what happens when they go into PS

[bluemongoose]

I am in your shoes! My DD is 4 and reading way beyond K level. She missed the cutoff for K because she is a Dec baby. They do not allow testing in early. At 2.5yo she was doing PreK level wbks that she asked to buy at Costco. At 3 she completed K curriculum, at 4 she is finishing up 1st grade and will move on to 2nd in Jan. I asked the school back when she was 3 what they do with kids who are far ahead. They looked at me like I had three heads. They asked me what level I thought she would be in. I said 3rd grade if you make her wait until next year...and then told me they have a special ed program. Ummm....good for you, but how exactly does that help our situation???

 

Dh was gifted and he had all the glorious experiences in PS that people on here shared, he said that we are going to homeschool! So we just continued with what she was working on and she loves it!

[Harmony]

My DS(8) went to private school for 3 years till age 5.

He was self-taught to read at age 2.

The principal did NOTHING nor tried to acknowledge his ability.

 

So we moved him to public school hoping something would happen.

The principal and the K teacher tried to demeanize his ability in every way possible

stating that NO TEST would be allowed till 3rd grade. (State Edu.Dept. said it was not correct)

His math at K was beyond 4th grade level.

 

So we pulled him out after one and half month of K in public school.

He thrived, thrived, and thrived ever since we homeschooled.

 

My DD6, who also was self-taught at age 3, who had a very little school experience

flourished much more rapidly than my DD8.

 

When she was tested at age 4, her matrix reasoning

skills were below average while her verbal/reading skills were at top 99.9%.

Now after 3 years of homeschooling and customizing her math worksheets,

she is doing 3-4 grade level of math.

 

I hope my experience gives out the message.

 

Thanks,

Harmony

[Lizzie in Ma]

If you were me and went into K reading your grandmother's gorgeous copy of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle, your teacher scolds you for showing off, accuses you of lying and takes your book away.

You spend the year dutifully reading Dick and Jane with the rest of the class while the principal allows the teacher to try to bully your mother into not allowing advanced reading because it will "make waves".

It was hell.

[HeatherInWI]

If you're me, the K teacher gives you a different, but still way too easy workbook to work in and you pretty much cool your heels in public school, losing academic learning opportunities and learning social things like "nobody likes a brain" and it's simpler to be lazy and quiet.

 

If you're a child in the small town I currently live in, you go through the painful "learn one letter a week" process with the rest of the kindergarten class, despite what you already know. You also learn to be lazy and keep your mouth shut.

 

If you're a child at our local Christian school, your parents are told that you have a problem but that they can rely on the teachers to get your scores "back down where they belong". (Yes, they really told a friend that about her gifted son -- she withdrew him and started homeschooling.)

 

If you're my sister's child, in a large, advanced city school district, you get put into an all-gifted class for all of your elementary years and actually learn something.

 

If you're my child, your mom knows that school is not the best place for a gifted child. You stay home, learn at your own speed, and eventually become a happy and thriving teen.

[Mabelen]

I use Lightning Literature http://hewitthomeschooling.com/book/blight.asp He did American Literature Early to Mid 19th Century this summer. I am happy with the program the public school is using for their gifted language arts so have not felt the need to supplement. It is along the same lines as Lightning Lit and very rigorous.

 

Thank you so much for replying. I will definitely look into Lightning Literature, it sounds good!

[Mabelen]

because my dd was never in public school until this year. Prior to that she was in Montessori for Pre-K and Kindergarten and then in a traditional independent school from 1st to 7th grade. The better fit was the traditional independent school, where she was challenged and gently stretched accross the board.

 

I have to say that the public school she is attending is overall a good school. It is the L.A. class that is very disappointing and a very poor fit to my daughter's interests and abilities. I think the fact we were new to this area and the district and knew no one to compare notes with and get information from was a distinct disadvantage. Now that we know better we know we could have requested a different teacher with much higher standards and expectations.

[Laura Corin]

They sit in class bored and start to act out at home. The school refuses to differentiate. The gifted coordinator is overwhelmed (she's also the special needs coordinator) and you take them out to home educate.

 

Then you home educate for eight years, delving into areas which a school would not cover whilst keeping the mainstream subjects ticking over, before putting them back into (small, private, highly academic) school for high school to pursue the International Baccalaureate.

 

Wish me luck - I've only done pulling out and home education part of this so far. The high school bit comes in 21 months from now.

 

Laura

[kmacnchs]

I actually asked a 1st grade teacher this because my dd1 (who is not even 3.5) is reading at a 1st-2nd grade level. Keep in mind we are from a small town in the countray!...She said,"Oh, we had a little girl who already knew her ABCs and so she helps other children get to the library and she is the teacher's helper" She said this proudly, like they had found something for this bored little oddball to do. I can only imagine what my child would think, do and feel in 2 years if she went to ps...I'm sure she would read to her classmates, like she does her sister now but who can do that all day for a year?!?!

