Acceleration or No? | ADHD Information
i was accelerated a year ahead of my peers after my parents decided against enrolling me in school for academically gifted kids.but i rather wish they hadn't. it was all fine. but i was ALWAYS small and young for my year and socially, physically, emotionally slightly behind all my friends (which is annoying when they all want to go out and there is NO WAY that you are going to get into the club with them because you still look twelve when they could pass for eighteen!). and i never cared that i found the school work easy. i still found it easy being promoted a year. what's harder??? nothing. if you can grasp the concept in two seconds then that is what you can do. it was no harder or more challenging being put up a year at all. it was just the same except i had to make new friends and re-adjust.
if you were going to send your child to a gifted school then i would understand because the difference with that is you are surrounded by peers who challenge you and think in an ADD way. but going up a year - you are still surrounded by equally stupid/normal/bright people as were in your last class. and honestly there is NOTHING more challenging there. NOTHING. absolutely nothing.
nothing. i can't see the point of it. i still got bored - i still mucked around because i was bored. just my point of view.
the only positive thing that came out of it was that i left school at seventeen - rather than eighteen like most of my peers so i got to have a 'year off' and could travel before i went to University. that's it.
chjones38835.4622453704I agree with chjones and many of the other posters so I won't repeat their opinions.
I would like to add the experience of my son, now 17. While he struggled premed with varying issues, after a couple years he was a 2-3 years ahead in math and reading. Handwriting was a struggle as it still is. He was happiest when he was in a school that would group academics by ability, but with same age peers for other activities. He wished all school could be like the gifted pull out program he attended. I feel it is important socially to be with close age peers. When a school could not provide the right level academically for him, he was tutored in the appropriate level to maintain his interest in the subject (whether or not the subject was a strength or weakness).
His dx? ADHD/Gifted(or borderline)/LD/Dysgraphic (and now I am wondering if he has remediated dyslexia altho schools have tested him at above grade level for years)
In middle school he moved ahead three grades in math. In high school he is very happy taking adv. classes, actively advocating for himself to take courses which challenge him.
My eldest nonADDer was always about one year younger than her classmates. When she was bored in 8th grade they wondered if I wanted to skip her. Considering that she was already extremely short and appeared young, we didn't.
I look at elementary school as a time to ground children socially and emotionally while finding an environment where they will develop a love of learning.
Best of Luck in finding something right for your child.
And the truth is, if I had a child like the one I described, I would put the child in a private school for gifted children, before I would keep the child in public school and push the child up a grade. OR, I would put the child in a school for gifted children within the school district--like a magnet school.
lillian38835.4878819444I wouldn't retain or accelerate the child. There must be some sort of program for gifted kids. If the child is acting out in school, it is unlikely to stop just because he is with older peers--in fact they are more likely to pick on him and provoke. I had two gifted kids, now grown, who were bored at times, but weren't accelerated, but WERE in accelerated classes. They, however, were not behavior problems in any way, other than to sometimes talk too much when done with work before their peers. That may be what to work on. Maybe the teachers can give him extra work when he finishes. That's what the teachers ultimately did with my kids. Both, as adults, expressed gladness that they weren't pushed ahead of their age group. It's your call though. Putting a kid ahead a grade is a big decision, and if your son is having social difficulties and writing difficulties, it does not sound like a good idea. The only way I would allow my kid to skip a grade would be: his reading, writing, and math skills were ALL at least two grades levels above his peers; his IQ scores showed his IQ to be in the gifted range; and he had socially appropriate behavior or behavior that was more mature and/or more intense (focused on particular interests) than his peers.I'm trying to get my DS's school to consider accelerating him next year, to 3rd grade instead of 2nd grade. So far, no dice.
He is WAY ahead in math, just because he does it on his own, and also in reading. Is bored out of his skull in 1st grade.
OTOH, he has been in trouble for being in fights (by all accounts started by others, but he can't stop himself from reacting physically ... working on that!) and has struggled with handwriting, so they are saying he isn't mature enough to skip a grade.
How do I convince the school that if he wasn't so frustrated with school he might be able to control himself better in contentious situations? And that if he was interested in the subjects at hand, writing about them would be a lot more appealing!
Unfortunately, the powers that be seem dedicated to keeping a student in "his place."
Can you tell I'm frustrated by this?!
Thanks, kck ... this does sound just like my son. Wow.So, what did you say in this "educated phone call" to the principal? I'm yakking my head off, but I wouldn't say the ball is exactly rolling at this point. The ball is stalling, I think.
