus and write. I think there might be a case of dysgraphia that we are contending with as well as some OCD issues. Here is the kicker we had DD tested for the Gifted program at her school. She didn't get, so we appealed the decision (her father and I had a background in GT education). Today we got a letter saying DD's appeal was approved and she would be receiving services!!!!! We are excited about this, but confused now because we had made the decision to put out DD in a charter school next year. I think the charter school will accept the decision, but have to wait to contact them tomorrow. I'm not sure what the programming will look like at the charter school, but it will be a pull out program. If we send her back to the school she was at last year she will get 2 hours of pull out a week. She will also have the stress of knowing most of the kids don't like her, or the perception they don't like her. Agh, this just got a lot more complicated. Does anyone have any suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pen Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 If you think she will be happy and her needs (better) met my the charter school, have her go there. I don't think 2 hours of pull out time for special GT would make up for being/feeling disliked. Possibly she needs special help for OCD and dysgraphia? Is there a school where the school as a whole is suited to gifted education? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AggieMama Posted June 19, 2017 Author Share Posted June 19, 2017 There is not a public school in my district that is specifically for gifted students. There is a special program beginning in 3rd grade for students who are extremely accelerated in math, but they only study one year ahead. None of the charters in our area cater specially to gifted students either. There are a few private schools That cater to gifted students, but we can't afford that right now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Have kids -- will travel Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 A school doesn't need to cater exclusively to gifted kids to be a good fit for gifted kids. Indeed a two hour pullout shouldn't totally rearrange your plans. What were your original reasons for choosing the charter school over your current school? Would two hours a week of gifted programming substantially change the balance? My kids' school has no gifted programming for their ages, but it's a great fit for gifted kids. I'd rather have on-target education in the classrooms with teachers that stretch my kids than a short pullout. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AggieMama Posted June 19, 2017 Author Share Posted June 19, 2017 I'm still thinking a lot of the reasons we liked the charter school are still valid. I want to make sure there is gifted servicing of some sort in place and that the identification remains. In Texas the designation depends on the district and not all schools or districts accept a gifted designation from others. It's ridiculous in my opinion because how can you be gifted in one school but not another. Hopefully everything will work out and I'm thinking DD will probably still go to the charter school. DH and I were in complete shock yesterday because the district rarely accepts parental appeals for giftedness. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonfirmath Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 I'm still thinking a lot of the reasons we liked the charter school are still valid. I want to make sure there is gifted servicing of some sort in place and that the identification remains. In Texas the designation depends on the district and not all schools or districts accept a gifted designation from others. It's ridiculous in my opinion because how can you be gifted in one school but not another. Hopefully everything will work out and I'm thinking DD will probably still go to the charter school. DH and I were in complete shock yesterday because the district rarely accepts parental appeals for giftedness. I live in Texas. In our district, in specific, gifted has to do with being in the top X% of the district. So yes, it does vary depending on where you live. We are still pondering whether to have our daughter tested last year. People keep telling us how "Smart" she is -- and she definitely has different strengths than her brother. But I can also see she is nowhere close to where her brother was at this age. So its hard to know. I also did not think that the 1.5 hour a week pullouts for the gifted program was that big a deal for her brother (though the program he is in now, which is all day and VERY accelerated, is definitely a big deal). And I'm afraid that it would hinder his sister since she's still working on getting fluent at reading. (Though she's better than last year -- so this may not be the concern it was last year) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 Personally I would focus on what she will be doing for the bulk of her time in school. 2 hours a week doesn't sound like much to me. I would rather the other 28 hours of the week were a good fit for my kid, especially since your daughter has had it tough already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathnerd Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 (edited) Personally I would focus on what she will be doing for the bulk of her time in school. 2 hours a week doesn't sound like much to me. I would rather the other 28 hours of the week were a good fit for my kid, especially since your daughter has had it tough already. :iagree: Just for your reference, when I last checked, 2 hours a week pullout in our top public school district did not amount to much. they were mostly doing some monopoly type math game, some geography project (involved coloring a map of Europe) and some science hands on experiment (building a structure with wooden blocks). All of it looked very ordinary and not especially designed to challenge gifted kids to me (it seemed that they offered an "enrichment" type pullout and thought that it could pass off as a "gifted pullout"). So, I would suggest that you follow SKL's advise and think about how your daughter is going to spend the bulk of her days in the public school and what she will gain from it. Edited June 19, 2017 by mathnerd 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AggieMama Posted June 21, 2017 Author Share Posted June 21, 2017 I believe the GT program at the charter school is similar to the regular school. Dad is currently thinking about her options, and so are we. I still think the pros outweigh the cons of the charter school. We will have to wait awhile before we get a response, as the administration has gone on summer break at the charter school already. Reading the reviews on YELP, people are very happy with the school, especially parents of gifted students. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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