[talexand]

In our case we have had better luck with the public school than private school. THey would not send my oldest son ahead at the private school and couldn't accomodate him in the classroom. At our public school they sent him ahead a year in reading and math. The highest group is also ahead a level so he is advanced about two years but in the classroom one year ahead. Still, most of the day doesn't fit but we are lucky to be allowed to do half time homeschooling so they only go for half a day.

 

My daughter started K this year and it is a half day program which is perfect. I was lucky with her that her teacher is quite earnest to keep her reading going. She assessed her and is teaching her in her own reading group at her own level. Math is a different story but I'm not rocking the boat, I just teach her at home. Next year if she is not sent ahead a year in math I will be more insistent. The first grade teacher is the one who sent my older son ahead in math and reading without any advocating on my part so I have reason to believe it will work out.

 

I know that this school is unusual for accomodating my kids like they do. Unfortunately I'm pretty sure that if I had interviewed the school before K and asked them how they accomodate gifted kids they would have been reluctant to mention any of these possibilities because they are at the discretion of the teacher and not something that they want advertised. I guess they fear the pushy parent whose child is not as advanced as they think, or something. It makes school decisions difficult until you get into the school and see what happens. And even with all the accomodations I will still do the part time homeschooling.

[Renai]

Schools teach to the average child. Your child may be bored waiting for the others to catch up, or be told to help the other kids with their work.

 

I'm currently student teaching in a first grade ps classroom. There are some students that are "above average" in reading (of course, since they're not getting real phonics, I will probably be tutoring them when they're in the 3rd or 4th grades). They are currently working on the last books that are scheduled for the end of 1st grade. When I asked the teacher what she'll do when they finish that (around January), she said the 2nd grade teacher doesn't want her to move to the 2nd grade materials because that's what she'll be using with them next year :001_huh:. Fortunately (in her mind) she has more advanced guided readers. I'm thinking, what's wrong with real books :confused:?

 

But, not all schools, teachers, or programs are the same. I've been with some good teachers, and downright awful ones. Although the teacher I'm with truly believes in "balanced literacy" she rocks the boat in many other areas (she hates Investigations math for example and makes it known).

 

But, schools are limited in what they can do. They can toot differentiation, but how far will they go? Yours is one child, they have 300+ others to work with. The school I'm in is in restructuring (which means they are very low). Having a few high readers is helping them, so they focus on the low level students, which is most of the other students. Even good teachers in good schools can only do so much to help the one among many.

 

As a homeschooler, I can see how I could differentiate widely in the classroom I'm in, but I can't, because it's not my classroom. (I've learned more as a homeschooler, than...well we won't go there.) And, my word, what will the 2nd grade teacher do with these "advanced" kids when they get to her classroom?? :001_unsure: It's pretty sad, really.

 

ETA: I should say, though, this teacher does not treat the more advanced students as free teacher's aides. She does work with the children individually on their levels, within the guidelines she's given.

Edited November 9, 2009 by Renai
added info

[Spy Car]

We are lucky I suppose. My son started kindergarten this year. He's in a wonderful school.

 

Yes, he's ahead in reading and really far ahead in math. But he's still learning plenty in school, and having a marvelous time.

 

He and I keep pushing on doing what we do, and I admire what his teacher brings to the table. So it's a great situation all around.

 

Bill

[stripe]

She said,"Oh, we had a little girl who already knew her ABCs and so she helps other children get to the library and she is the teacher's helper"

This is why my mother pulled me out of a private school -- she didn't feel like having me do their work while she paid.

 

That being said, with the right teacher, it could work.

[LittleIzumi]

If you're me, the K teacher gives you a different, but still way too easy workbook to work in and you pretty much cool your heels in public school, losing academic learning opportunities and learning social things like "nobody likes a brain" and it's simpler to be lazy and quiet.

 

 

Aaah. Maybe that's why I turned lazy and quiet :tongue_smilie:

[Dinsfamily]

They sit in class bored and start to act out at home. The school refuses to differentiate. The gifted coordinator is overwhelmed (she's also the special needs coordinator) and you take them out to home educate.

 

Then you home educate for eight years, delving into areas which a school would not cover whilst keeping the mainstream subjects ticking over, before putting them back into (small, private, highly academic) school for high school to pursue the International Baccalaureate.

 

Wish me luck - I've only done pulling out and home education part of this so far. The high school bit comes in 21 months from now.

 

Laura

 

I'm so interested to hear how this plan works out for you. I plan to put my boys into a school (private maybe?) for high school, but I have no idea how it's going to work. Hopefully, you'll have some good BTDT advice for me before too long :D.

[Saille]

Their parents may think they can read. . . but they have just memorized the book(s) and don't comprehend. . . Trained teachers understand how to teach them to comprehend. . .