I let the principal know that I knew my son's rights and that the time limit had passed on the classroom teacher (and IST teacher) responding to my initial request for a complete eval and that if I did not get an official response to my inquiry that I would be contacting the Dept of Education and filing a formal complaint. I laid out some of the horrid actions of my son''s class teacher had done, told him I would go back to my IU contacts and demand advocacy and on that I was done playing it the schools way.
When things got progressively worse during the 45 SCHOOL day waiting period and the teacher was sending my son to the nurse/counselor 4-5 times a day and booted him out of a half a day of standardized testing w/o so much as paper and a box of crayons to pass his time I called the principal again and ranted like a mad woman!
That same day the IST teacher did a CBA and a Schlossen's Inventory and e-mailed me initial findings. Within 2 wks, son had seen school psychologist and we had a team meeting. At the meeting, the teacher was so negative and condescending that she got up and walked out after telling them how awful the situation was. During an hour and a half meeting no one mentioned he had 9 out of 10 unsatisfactories on his "Successful Learner Traits" on his report card that was being sent home that very same day.
The principal and psychologist were agreed that things could be better, but were no where near the horrible state the teacher made them out to be.
When I saw the report card I hit the roof. The next day I e-mailed the principal a thank you note and slyly mentioned how aggravated I was that she never mentioned the report card. Within an hour I got an e-mailed response from the principal that my son would be switching to another teacher effective the next schol day. Switching teachers had been mentioned to me by friends, but I didn't really want to teach that lesson, but I went with it and it has made a HUGE difference.
The 1st teacher would NOT keep a daily journal. She gave him smiley faces at noon if he was good and then nothing so he knew if he had that smiley I would think all was fine. (These kids are way to smart for that!) This teacher e-mails me on the spot if there is an issue and keeps a daily journal that travels home daily.
The 1st teacher would exile him to the nurse -- the 2nd sends him on errands or allows him to visit the library to pick a book. Instead of sitting the groups into boys and girls for the seating chart, the 2nd teacher has them split and has my son with the "best" girl student... the 1st teacher just yelled and criticized, the 2nd uses visual cues and touches his shoulder if he needs to settle...
These aren't earth shattering solutions, but they are just a classroom management style that suits my child so much better!
son's self-esteem was taking a beating and it wasn't helped that his old classmates told him how much happier the 1st teacher was the first day of the switch and even pointed out that it was b/c my son was gone. Over the last 20 so weeks there has been great results. he still has his days, but they are defused much earlier and more effectively. My son know his teacher and I are an e-mail away from each other and this makes him more accountable. (it works the other way too. I will send a note or shoot off an amail if there has been a stressor at home and this allows her to get in front of the problem)
I can't believe your state wouldn't have similar rules and guidelines. My sons civil rights and no different from your sons.
I am anti-lawsuit over every little thing, but the threat of one worked wonders. Contact school board officials... whatever it takes.
Right now my battle is that my son is designated a 'special ed' kid and they get extra funding for him, but they do not provide him additional services at this time. This issue has been big here lately with a charter school so it really came into sharp focus for me. Our psychologist doing his neuro-psych testing helped here too. She is hell bent on making them do SOMETHING for him -- especially when he just advanced to 8th grade level math on her IQ test!! Not too shabby for a "grade level adequate performer" as his 1st first-grade teacher called him last fall....
sorry this got so long. I just wanted to show you that persistence is the key and don't be afraid to push for results
http://www.state.vt.us/educ/new/html/pgm_sped.html
the above is a link to some resources/laws/etc. from your state dept of ed
kck1159938840.7255439815Tilly--
I have two things for you:
One: My son's half-brother is EXACTLY the way you described your son. They did bump him and now 5 years later he had to repeat 7th grade. He still reports the work is so easy it bores him to tears, but he got an 11% in science last term!!
He is tripping himself up b/c he can't stop reacting to things around him. He figured out being the class clown made him popular. Unfortunately, he had to take a LOT of grief from peers when he was retained in 7th grade. He has also gone from being average size to being "big" for his age. He is one of the top 2 players on the hoops team where he would have been about 5th or 6th had he stayed up a year. I am a big advocate of sports anyway, but in his case it has really helped with self-esteem issues!
