• Reading Kindergartner not Challenged
• Smart 4th grader is becoming isolated academically?
• Middle schooler not challenged academically
• High School not Challenging
• Teen won't do boring homework
• See also: Gifted Children in Elementary School

Reading Kindergartner not Challenged

If she's reading at a second or third grade level -- shouldn't she start working on her writing skills? The worksheets she brings home are too easy for her. What can I do at home to teach her to write, if the school won't help?

The first poster said much of what I would have said. Let me just add that it would also be good to hear from parents with children in private or public schools, about what good activities they've seen kindergarten teachers do in class with kids that are reading. (Or how they've approached the issue.) I'd love to be able to bring some suggestions to my child's teacher, who I believe might be receptive to trying new things, especially since I think that my daughter's not the only one in her class that is reading.

Please keep in mind that a great deal of kindergarten is social and your daughter needs to be a part of this as much as any other student. Learning good study habits -- listening, following directions, working with others -- is important as well. If she's given too much alternate work she'll miss these experiences.

As an advanced student, if she's going to make the most of her school time, she's going to need to need to learn how to go on to something constructive, such as independent reading or writing, when she has finished the assignment as well as to get the most she can out of the assignments, rather than doing the minimum and then looking to the teacher to provide her with additional material.

I'm not sure what you're basing your assessment that she is reading at second or third grade level on, but please keep in mind that good reading skills are much more complex than just being able to say the words out loud. Comprehension is a big part of good reading. If the teacher is reading aloud a lot, and letting the children discuss the story, this benefits children at a variety of reading levels.

Most kindergartens are only half day, so there should still be plenty of time in the day for you to allow her to do reading and writing at her own level afterward. You needn't give her workbooks or specific assignments, just let her read books at appropriate levels and write on topics of her choice. Keep the editing and commenting on her writing supportive.

GATE can start before third grade, although many schools chose not to test much earlier. It's often difficult to tell who is truly an advanced student at kindergarten and first grade. Some students may read before their peers, perhaps because they were exposed to printed material at a young age, but not turn out to be GATE students. You may want to inquire about having her tested earlier, but late first grade or sometime in second grade may be a more appropriate time to raise this issue.

It is always good to help in the classroom, even if you have to juggle to do it. Its good for you and your daughter, and for the whole class. Also, it gives the teacher the impression (hopefully true) that you are concerned about the success of the whole group, not just your kid. This is a much better position from which to negotiate, and you will learn so much about the whole bunch. My younger child is now in 4th grade, and I know every kid in his grade. Its a friendly situation and a huge and positive part of his (our) education.

I realize that this type of school isn't affordable by most, but there are a very limited number of need-based scholarships available for extremely talented students. The enrollment process gets underway in December and testing is in January. The school is a k-12.

I started reading at age 3, apparently on my own. My mother couldn't see waiting until I was 5 for kindergarten, so she sent me to private school at age 4. (After that I attended public schools.) Consequently I was always the youngest child in my year, which never mattered until high school, when I was the last of my peers to get a driver's license.

I would say that my experience was very much dependent on the quality of the teacher and on my own ability to learn how to get along with my peers. My parents watched to see whether I was happy and challenged by school, and when I wasn't, they tried to intervene. We lived in a rural district where private schools were non-existent and changing within the public system was not an option. We were stuck with whatever teacher I got. Usually I was with the other kids for all subjects except reading/writing/spelling. Until high school I invariably had essentially an independent study for reading, in which the teacher assigned me books to read in addition to the regular stuff. The additional load was no problem, because I devoured books.

Most of my teachers were sympathetic--they liked having a bright student in class, and tried to challenge me. Most were fair to the other students and good at not constantly singling me out for praise in class, and I learned (eventually) that I didn't have to put my hand up for every single answer. This was a maturity issue that I had to work out for myself, and some teachers were more helpful than others.

I only had one bad teacher in the lot, and she set me back quite a bit. We had just moved to a new school district when I entered 4th grade with this teacher. The first day in class, she misspelled a word on the board and I raised my hand to point it out. From that day on it was war. She completely isolated me from my classmates and (I suspect) from participating in class where I could potentially embarrass her again. (Mind you, I did not perceive this at the time!) In the guise of challenging me, she gave me special independent projects to do, most of which were time-wasting busy work. One I remember with special horror was a project to do a map of the school in metric units. This required going from classroom to classroom with a trundle wheel (a sort of meter-long measuring wheel) and measuring the interior of every class, as all the kids stared at me. She also did petty things like awarding prizes for the best score on spelling tests, but making me ineligible for the prize, because she said I would always win. That year I turned from an outgoing, happy child to a shy, unhappy, school-hating child. I also had stress-related stomach problems that almost resulted in my being operated on for appendicitis. (The doctor couldn't understand, in 1978, why an 8-year-old would have ulcers.)