 

:angry::angry::angry::angry::angry:

[Maryalice]

So, your 5 year old is reading....they enter K, but are way beyond the K student....

 

what happens next?

 

Oh, oh, oh...I can tell you exactly what happens.

 

I put my 5 yo in a private K. He was already reading and quite bored, but did his best to be a "good little boy" and sit quietly in his seat. He came home almost every day from just a half day of K and had a major (and I mean major melt down). He screamed for no reason, he cried for 30 minutes. This went on for a while and I finally went in to talk to the teacher. She was lovely, saying that he was the best student, always obedient, always patient, even though she knew everything was beneath his ability. He was a "good little boy" until he literally exploded at home. I pulled him out and homeschooled him.

 

He graduated highschool at 15 years old, graduated summa cum laude from a private college as a dual major, political science/economics and is graduating from law school this year at 22 yo.

[jonnia]

This is why my mother pulled me out of a private school -- she didn't feel like having me do their work while she paid.

 

I remember spending pretty much my entire 5th grade year doing bulletin board displays for our library, cafeteria and hallways, shelving books in the library and stapling papers in the office. I did learn to use an overhead projector, but not much else that year. It was infinitely better than being bored silly in the classroom, though.

[Colleen in SEVA]

So, your 5 year old is reading....they enter K, but are way beyond the K student....

 

what happens next?

 

When I asked the local public school principal this question about B, he told me that ALL K-ers spend the first 9 weeks learning the letters and sounds. Then at the end of October they are given a phonemic awareness test, and the students who score high enough are put into a group to begin putting those sounds together while the rest of the students get another pass through letters and sounds.

 

I explained that B was currently reading Mr. Popper's Penguins, and he replied "That would be pretty incredible if THAT were true" (at which point I wish I had brought my teaching license with me to SMACK HIM UPSIDE THE HEAD with).

 

Since K here is full day and includes a nap (B stopped napping at 29 months), I asked if the kids who didn't nap would be able to sit and read instead, and he said no because... are you ready for this???.... allowing my son to read books in school would not be fair to the kids who did not know how to read yet. So I asked what the kids did who didn't nap, and he told me in no uncertain terms "ALL kids this age NEED a nap EVERY day. We then slowly wean them off the nap in the third nine weeks." Ummm... no.

 

Once kids are in 2nd grade, they are given some sort of test to qualify for the SPARK program. All of the kids who qualify as SPARK kids are put in with the same teacher, but there is no differentiation of instruction. I guess the logic is that if all the good test-takers are put in one class, it gives the other teachers an excuse why they can't pass the NCLB benchmarks? *shrug*

 

I have dreams of moving to a "good school" neighborhood. :) Until then, we homeschool and I allow my children to read books. *rolleyes*

 

Also -- there is a big push here to delay starting K. They want you to wait a full year to start K if your child has ANY of the following:

1. a summer birthday (B is Aug 29)

2. small for their size (B is for sure)

3. has never been in a school-like environment like Sunday School or preschool (never a day in either)

4. is a boy (B is, last I checked)

 

If we followed their advice, B would be in 2nd grade this year (you can see where "following his lead" has gotten us in my signature).

Edited November 11, 2009 by Colleen in SEVA

[zaichiki]

I explained that B was currently reading Mr. Popper's Penguins, and he replied "That would be pretty incredible if THAT were true".

 

Now *there's* someone with limited life experience! Ever wonder how people like that get to be principal???

 

What did you SAY? (I think I would *obviously* roll my eyes at him, maybe scoff slightly, but I can't imagine a good comeback.)

 

I could NEVER put any of my children in that school. Seriously.

[Colleen in SEVA]

What did you SAY? (I think I would *obviously* roll my eyes at him, maybe scoff slightly, but I can't imagine a good comeback.).

 

Nothing witty, unfortunately. At the beginning of the meeting I told him I was debating whether to start B in K or not (leading the principal to think I was going to wait a year, see the part I added to my post above) and didn't mention homeschool.

 

I also bit my tongue when he told me that he was very proud of their reading program because almost all students were reading c-v-c words by the end of K, and that their school average SOL score was above the district average (didn't impress me -- 3 district schools failed SOLs that year).

 

Luckily we were already planning to homeschool, but at the time I had a 2yo, a 1yo, and was pregnant, and was having doubts about whether I would be able to meet his needs under the circumstances. That one meeting removed any doubt I had! LOL!

[greta_elisif]

When I asked the local public school principal this question about B, he told me that ALL K-ers spend the first 9 weeks learning the letters and sounds.…I explained that B was currently reading Mr. Popper's Penguins, and he replied "That would be pretty incredible if THAT were true"…Since K here is full day and includes a nap (B stopped napping at 29 months), I asked if the kids who didn't nap would be able to sit and read instead, and he said no because... are you ready for this???.... allowing my son to read books in school would not be fair to the kids who did not know how to read yet. So I asked what the kids did who didn't nap, and he told me in no uncertain terms "ALL kids this age NEED a nap EVERY day."