Two: The private evaluations are a great idea. Do your research. Here in our state we have advocates and the thru our Dept of Education you can file a claim for an infringement of your child's civil rights. Let me just tell you, it took one educated phone call from me to the prinicpal to get the ball rolling. The private evals are going to give me another weapon in my battle. I may still be struggling with getting the right dx et al, but I am making the school do their part to make the situation better.
[QUOTE=TillyT]
The "two grade level" rule is interesting, lilian. Where does this come from. It's true, DS is probably not *enough* ahead in *enough* ways to make acceleration a good solution. Then again, if he was being challenged and encouraged rather than bored and discouraged this year, there's no telling where he'd be at.
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If you put your child a year above his peers academically, he obviously needs to actually be a year above his peers academically. If he isn't, there's no reason to advance him. Learning in elementary school is progressive and sequential. If he's not mastered the steps or the lower levels of a subject, he's just being set up for failure. Your talking about advancing your son from first to third grade. He'd be missing a lot of addition and subtraction done in second grade to prepare for multiplication tables in third. Will he understand the logic of multiplication? Are his skills strong enough in math to do timed multiplication drills? That's what they do in third grade. If he skips second grade, he's going to be skipping the beginnng of cursive writing. Much of what they teach in elementary is based on physical/motor development that is typical for the age group. Have his motor skills developed enough to do cursive writing? You say you suspect dysgraphia. Is he ready for a new alphabet? Are his motor skills developed enough to learn typing, which is a good alternative for a third grader with dysgraphia but pretty difficult for a second grader? How are his phonics skills? They pretty much quit teaching phonics by third grade. If he hasn't mastered basic phonics, he's going to be in serious trouble with spelling. Does he like to read? He'll be reading chapter books in third grade. And, last, but most certainly not least, third is when state-mandated tests begin in most states across the country. How's he at bubbling in an answer sheet? One of the reasons why testing begins in third grade is because younger kids have such difficulty with the bubbling in--again, it's the motor development thing.
Now, the reason why I say two years is because many, many kids are a grade level or two or three above their peers in some subjects. It's not unusual, AT ALL. It has to do with interests, natural ability, and who knows what else. And that's a good thing. Doing really well in a subject or two builds their self esteem and gives them confidence to face the subjects that are more difficult. If you take a child who is a year ahead and you put him up a year ahead, then all of a sudden he's not particularly good at anything. You say you suspect dysgraphia, well as the mother of a dyslexic son who has a disorder of written expression, I cannot tell you how much being a whiz at history builds my son's self esteem in school. It's emotionally difficult to have a learning disability, and it can become more and more emotionally difficult as they age. Being smart in something makes a big difference to these kids.
lillian said, "Doing really well in a subject or two builds their self esteem and gives them confidence to face the subjects that are more difficult."I think this is a very valid point which I see in my son. Dealing with a variety of challenges are a lot of hard knocks day in and day out. His strength in math and music also provide him with an inner strength that make him feel good when some things are tough.
Finding the right teacher for next year is a great idea.
There are lots of ways to work with teachers. This is how we solved one problem:
For 4th and 5th grade ds was at a school that changed its policy and no longer accelerated kids in math. With a lot of persistence ds was allowed to take a test to pass the 4th grade curriculum so he would not need to do it in class. I tutored him at home everyday using a 6th grade book. In class he did the exercises that I had taught the night before. I corrected it, kept records and provided them to the teacher. So basically she did not have to do anything. The next year we didn't have the same arrangement, but i continued to tutor him. then he took a distance learning course through Johns Hopkins Ctr for Talented Youth. In middle school he was finally placed appropriately.
I think this experience and others like it have shown him how to use a system in the pursuit of knowledge. He has demonstrated this ability in high school, by finding teachers and meeting them after school to teach him what he wants to know, talked to teachers and had students sign a petition to get the school to offer a class they had never taught before, skipped Fr. 3 and went on to AP Fr.4 so he could fit the new class in his schedule. He has arranged an independent study course in Linear Alg. for next year by arranging with an instructor who will also help him get college credit for the course and has already purchased the book and can't wait to get started as soon as AP exams are over. He also arranged with teachers to skip Physics 1 by reading the book this summer, so he can take AP Physics in the fall. It never stops....