When I started bringing home C's in reading, my mother knew something was wrong. Unfortunately, she was almost powerless to change things in the classroom. The teacher was acting punitively but disguising it as being in either my best interest or the best interest of the class. At about the same time, the teacher became ill and had to leave the school, and we had a totally ineffective substitute after that. Fourth grade for me was an absolute black hole. Luckily, in 5th grade I had a wonderful teacher who turned it all around.

My advice to you is to monitor your child's classroom VIA your daughter's reaction to it. If the teacher assigns her extra work or more "broadening" work (as one poster to this list defined it), great--but help her figure out if this is really worthwhile educationally or just busywork to keep her from twiddling her thumbs in class. If she's truly gifted, she'll be dealing with these issues the rest of her life. Likewise, her relationship with her peers is something she'll have to put a lot of effort into. Teachers can help or hurt--make sure she's taught by a helper. But I wouldn't encourage you to shun any kind of activity that sets your daughter apart and simply hope to make up the gap at home. If you do, and the place where she spends 6-7 hours a day becomes a complete bore, what message will that send her about school? That it's simply a hoop to jump through? That nobody cares that she's special? Talk to the teachers to find ways that she can be challenged, and talk to your daughter about how to not be a know-it-all or a teacher's pet, and together you can find the best solution.

Smart 4th grader becoming isolated academically?

Groan. I'm finding myself where I never wanted to be: rethinking the decision to put my child in public school. My daughter is 10, in 4th grade, and has attended Oxford School in Berkeley since kindergarten. She likes her school, has a broad group of friends there and in her after school program, and is generally a well-behaved, well-adjusted, loving, and happy child.

My problem is that I am beginning to see her intellectual abilities and interests diverge to a fairly alarming extent from what's offered by the curriculum available to her. She has always been acknowledged by teachers, other kids, principal to be one of the two or three brightest and most academically oriented of the children in her grade and that's been fine. But the gap seems to be growing. She reads and writes at a high school level and has worked herself through an introductory algebra text aimed at middle school kids. I and the mother of one of the other "smart" kids in her class have worked with their teacher to assign more challenging homework and projects, etc., but I see that she's still becoming isolated and a bit lonely -- everyone else is at a different level and she has only one other kid (unfortunately, at this age, a boy) to really share her intellectual interests with. She's in GATE, but my sense is that her school's implementation of the GATE program is designed to democratize the program rather than really stimulate children like mine -- a decision I totally support from a political perspective, but it doesn't help me with my problem. GATE provides some additional curriculum, but not enough. My biggest concern is that now, as she is approaching pre-teenness and becoming more concerned with peer approval, she seems to be shrinking back and worrying about not fitting in or being "too" smart. I feel like I have some responsibility to create conditions where she can flourish intellectually and wonder if I'm doing that now.

So....my question is: have other parents faced this problem and how have they responded? I find myself fantasizing about some classroom where many of the other children are on the same level and she's encouraged to be as smart and creative as she wants to be; I imagine such classrooms to exist in private schools but don't know whether in fact they do. What do people think about leaving such children in environments where there's a risk they may be discouraged from achieving? What do people think about having children change schools at the 5th grade level? What schools do they recommend for such children? Are there supplementary programs or activities that I could get her involved in? I am *strongly* disinclined to have her skip a grade for all of the reasons raised in the "what age kindergarten?" debate: socially and emotionally I think she's *at* grade level, but not ahead, and I have no big interest in shaving a year off her childhood by having her start middle school, high school, and eventually college a year early. But I'd be open to hearing other opinions. Finally, I should add that in preliminary discussions about this, she's been upset about the prospect of changing schools. I take this opinion seriously, but in the end I still think it's her father's and my responsibility to make the decision, even if it's one that makes her unhappy in the short term.

Any thoughts any of you have about this would be most appreciated.

In response to Gifted Child - I personally think the transition would be easier between 5th & 6th grade, and would look at private middle schools and talk to them about their ability to let a child go as far and fast as they can intellectually. Middle schools tend to start in 6th grade, and maybe you could get your daughter involved in an activity or two with kids from that school once you have been accepted at one. The middle school at Windrush seems academically challenging and allows for a great deal of individualism, but my kids are only in 3rd and K, so I don't have first hand experience. They are very aware and concerned about how girls can fall off intellectually at this age, and have support groups for kids and parents. Middle school seems to be the most dangerous in terms of female self esteem and if your daughter is already feeling that being too smart is hurting her socially, I agree that you must get her in an environment where that can be overcome. Good luck!

My heart really went out to the mother in this situation... Our society still does not support gifted children. They are often outcast, and the special programs they need either don't exist or are seen as politically unnecessary. Skipping grades isn't the answer because then the child will be the smartest kid, still bored, in the next grade up!

