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Old October 26th 03, 06:42 PM
Rosalie B.
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Default Bright 2nd grader & school truancy / part-time home-school?

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Ericka Kammerer wrote:

Sue wrote:

I don't have a very high opinion of the brighter kids. It's not that I don't
think they are or that they deserve a different teaching method and I
understand that they do exist, but at our school they are segregated into
one part of the school, they don't socialize with the other kids, they don't
participate in any of the school functions and they are made to feel that
they are superior. Even the name of the program is insulting to the other
kids. It is called the Talented and Gifted program. Well imo, every child
that attends that school is talented and gifted in some way. And I don't
know why it is, but they are usually the worst behaved kids. This is just
biased in my district and perhaps other districts handle it differently.


G&T programs ARE different in different places. When my kids were in
school the program started in 3rd or 4th grade and they were taken for
one afternoon to one of the middle schools. DD#3 was eligible for it,
and one of her best friends was in it, but I went and observed and did
not care for the way the teacher spoke to the children - IMHO she was
threatened by their intelligence and was very harsh and dismissive.
(Saying things like "Look it up" when a question was asked.)

I decided not to put dd#3 in the program. Before I made the decision,
I spoke to her regular teacher (to see if he thought it would be
helpful - he did not) and to her. Her response was "I'm not gifted or
they would have told me." I was unhappy about that, because she
certainly WAS intelligent, but I decided not to enroll her.

If she had gone to another teacher at another school (I taught in 3 of
the 4 middle schools in the county so I knew two other teachers) I
would have enrolled her in a heartbeat.

I certainly won't contest your impression of your
district, as I have no experience of it. We have a similar
program (center based GT program), however, and it is *totally*
different. The kids are delightful, very well behaved, and
highly supportive of the school and school programs--not to
mention that their parents are some of the most highly
active in the whole school, and their efforts benefit the
*whole* school, not just the center based GT part. I'll
agree that the label is unfortunate, though I'm not
sure what the program ought to be called.


I think your perspective as a parent is somewhat skewed by the
participation of the G&T parents. Parents and teachers do make a big
difference to the individual programs.

To Sue:

I would totally give up the idea of taking your child out of school
for enrichment activities. It sounds as though she is quite happy
with her friends where she is. Let her be a child and do children's
things. You can do quite a lot after school and on weekends and
holidays (like what Wendy does with her boys) to provide enrichment
without trying to reform the whole school system.

You say that you don't like the G&T program because the kids are made
to feel they are superior. Well that's exactly the kind of attitude
that you will foster in your child when you say - she's at the top of
the class it won't hurt her to miss.

If she is sick, you will have enough to do dealing with the
no-child-left-behind garbage.

grandma Rosalie