The important thing is to help your child feel grounded and confident in themself and provide places for them to build on their strengths and remediate weaknesses.
jfla238838.9065856481
jfla2 wrote:
"There are lots of ways to work with teachers. This is how we solved one problem:
For 4th and 5th grade ds was at a school that changed its policy and no longer accelerated kids in math. With a lot of persistence ds was allowed to take a test to pass the 4th grade curriculum so he would not need to do it in class. I tutored him at home everyday using a 6th grade book. In class he did the exercises that I had taught the night before. I corrected it, kept records and provided them to the teacher. So basically she did not have to do anything. The next year we didn't have the same arrangement, but i continued to tutor him. then he took a distance learning course through Johns Hopkins Ctr for Talented Youth. In middle school he was finally placed appropriately.
(snip)
I think this experience and others like it have shown him how to use a system in the pursuit of knowledge. The important thing is to help your child feel grounded and confident in themself and provide places for them to build on their strengths and remediate weaknesses."
Oh, if only this were true here. I started with a very open way of working with the teacher -- we've met over time, talked by phone, kept in touch, etc. and I've been very supportive of her work in a very challenging group of kids. I have, with her permission, sent extra work for DS, but she will not let him do it because then "other kids will want to" She has told me if they give him advanced work now "the system will just have to keep up with him in the next grade." She obviously thought that was asking too much of them.
I have gotten the assistant principal to help me set up some library time for the advanced kids with an aide, but the teacher does not actually send them to do it. I have asked about going to another grade for math, but they don't do that.
To be fair, the school system is going through major changes and there's lots of stress the staff is dealing with. I understand that and have expressed my understanding of it to everyone we've worked with this year. Still, I'm in the business of looking out for DS, and they have not actually helped with a single thing. They often say they will when we talk -- it always feels congenial, like we've come up with things together -- but nothing happens.
Sorry, this is a school-rant. I'll stop now!!
Definitely not an Aspie kid ... he has always been one of the most empathetic people I've ever known. Pain in others just breaks his heart. He is great with eye contact and in fact is quite a charmer. Girls love him. He's very quick to pick up on others needing help and wants to pitch right in (something his teacher discourages on the grounds of it being disruptive ... rrrrrrrrrhhhhhhhh.) He's a great teacher of younger kids, very patient.
The fighting is more a problem with response-inhibition, I think. Teachers report he doesn't start fights, but can't help himself when someone picks a fight with him. Does the first thing to come to mind, which is to fight back. He's big for his age, and moves quickly as well, so it can all become chaos pretty quickly.
I know I'm biased in a big way, but he's really an amazing kid and that's why I'm so frustrated with the school system, which seems intent on squashing all of that early on.
If he is charming and larger than the rest of the kids, why are kids picking fights with him?
Good question. One distinct possibility is that DS is of Korean-Pakistani background, and so looks significantly different from most of his schoolmates in our rural Vermont town. We have talked a lot about this, but I honestly haven't seen anything that's outright discrimination. The teacher is African-American and pretty sensitive to the issue. She has not seen it as an overt issue. Obviously, it could be a factor at an age when they are so interested in what belongs in what category, and thus who belongs in what category.
The class he is in is also exceptional in terms of aggression. 14 of 24 are boys, and easily half of those have pretty obvious self-control problems. Several ADHD kids, one seems ODD to me, etc. And a teacher who does not have it under control at all and has been given little support. There is a lot of fighting in general, and if there's action, you can bet DS will be right there in the middle of it. Just gravitates toward the most exciting thing in the room, even if it's trouble!
Lilian asked some great questions:
" Your talking about advancing your son from first to third grade. He'd be missing a lot of addition and subtraction done in second grade to prepare for multiplication tables in third. Will he understand the logic of multiplication? Are his skills strong enough in math to do timed multiplication drills? That's what they do in third grade. If he skips second grade, he's going to be skipping the beginnng of cursive writing. Much of what they teach in elementary is based on physical/motor development that is typical for the age group. Have his motor skills developed enough to do cursive writing? You say you suspect dysgraphia. Is he ready for a new alphabet? Are his motor skills developed enough to learn typing, which is a good alternative for a third grader with dysgraphia but pretty difficult for a second grader? How are his phonics skills? They pretty much quit teaching phonics by third grade. If he hasn't mastered basic phonics, he's going to be in serious trouble with spelling. Does he like to read? He'll be reading chapter books in third grade. And, last, but most certainly not least, third is when state-mandated tests begin in most states across the country. How's he at bubbling in an answer sheet? One of the reasons why testing begins in third grade is because younger kids have such difficulty with the bubbling in--again, it's the motor development thing."