I know a child who was the brightest in her class, even after being skipped. She was very unhappy and lonely at her school, where achievement was looked down upon. She wanted desperately to go somewhere else, but her parents couldn't afford to send her to private school. Eventually, when she got into high school, she started taking college courses. She finally was intellectually stimulated and also for the first time began meeting friends she could relate to (although they were many years older).

I think continuing to go to public school was a waste for this child, because she learned nothing AND was unhappy. However, if your child likes her school, why not get her special tutoring? Find out which subjects she enjoys and have a tutor set up a special curriculum for her after school. Maybe get together with other parents of bright children of various ages. Set it up as a fun thing, not additional homework. She might enjoy working through high school math or reading literature or studying a foreign language. Talk to her teachers. Make sure they let her know that she is special and shouldn't waste her talent, and that they encourage her to excel. Also, let her know that different is good! Good luck!

My heart went out to you after reading your dilemma about sending your daughter to a different school where she could better develop her intellectual gifts. When I was a child I had the same problem. I attended Catholic school until fifth grade, when I had to go to public school because my parents moved to a new state, and they could no longer afford the tuition. My parents, like you, objected to allowing me to skip grades because they thought it would hinder my social development. At Catholic school I attended reading and math classes in the higher grades but then returned to my own grade for the rest of the day. When I started at my new school in the fifth grade, I was so terrified of appearing "different," or "nerdy," that I hid my abilities as much as possible. As I grew older and entered junior high, my Number 1 priority in life was to be popular. My grades were still good, but not nearly what they could have been had I had the opportunity to learn in a more supportive environment. By high school my grades went into a tailspin in my quest for teenage beauty, popularity, boyfriends, etc. At this point I really thought that I wasn't as smart as the other kids who were getting all A's and taking advanced placement classes. I shocked everybody, including myself, when I scored 1400 on the SAT's (by this time I was cutting classes on a regular basis and had a 2.something GPA).

By the time I got to college, I was convinced that everyone there (especially the guys) were smarter than I was. I dropped out of electrical engineering in favor of a literature major because I thought that I wasn't smart enough for engineering. I realize now that from age eleven to 22 I sabotaged my intellectual potential and my future in order to be accepted by my peers. What a ridiculous thing to do! I dont know if this helps at all, but I hope that you find a place that gives all the support and encouragement your daughter needs to grow as much as she can.

I'd think about getting your daughter some "enrichment" extra-curricularly so that she won't feel isolated at school. Individual tutors after school, correspondence courses, programs at museums or camps, classes at community colleges, or even participation in an organization, might be fun and stimulating. She could pick up a new language, join a chess league, learn chemistry, write for a local newspaper (or radio -- do you know about Youth Radio based in Berkeley? EXCELLENT). There are lots of possibilities for her to grow and shine without being conspicuously Smart at school. I am imagining that she might consider being transferred from one school to another as a *punishment* for being smart, which would be quite the opposite of what you intended.

My experience at HRS was very positive and I was significantly more challenged than I had been by 5th grade at Malcolm. I had very close relationships with my teachers who were a dedicated bunch. I did still graduate as the valedictorian of my class at Heads and was consistently at the top of my class throughout my 7 years there. The advantage was that there were some other students who were at a similar level and the teachers had plenty of time and attention to focus on me and other top students so I wasn't waiting around while other students tried to catch up. The down side was that the school was quite small (42 kids in my graduating class) and by the time I was in 10th grade, I had a desire to go back to Berkeley High to expand my horizons. I ended up not returning because they were in the process of undoing the gifted/tracking program they had at the time called Model School A. Unfortunately, this is the pattern in Berkeley where they introduce gifted programs to attract people back from private schools and then gut them when they decide they are unequal/racist/classist or whatever. A few years later they set one up again and then it lasts for a few years and they gut it. The recent changes they've made to the GATE program appear to fit with that pattern.

Now that I have my own children, one of whom is in 1st grade while the other is still in pre-school, I have opted to try the public schools and then switch them to private if and when that becomes necessary. The public schools don't seem much different academically than they did 25 years ago, although the class size reduction is an improvement, but there do seem to be fewer social tensions. Head-Royce has gotten bigger (75/upper school grade) which I see as an advantage. My daughter is at Malcolm X (that decision took some soul searching for me after my bad experience) and I think there is a reasonable chance we will move her out of public school around 6th grade, or possibly earlier, unless she's having a great experience. However, I would consider sending her back to BHS for high school if that's her preference and my safety/quality concerns are satisfied.