 

That is insane! :blink: They are willfully destroying children’s minds.

[Dinsfamily]

Oh, oh, oh...I can tell you exactly what happens.

 

I put my 5 yo in a private K. He was already reading and quite bored, but did his best to be a "good little boy" and sit quietly in his seat. He came home almost every day from just a half day of K and had a major (and I mean major melt down). He screamed for no reason, he cried for 30 minutes. This went on for a while and I finally went in to talk to the teacher. She was lovely, saying that he was the best student, always obedient, always patient, even though she knew everything was beneath his ability. He was a "good little boy" until he literally exploded at home. I pulled him out and homeschooled him.

 

 

 

 

I wonder if this is what's going on with the boy I watch afterschool. He is a 1 yr delayed entry k'er (for maturity reasons), but was beyond K academics at 4. He HATES school and we've had more than a few discipline issues since he's started school. When he comes over on the weekends for playdates, he's back to his old self. He does well "making good choices" at school, but is often tired and grumpy after school. Unfortunately, his mom not in a position to quit working and pull him out of school. He has asked him mom if he could do school at home "like D___ does." He thinks it is so cool that my ds gets to do his schoolwork at home. He'll even sit and watch my ds do his work on days we didn't get everything finished.

[spiderwoman]

I can relate to all those posts above. I have read through many of them and have experienced the difficulties with school administrators and teachers. I am a teacher myself and cannot believe how un-public the public schools are. They are supposed to be able to handle all sorts. That is why we homeschool and I am reminded by your posts that the difficulties we face are better than those we would face by being in school.

[Colleen in SEVA]

I am a teacher myself and cannot believe how un-public the public schools are. They are supposed to be able to handle all sorts. That is why we homeschool and I am reminded by your posts that the difficulties we face are better than those we would face by being in school.

 

This is so true! I taught in a very good public school (which I define as a very high level of parent involvement, almost NO discipline issues, kids who actually WANTED to learn, and they had 98% passing EOG), but there was only minimal differentiation of instruction (kids were grouped between the 4 teachers for math, based on their ranking in the previous year's EOGs, but they all used the same textbook). Everyone learned the same thing, received the same level of challenge, and moved at the same pace.

 

Now with the No Child Left Behind, it seems like they have just lowered the bar. Certainly there are exceptions, I know -- but even at the "good" school I taught at, they classified one girl in my class as special ed because they were worried she wouldn't pass the EOG and special ed students don't have their scores figured into the class average (teacher bonuses are tied to the class average). This girl was definitely not needing special ed services, but went into middle and high school with that label on her record, and in her self-image.

 

Would they try to classify my son as special ed because he still writes many of his letters backwards (I know it isn't dyslexia, but I could see their motivation to label him as such).

 

Sorry for the sidetrack, I'm just thinking out loud. :)

[Happy2BaMom]

I put my 5 yo in a private K. He was already reading and quite bored, but did his best to be a "good little boy" and sit quietly in his seat. He came home almost every day from just a half day of K and had a major (and I mean major melt down). He screamed for no reason, he cried for 30 minutes. This went on for a while and I finally went in to talk to the teacher. She was lovely, saying that he was the best student, always obedient, always patient, even though she knew everything was beneath his ability. He was a "good little boy" until he literally exploded at home. I pulled him out and homeschooled him.

 

 

Amen, sister. Very relevant to my current situation.

 

We put my gifted/advanced son into 1st grade this year due to family/personal reasons. We planned - and told him - that we would resume hsing next year. The local public school is very good (many parents are very happy with it, it is a cheerful place, great test scores, experienced teachers, etc.) I figured, what can go wrong in a year?

 

Nothing, except my son HATES school. Not dislikes, not disdains. HATES. He also is at the top of his class, is extremely well-behaved (teacher says he is a real leader and one of her best students ever) and - on the surface - things couldn't be better.

 

We've conferenced with his teacher about his giftedness and his unhappiness...she tells us that she's been teaching 36 years (true) and has had a lot of gifted kids in her class (undoubtedly also true). She's states that gifted kids are just as happy as everyone else and that they usually happily strive to "go the extra mile in class and at home" - the catch is that that extra mile is entirely self-driven. No differentiated instruction. Period. I can't really blame her - she has 28 first graders. I just wish she would acknowledge that his unhappiness at school just MIGHT be due to the fact that he must sit through long blocks of instructional time that explain things the already knows, that he's known for a few years now, rather than it must be something within my son.

 

Short end to the story: We're juggling schedules and pulling him to hs again after Christmas.