Let's see ... DS can add and subtract well into the thousands, understands multiplication and can pretty instantly give you the answer to any muliplication "table" just because he likes to. He gets that division and muliplication are related and is on the cusp of doing division too. He reads chapter books now, in 1st grade. They have run out of books to give him -- brings home the same books over and over again. He seems to have a great handle on spelling -- loves to tell me things by spelling them to me .... "Mom, know what my f-a-v-o-r-i-t-e thing was today?" You see why 1st grade has been a bust.
Bubbling in the answer sheets could be a problem. But I can't tell you how mad it makes me to think he should be bored our of his mind because of the way the state formats its tests. Sheesh.
Cursive would be a challenge. Not to read it, but to write it. Heck, he's learning Korean characters with less trouble than I am in our Korean language class. Typing I think he would get in no time.
Can't draw representational pictures to save his life. We do a lot of looking at abstract art to show him there are different ways to be artistic.
I have read the state's "grade expectations" for grade 2, and he can already do all of it.
Academically, it's a no-brainer. But. socially-emotionally, I can't be sure. And the school is reluctant to do anything off the "regular" program anyway.
Sorry this sounds so defensive. Preparing for Friday's meeting with the powers-that-be, I guess.
Thanks, hawks ... while we've been thinking about the different options, one that keeps coming up is to stick with public school, status quo, and think of it as one part of his life. This child will not grow up without learning what he needs to know == he just sucks it up from the environment anyway.I hadn't thought about the changing demands of school life as the years go by, and the likelihood that the ADHD is going to be pretty much the same, only the symptoms will be less appropriate to the situation as time goes on. I don't know why I didn't look at it that way, as it certainly has gone in that direction so far.
So we could go with staying on track in ps, and enriching with whatever else grabs him outside of school. In fact that is the likeliest scenario, but we want to consider everything before ruling anything out.
I was surprised by the strong responses against acceleration here, but I am very glad to have this perspective.
[QUOTE=TillyT]
Lilian asked some great questions:
" Your talking about advancing your son from first to third grade. He'd be missing a lot of addition and subtraction done in second grade to prepare for multiplication tables in third. Will he understand the logic of multiplication? Are his skills strong enough in math to do timed multiplication drills? That's what they do in third grade. If he skips second grade, he's going to be skipping the beginnng of cursive writing. Much of what they teach in elementary is based on physical/motor development that is typical for the age group. Have his motor skills developed enough to do cursive writing? You say you suspect dysgraphia. Is he ready for a new alphabet? Are his motor skills developed enough to learn typing, which is a good alternative for a third grader with dysgraphia but pretty difficult for a second grader? How are his phonics skills? They pretty much quit teaching phonics by third grade. If he hasn't mastered basic phonics, he's going to be in serious trouble with spelling. Does he like to read? He'll be reading chapter books in third grade. And, last, but most certainly not least, third is when state-mandated tests begin in most states across the country. How's he at bubbling in an answer sheet? One of the reasons why testing begins in third grade is because younger kids have such difficulty with the bubbling in--again, it's the motor development thing."
Let's see ... DS can add and subtract well into the thousands, understands multiplication and can pretty instantly give you the answer to any muliplication "table" just because he likes to. He gets that division and muliplication are related and is on the cusp of doing division too. He reads chapter books now, in 1st grade. They have run out of books to give him -- brings home the same books over and over again. He seems to have a great handle on spelling -- loves to tell me things by spelling them to me .... "Mom, know what my f-a-v-o-r-i-t-e thing was today?" You see why 1st grade has been a bust.
Bubbling in the answer sheets could be a problem. But I can't tell you how mad it makes me to think he should be bored our of his mind because of the way the state formats its tests. Sheesh.
Cursive would be a challenge. Not to read it, but to write it. Heck, he's learning Korean characters with less trouble than I am in our Korean language class. Typing I think he would get in no time.
Can't draw representational pictures to save his life. We do a lot of looking at abstract art to show him there are different ways to be artistic.
I have read the state's "grade expectations" for grade 2, and he can already do all of it.
Academically, it's a no-brainer. But. socially-emotionally, I can't be sure. And the school is reluctant to do anything off the "regular" program anyway.
Sorry this sounds so defensive. Preparing for Friday's meeting with the powers-that-be, I guess.
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Have you had your child privately evaluated? You're describing a pretty Aspie kid--intellectually he's way above his peers, the only subject that is challenging is writing, and socially he is really struggling, to the point of fighting. How are his body language and eye contact? Does he understand the social cues of his peers?