As for your situation, you have already missed the application deadline for what I would call the more academic private schools, Head-Royce and Bentley, and it is quite difficult to get a slot for 5th grade anyway because they don't expand the class size until 6th grade. I would suggest trying to find some supplementary activities for her for this coming year (do you know about the ATDP 3 week summer program run by UC's School of Educ?), leave her with her friends for her last year of elementary school, and then move her in 6th grade to a private school environment. I do think she has a better chance of being challenged and maintaining a positive attitude toward learning in that environment (although there are diverse influences at those schools as well). There may still be some schools you could get her into for this coming year but to do that for just one year if they aren't schools that go through middle school would be pretty disruptive especially if she doesn't want to.

She is a good student, very upbeat, and a hard worker, no motivation problems, and not a discipline problem. But year after year her needs are ignored. Do we have the right to hope her school might WANT to challenge her? Is being taught at her own level a luxury, or something that we might expect? I know Berkeley has so many kids at so many levels in one classroom. Many of the teachers are good at handling this very difficult teaching challenge. The new required standardized testing is probably very stressful for teachers who are trying to bring kids up who are below grade level. I'm so sympathetic to the teachers who work so hard, and the many kids who have to overcome formidable obstacles to get their education. I worry so much about the kids having problems (and have volunteered in the classroom a lot to work with students) and the hard task of the teachers that I'm afraid to advocate for my daughter. I want to know what others think about this. The last thing I want to be seen as is a 'pushy gate parent' that thinks their children's needs come first. Like all things it is a balance, but sometimes I'm not sure where the balance should be.

How do other parents think about this? Do you give up on the public schools and go to private school? Do you give up on the classroom and do supplemental teaching and after school projects? Do we help the district Gate office to address the needs of our children differently? Do we just ride it out and hope our kids catch up later, when they are at BHS, or college? What ideas do others have?

Anonymous

Good luck...
Anonymous

We're also having concerns about the amount of challenging material our child is receiving. His most recent homework assignment at King was to write out 100 words he's expected to learn for a spell-a-thon THREE TIMES. His class has been tested on these words several times, and he hasn't missed one yet, but he was expected to complete this very boring, repetitive assignment which taught him nothing.

The district focus of GATE education is on differentiated instruction. I've sat in on a few meetings, and that is the direction they're headed, over mini-courses or pull-out programs. However, there is very little money for materials, teacher training, etc. As you pointed out, some teachers are already doing it well, but others aren't there yet. The district offered an optional seminar on differentiated instruction this past summer and no teachers from his former elementary school signed up to take it. Some teachers feel they're doing enough. GATE education is clearly undervalued in the district, no matter how it's implemented.

Our solution is to offer plenty of enrichment (classes, camps, travel) and encourage him to read a lot. I hope the situation improves in seventh and eighth grade, although what you've said makes me think it won't. I have no solutions, but remain hopeful that some excellent teachers and a love of learning will prevail. We've gotten invaluable support from a friend who works with gifted populations, which has helped tremendously.

Anonymous

We've had that problem all through school.  He's now a Jr. in  HS getting 
C's and D's because school's not important to him.  So I'd do some things 
differently before he got into a downward spiral:

1.  Don't expect that it will "work out" later.  It never does.

2.  There were only a few teachers/courses that challenged him and he still 
speaks fondly of them.

3.  He ended up being bored in class, then not doing homework, then cutting 
off options.  He'd let the deadlines for the exams for the honors classes 
slip by, then complain about being bored in the regular class.  At first, I 
didn't even know they had to apply, then take an exam for an honors class, 
so I couldn't nag him.  So another year would slip by.  Now he feels he's 
wasting his time in school.

  3a.  I'd have jumped when he started getting B's as a freshman, then C's 
as a sophmore, now D's.

4.  He did apply for  private high schools and I should have made sure he 
got in and accepted admission.  I had a preference for the public HS.  Now 
I think the competition and general higher level of the other students 
would have been valuable.  So if I had to do it again, I would give up on 
public school and move to a challenging private school.  Between middle and 
high school is the best chance to do this.

5.  In HS there is an option of Independent Study.  It's often used by 
actresses, artists, etc. who have other things to do in their lives, but 
can also be used to set up a challenging school situation.  It can often 
also be used in conjunction with some regular or AP or Honors HS classes so 
the student also has a social and athletic life.  It's good for a very 
self-directed student.

6.  Supplemental after-school or summer activities are fine, but won't 
replace school since she'll need to spend her 6 hours/day in school.  And 
school provides the grades for further education.  Her school and most of 
her courses have to challenge her so she doesn't feel she's wasting her time.

I hope you get other suggestions also.   I didn't  handle our situation 
well and can only really say that you have a valid concern and it won't 
"just work out."

I have another child who does very well in middle school, and I've never 
heard her say she's not challenged.  She needs to work to get her homework 
done and pull her A's.  So we'll not have the same problem with her and the 
system will work for her.

Good luck.
Anonymous