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I do question, though, why so many are always so quick to challenge a parent who says there child is gifted, particularly on CD? Notice how, when a parent claims there child has an LD, no one ever challenges that here? Why do so many on CD believe a parent can recognize an LD in their child, but not giftedness?
This is not necessarily directed at you, just something I have noticed here time and time again.
Good point wsop. While you were posting I went back and changed my post trying to be more (hopefully) encouraging. But a truly gifted 5-year old is way beyond listing the Bill of Rights. They're asking for books on the Founding Fathers.
(I really do try hard not to be snarky. Honest. But my standards for giftedness are very, very high. I suspect higher than those used in schools today? Which may be a whole other discussion. I see some Googling in my future to read about today's standards.)
Could be the point trying to be made is the amazing memory her dd possesses, which is a trait of gifted children.
True, having an amazing memory does not mean one is gifted; my youngest has an amazing memory and is not gifted, my oldest has an amazing memory and is gifted.
I do question, though, why so many are always so quick to challenge a parent who says there child is gifted, particularly on CD? Notice how, when a parent claims there child has an LD, no one ever challenges that here? Why do so many on CD believe a parent can recognize an LD in their child, but not giftedness?
This is not necessarily directed at you, just something I have noticed here time and time again.
I think part of the issue is that there are extremely fluid criteria for gifted programs throughout the US. And of course, there's a huge difference between, say, a kid who is generally bright and chattery and scores a 125 on the WISC-R, and another child who is not the least chattery or socially motivated, but has managed a composite score of 170 even with a 50 point verbal subtest suppression.
One tends to want to think the best of one's child. Even assuming that internet message board users are toward the high end of the intellectual scale (and I pulled that out of a hat, I've no idea if it's true or false), one could safely assume that in some cases, "my child is gifted" may be a wee bit of a stretch.
In general, though, I'm more impressed by claims of a five year old's ability to synthesize information (e.g., drawing parallels and contrasting the differences between the graphics on her brother's T-shirt, the cathedral's Rose Window, and daddy's Escher calendar) than by mere acquisition of information ("Isabella has memorized A.A. Milne's Vespers!" Not that anyone should try and impress me.
If you came to my classroom with that attitude, you would be setting me up for barriers to cooperation right out of the gate. No doubt your experience with your child is extremely valuable input to the IEP process. But YOU KNOW WHAT should be in the IEP? What the heck do you need a teacher for? Why don't you teach him?
Just sayin' sometimes a little cooperation goes a long way.
Why NOT? Why wouldn't you want a cheerful, positive person? You basically want to tell the teacher exactly how to be.
That sounds like on the middle to upper end of the normal range to me.
If I had your child in the classroom, I would avoid you like the bubonic plague. Just sayin. Something to think about.
I have seen how many times the school district BANKS on the parent having no clue how the IEP process works, or that the parent even realizes they have a SAY in the IEP or classroom placement.
Sounds like the poster you responded to has experienced this first-hand.
Good point wsop. While you were posting I went back and changed my post trying to be more (hopefully) encouraging. But a truly gifted 5-year old is way beyond listing the Bill of Rights. They're asking for books on the Founding Fathers.
(I really do try hard not to be snarky. Honest. But my standards for giftedness are very, very high. I suspect higher than those used in schools today? Which may be a whole other discussion. I see some Googling in my future to read about today's standards.)
I feel the same way as the bolded. I also think I have a hard time with any kid being labeled whether it is with "gifted" or with a LD.
Besides my high standards for actually getting put into one of those categories, I do think that both are over-used and sometimes parents need to recognize that even though they think their child is fantastic (who doesn't), not everyone thinks so. What you find amazing may not be that amazing to the next person.
**disclaimer: I am not talking about any particular poster in any particular thread. These are just my thoughts on the general subject.**
In general, though, I'm more impressed by claims of a five year old's ability to synthesize information (e.g., drawing parallels and contrasting the differences between the graphics on her brother's T-shirt, the cathedral's Rose Window, and daddy's Escher calendar) than by mere acquisition of information ("Isabella has memorized A.A. Milne's Vespers!" Not that anyone should try and impress me.
I have seen how many times the school district BANKS on the parent having no clue how the IEP process works, or that the parent even realizes they have a SAY in the IEP or classroom placement.
Sounds like the poster you responded to has experienced this first-hand.
I have seen that here. Not so much the teachers-- because IME, teachers rarely are up to date on SpEd law either, and I don't think it's entirely reasonable to expect them to be-- but the LEA representatives and department heads. I get that the district staff are looking out for their bottom line, and I get that just because Mom thinks Joey needs Dragonspeak software doesn't mean he does. (On rare occasions it may also, IME as an advocate, mean one of her support group friends mentioned her kid got it. Or the schools may have something even newer and cooler, or less new and cool but just as usable in little Joey's case.) But there are also some times when the district personnel say no because they've developed a habit of it. So it's understandable to me that parents get their hackles up from time to time. To the district, Joey's one of 100,000 kids. To his parents, he's the only Joey.
I feel the same way as the bolded. I also think I have a hard time with any kid being labeled whether it is with "gifted" or with a LD.
Besides my high standards for actually getting put into one of those categories, I do think that both are over-used and sometimes parents need to recognize that even though they think their child is fantastic (who doesn't), not everyone thinks so. What you find amazing may not be that amazing to the next person.
**disclaimer: I am not talking about any particular poster in any particular thread. These are just my thoughts on the general subject.**
Yes. I too think the LD label is used too much and I'm not sure why we are so quick, today, to slap labels on young children.
If on top of the three tests the child has 30 math problems to complete, 20 sentences to write, 30 minutes of required reading and 2 paragraphs summarizing the reading and is in grades 3 - 5, three tests in one day is too much!
I don't know how many parents know this, but teachers need X number of grades per subject per marking period. What happens is a couple of weeks before grades close out, teachers are scrambling to to cram in tests to meet that number X.
I know, there isn't enough time in a marking period, never mind a day, to get everything done, and I am not necessarily blaming teachers for this. I know it's tough. But that's not the child's fault. And it's very hard for a parent to help a child organize their study time when the teacher is not organized enough to space out tests over a reasonable amount of time.
Maybe at YOUR school this is the case but it is not the case across the board.
So, your child gets assigned ALL of this work in ONE day and it's all due the next day
In general, though, I'm more impressed by claims of a five year old's ability to synthesize information (e.g., drawing parallels and contrasting the differences between the graphics on her brother's T-shirt, the cathedral's Rose Window, and daddy's Escher calendar) than by mere acquisition of information ("Isabella has memorized A.A. Milne's Vespers!" Not that anyone should try and impress me.
I am along the same lines. I am much more proud of my DD when she thinks something through and comes up with her analysis of a situation than having her count to 100 in 3 languages at 5 years old. I love to watch her think and not just pull up memorized information. I was impressed when we were driving down the street last year and one of us made a comment about how our KFC/Taco Bell/Pizza Hut was now just KFC/Taco Bell. A couple of minues go by and DD says (from her booster seat) "I think they must have closed down Pizza Hut part of it because that part wasn't making money. So to keep from having to lose money, they just closed that part of it." Actually knowing that my child can use her brain to analyze information instead of just reciting information is much more important to me than having a label.
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