OMG! I can't believe you think ethnicity may be the issue. I have to tell you this...When I read your post yesterday, I did a quick search on Vermont, to see what the public school policies were for gifted children (I didn't find any, BTW), and I got the demographics of the state. I was shocked! I called my husband in and said, "Look at this! Vermont in 96% Anglo!!" Living in Texas, I cannot imagine.
Anyhoo, I feel for your boy. My advice is to have him privately evaluated and to get his IQ, academic achievement, and possible learning disability documented. It's one thing for a parent to approach the school with the attitude of, "I think my son is gifted/LD," and it's another thing for the parent to approach the school with actual proof. So, that's what I think should be your first step, if you want to advance him.
I absolutely would not advance a probably adhd child ahead a grade. Especially if he is already having social issues. How is he going to feel being the youngest ALL the time? Having all the other boys bigger, stronger, more athletically capable, and also more bossy to younger kids?? If he's acting out now he'll probably act out more.
Also, school gets more difficult for most ADHD kids around 4th grade. When learning takes sustained effort many of these kids don't have the means to sit still and listen and do the studying it takes to be really successful (without meds). It is usually more difficult, not to say it "can't" be done, but it gets harder.
What you should do is spend your family time expanding his knowledge into other areas, such as art, history etc. Have a good time with him outside the school setting, help him learn how to learn! Give him a broader view of the whole world. Let him be with his peers while growing up. Let him mature with them, not after them. You can challenge him just as much as the school can. I don't think when he is 22 and graduating college he'll regret that he didn't graduate at 21. Life isn't a rush!
Thank you everybody for your thoughts. I honestly wouldn't have seen it from the perspectives given without hearing it from someone else.
chjones, I loved your comment " if you can grasp the concept in two seconds then that is what you can do. it was no harder or more challenging being put up a year at all. it was just the same except i had to make new friends and re-adjust." I hadn't thought of it that way at all, but what you describe is my DS all over. You're right he would probably just absorb the new stuff & be bored inside a month.
DS is definitely ADHD, probably gifted, and probably has dysgraphia. Sound familiar, jfla2? I would *love* to send him to a private school that could work with these things, but I live in a very rural VT town with very few options within 2 hours of driving.
The "two grade level" rule is interesting, lilian. Where does this come from. It's true, DS is probably not *enough* ahead in *enough* ways to make acceleration a good solution. Then again, if he was being challenged and encouraged rather than bored and discouraged this year, there's no telling where he'd be at.
Our public school does not have anything for gifted kids. I have tried getting it so DS can go to math, for instance, 1 grade up, but they won't do it. I have tried getting him extra work when he finishes early, and the teacher will not do it. Tried getting him and a small group of advanced students to have some library time to work on other things outside the class. She hasn't said no, but hasn't arranged it either. She drives me nuts, actually. The principal has helped us get a couple of things changed in the classroom, but the teacher is not responsive. I'm one of the few parents who actually *wish* for a call from school!
Maybe simply a better teacher next year would make a difference.
No magnet schools here. No charter schools, nothing. Currently my Plan B is homeschooling, as there actually *is* a fairly lively homeschooling community around here, so he could be around kids of all ages and pursue various topics at his various levels of readiness.
But is mom ready for all day every day with an extroverted ADHDer? Not sure.
I'm waiting on a meeting with teacher & principals at the public school, but I'll be amazed if that happens before the school year runs out. You'll see I haven't much faith left in them.
Thanks again, everyone for helping me think outside the box on this!
My youngest son was academically gifted. Luckily the schools he went to had "Gifted" classes. In Florida they had a special school they got to visit twice a week and were allowed to choose the learning center that interested them the most. He was tested in third grade and they came out and said he should be an egineer...we asked why they said he tested so far off the chart in that area they had no numbers to give us. He is now a Chemical Engineer and went through college on scholarships. Here in Tucson they have a High School for gifted students..they have to test to get in...95 % of those kids go to college. My son went until we moved out of town.
Instead of moving your child up I would ask if they had higher level classes that would give him more of a challenge. Allot of "Gifted" kids are immature and lack social skills. My son had problems because he had a huge vocabulary and the kids didn't understand him...I think if we would have moved him up a grade he would have been picked on my bigger older bullies.
They put my daughter in an accelerated class when she was in third grade because she was high up in reading...I will tell you that was not a good move..she felt lost, and we didn't realize it until her Senior year that she comprehensive problems...Thank goodness she had a teacher that caught it and put her in a special class...she improved 90% in 6 weeks.
jacquie38845.423125