If your AL transitioned to public school

[Runningmom80]

was it easy to get your AL into some sort of gifted program? (Assuming one is vilble and you felt it appropriate for your child)

 

We are at the end of week 2 of our transition and I have thoughts, but I’d like to hear how the experience is for others. 

Thanks!

Edited January 19, 2019 by Runningmom80

[SanDiegoMom]

I haven't transitioned any kids but I did want to stop in to say I hope everything is going well! We are going back and forth on the PS thing a lot more recently as middle school and friends groups are so tough so any advice YOU have will be greatly appreciated once yours get comfortable there! 

Now for my kid who was always public schooled, she had to take their gifted test (when she was in second in VA it was the Nnat or something like that. In CA in fourth and sixth it was the Olsat).  There were testing periods and there was never any mention of doing outside testing, but of course we were not coming from homeschooling, just moving. 

If you have any suspicions that your kid is 2e, I would definitely ask about that - my dd always testing a little too low (I think they finally let her in in sixth because they felt sorry for her!) and it turns out she's highly gifted and ADHD with a forty point gap between her working memory and verbal score. It really dragged down her score. Of course CA had zero gifted services anyway so it didn't matter too much:-) 

Good luck! 

[Cake and Pi]

My DS#2 switched to public school, but it was early on.

He started with 2nd grade in a public charter. I did some pretty heavy advocating and got him single-subject accelerated to a combined 4th-5th grade class for math, but I didn't manage to get him a 504 for accommodations (ADHD and dyslexia), despite promises from the charter. The administration there was hard to work with. I had to bring in the school psychologist and someone from the district's GT department to get what we got.

That year at the charter we collected data for his "body of evidence" and applied to the public GT magnet. They required him to take the CogAT even though we already had WISC scores. He switched to the GT magnet the following year.

The GT magnet has been a much better fit for him. All students get an automatic full grade skip for content while keeping their official grade designation unchanged, the classrooms are sensory-friendly, they kept his single-subject acceleration in math, they gave him the 504 he needed, and they "get" gifted. Overall, it's been good and he's happy with his choice to be there instead of homeschooled with his brothers. 

[HomeForNow]

This is very dependent of local conditions, and the particular school, administration, teachers, and student body.

DS tried a self-contained gifted program, within a normal (bad) school, but the school was not physically safe, there were many problems with certain administrators/teachers, and the gifted program itself, although successful on paper due to the students, was in a state of disarray. We pulled DS out.

By contrast, our DDs started at a new public charter which is nice and safe, and has decent academics - nothing "gifted" but runs a year ahead of regular public schools in our very bad district, and DDs are happy. They are staying in for the forseeable future.

All were previously homeschooled, and were not particularly "prepared" for the transition, but it worked out fine for 2 DDs, but not for DS, which as I say, was heavily school dependent.

This is just our experience, not necessarily applicable to others.

That said, even though DS's school had many problems (with no chance of changing things), there are things DS could improve on to get prepared in case a better school opportunity comes up. He needs to be more organized and motivated, and to be able to handle more output, especially writing.

 

[MamaSprout]

On 1/19/2019 at 6:12 AM, Runningmom80 said:

was it easy to get your AL into some sort of gifted program? (Assuming one is vilble and you felt it appropriate for your child)

 

We are at the end of week 2 of our transition and I have thoughts, but I’d like to hear how the experience is for others. 

Thanks!

We haven't transitioned, but when we've talked to schools it's all been about test scores. Most that have programs have boxes that need to be checked. Typically working through whatever your regional talent development resources is will be a less-expensive way to begin. We are in the Midwest, so it's NUMATS here, but there are others.

[Runningmom80]

9 hours ago, MamaSprout said:

We haven't transitioned, but when we've talked to schools it's all been about test scores. Most that have programs have boxes that need to be checked. Typically working through whatever your regional talent development resources is will be a less-expensive way to begin. We are in the Midwest, so it's NUMATS here, but there are others.

 

This is for 3rd graders, (also in the midwest!) I didn't see any elementary level tests listed but I can take a closer look. 

 

I'm also wondering how your AL's transitioned to public school, especially if it was in elementary school. My kids grades *right now* are lower than I expected them to be, (I can see them online) which makes me wonder if they are going to be flagged to get tested. BUT, I understand that it's only the 3rd week and this is a HUGE adjustment. They are not used to working within time constraints or being a student for 7 hours a day. I don't have concerns about their grades at all, I'm just wondering if "B" students get flagged for testing or if I'm going to need to advocate. They were working above grade level at home, but I know it's not the same. They haven't been tested, I'm just assuming they are gifted based on what I've seen at home, and their older brother having been tested and confirmed GT. 

I also think one of them is 2e but that's a whole other post. 🙂

 I don't have any desire to have them tested for this year, as I'd like them to ease into school, so I guess I have time to feel it all out before next year. 

[MamaSprout]

17 minutes ago, Runningmom80 said:

 

This is for 3rd graders, (also in the midwest!) I didn't see any elementary level tests listed but I can take a closer look. 

 

I'm also wondering how your AL's transitioned to public school, especially if it was in elementary school. My kids grades *right now* are lower than I expected them to be, (I can see them online) which makes me wonder if they are going to be flagged to get tested. BUT, I understand that it's only the 3rd week and this is a HUGE adjustment. They are not used to working within time constraints or being a student for 7 hours a day. I don't have concerns about their grades at all, I'm just wondering if "B" students get flagged for testing or if I'm going to need to advocate. They were working above grade level at home, but I know it's not the same. They haven't been tested, I'm just assuming they are gifted based on what I've seen at home, and their older brother having been tested and confirmed GT. 

I also think one of them is 2e but that's a whole other post. 🙂

 I don't have any desire to have them tested for this year, as I'd like them to ease into school, so I guess I have time to feel it all out before next year. 

Grade 3 takes the SAT 8/9. Honestly, you can just sign them up of you think they are probably gifted. If they test well, you've got scores, if they don't, they get practice with a standardized test. The 2e would probably take a psychologist to tease out, but for a "here's my score" test, NUMATS would work. See if you district has a handbook. It would tell you what tests they want.

[Runningmom80]

Thank you!