Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I just though I'd vent a little and share my story. Maybe others have had similar experiences? I have struggled for years and have nearly gone bankrupt to provide an appropriate education for my children. Are my children Learning Disabled? Behavior Disordered? No, they are gifted, high-achievers.
In 1st grade, my child was so far ahead in math and reading that she was given 2 choices: She could quietly sit at her desk and color or read or she could become an unofficial "teacher's assistant" and help teach other students. We took her out of this school immediately and enrolled in a brand new charter school. This charter school promised everything and delivered nothing (it eventually failed). We then tried homeschooling and eventually transferred to a $15K+ a year private college-prep school. This school was better but so expensive and they still could not adequately address the needs of our children (their only solution was to have our children skip grades - we chose not to do this).
Finally, we sold our house, moved hours away from family and friends, and rented a home in (IMO) one of the best (and most-expensive) school districts in our state. Our children then took multiple IQ and Assessment tests (Cogat, Weischer, