Thank you for sharing this information. My ds1 is also entering 2nd
grade, and even though we spoke to the teacher a number of times this
past year, I (and my son) never quite felt satisfied that he was being
challenged enough. Reading was fine, as they were grouped by ability and
he was in the top group with another boy and a girl. Writing also was
handled well, as that is a more individualized effort. But in the areas
of math and science, he often complained of being bored and was
practically begging for more challenging work. In math and similar
areas, he was always given bigger numbers to work with, or say with
clocks, was working with more subdivisions of the hour than the other
children, but he still thought the work was too easy. I don't know that
he qualifies as "gifted", but in a lot of areas I think he's at least
borderline and capable of more challenging material. I'd love to hear
more ideas you can offer for approaching his new teacher, and without
seeming pushy or like one of those parents who thinks their child is the
second coming of Einstein.

Karen


jaime wrote:
I am both a parent of a little girl that is gifted (she is going into
2nd grade) as well as a special education teacher in a primary school
building. I have also struggled with finding the appropriate balance
for her educational needs as well as her social needs. I have found
through Kindergarten and first grade that the best solution is to work
with the teacher on providing materials that are interesting as well
as ensuring that she has all of the basic skills needed. For example,
although my daughter already knew how to do basic addition and
subtraction (including regrouping) before entering school, I had
never even thought to expose her to pyramids and quadrilaterals, which
are part of the first grade curriculum. Likewise, in science, she
knew 90% of the curriculum but the other 10% was completely new to her
because she had never been exposed to it. I worked with the teacher
and we developed a plan for her that consisted of completing the
assigned activities with the class, and although sometimes it was new
information to her it was mostly a review. She then had the
opportunity to work on the computer or read new, higher level reading
books, to explore the topic in more depth. She was also given the
opportunity to help other students in the classroom and this was a
positive experience for both her and the other students resulting in a
more positive self image as well as friends. Reading was always
acceptable and she had many chapter books (some that I provided and
others from the higher grades within the school) to read. I have
found that this was a great solution. I worry about homeschooling
very gifted children (My husband and I have thought about it so many
times, I must admit) because these children tend to feel isolated as
it is. They tend to have more trouble in social situations because
they are simply in a different mind than the typical child. I want my
daughter to learn how to interact at this very very influential time.
She already knows she's different but is learning to play more than
ever by being around children (especially in PE and recess and
lunch). I feel that by the 4th grade we are going to have to
reevaluate the goals she has and we want her to have but also know
that many school programs offer gifted education programs by this
time. Outside agencies also provide accelerated curriculum classes
after school for interest areas (my daughter is a science kid and we
enrolled her in a science exploration class and it was so much fun!)
Good luck, I understand how difficult this can be but also urge you to
give the teacher and the school the opportunity to work with him. And
please remember that at this tender age it is almost as important that
the children learn problem solving, social and sharing (information)
skills as it is about basic skill mastery. Give your child a big hug
and remember to listen to what he wants as well . . . after a few
months and lots of work and collaboration with the teacher, you may be
surprised how happy he can be.

Jaime