7-year-old: Bright, bored and having some problems

My seven year old grandson has all the characteristics of a gifted child with learning differences. He is primarily a visual-spatial learner. He presently attends Washington school in Point Richmond which has been a fairly good environment for him but his teacher tells me he is like a ''square peg in a round hole.'' I would like to find a school for him anywhere from Richmond to Berkeley with curricula that accomodates different learning styles. I would appreciate any comments, thoughts or suggestions. D

When my son, now in middle school was in elementary school, we began pushing for the legally mandated GATE Council at the school. This council makes sure that teachers differentiate instruction every day in every subject.

Of course we worried that teachers would hold it against the kids - us pushing and pushing to get a reasonably adequate education. Our daughter has benefited from our work on behalf of our son. What we found out is that for my son it was rough for about a year - but not any more rough than being bored stiff.

Here is what we found out from a specialist - your grandson must be challenged. Until you can do this at school, you must get him involved in competitive chess, ongoing foreign language classes or musical instrument lessons where he learns to read and compose music. This is because the drop out and lrisky behaviorn rate in middle and high school depends exclusively on excellence without effort in elementary school.

You're lucky he attends Washington as this is the school where Berkeley's Academic Talent Development Program has its three week summer program. At ATDP your grandson will meet lots and lots of square pegs - my kids included. A Houseful of Square Pegs

Most schools are just not set up to teach gifted kids and only respond to the needs of academically motivated children, not the same as giftedness. Gifted children learn differently, they do not need as much repetition, they ask a lot of questions, want more in depth instruction and as you said sometimes have learning differences such as visual-spatial. Being gifted can be very threatening to most teachers/schools. Also, gifted kids are the most at-risk.

For your grandson to reach his potential, be himself with true peers and have the best chance of happiness and fulfillment in life, he needs to be understood, supported and challenged. He needs to be in a school for gifted children.

For my two gifted sons, I looked at the four gifted schools in the Bay Area: Nueva, Odyssey, Baywood and Dunham Academy; as well as other schools not for the gifted: Hillbrook, Bentley, Head-Royce, The Academy, Black Pine Circle School and Athenian.

Bar none, Dunham Academy was the best fit for my two sons. The Dunhams are not trying to create some exclusive, status symbol of a school. Their passion, their lives are to meet the needs of gifted children and they do that exceptionally well. http://www.giftedschool.org/ Sheila

Public school for gifted 2nd grader

Hi - I have a gifted 2nd grader at a good Oakland public school who is 2 grades above level in math and reading. We are going to be moving out of our too-small home and am hoping to kill 2 birds with one stone by finding a better home as well as a better educational fit for my child. I've toured many private schools in Oakland and found them to be lovely but unaffordable (I have two children), and also the academic gap was still an open question at these institutions. I know that some public schools have gifted programs of some measure, where children receive some extra challenging work or small group projects - at my child's school, if a child tests as gifted then the school receives $50 or so extra from the state, but that's all. It hasn't been much of an issue yet, but as my child gets older I can see that it might very well be. I'm not an idealist - I understand the staffing ratios at public school and I'm not looking for a custom-made, individually tailored curriculum either. I'm just wondering if there are others in a similar situation who have found some kind of solution and if you would be willing to recommend your child's school. I am open to suggestions all the way from Lafayette to Marin and in between. Thanks, and VERY grateful!

Teachers and principals say that they serve gifted children by offering differentiated instruction, but in my (extensive) experience, it's limited. Differentiation for one of my sons consisted of being told to leave the classroom during reading lessons, and go to the library to work, unsupervised, on a report. Another teacher allowed us to substitute our own list of spelling words for the official list. More relevant and more exasperating is the obstruction throughout the school system of children's efforts to advance to higher level classes. The Middle School principal has reversed a long-standing policy of allowing children with previous exposure to a foreign language to begin their study at a more advanced level, and now offers those children the choice between waiting to begin taking a language until the other students have caught up, or beginning in the most elementary class. After a parent revolt in the High School, select students were allowed to take two science courses simultaneously so as to be able to take all the available courses before graduating, but current students are again complaining that science and math courses are rationed. Middle school kids are allowed to advance one year in math, but the advancement criterion is so strict that only a tiny number are eligible.

In short, there's an outright disregard of acceleration, and a surprising number of Piedmont residents wind up sending their gifted children to private schools. (I've just learned that yet another of my friends has moved to Piedmont to put her learning disabled child in the public school, while sending her academically gifted child to a private school.) I'm avidly awaiting the answers you'll get, in the hopes of finding a better option for my children. In the meanwhile, I'd suggest that you not give up too easily on private schools. One of my children got a scholarship that completely transformed her life, and I only wish I hadn't been so pessimistic and had let her apply years earlier. Not so gifted when it comes to gifted kids!

For 4th-5th grade, research schools that have GATE programs and then talk to the principal or other GATE parents to assess the program's quality. By middle and high school, more students will emerge as bright, and pretty much all these students will be grouped together in advanced classes. -- a mom

7th grader who loves math and science

Is there any school for my 7th grade son who loves math and science? I find many schools and programs that address children with learning differences, learning disabilities, ADD, ADHD, ASD, NLD, and special education. We don't need (or want) these programs. My son is atttentive, studies hard, loves academics, and wants an academically challenging environment. We live in Oakland, and haven't much money. Suggestions? Parent of a nerd

School for highly gifted 7-year-old

I am desperately looking for a school for my highly gifted 7-yr old son. Right now he is utterly miserable and frustrated in ''conventional'' school. He needs a place where there are other kids like him and teachers have experience in dealing with highly gifted children. Any schools you can recommend? We are willing to look at public or private schools anywhere in the Bay Area. Thank you.

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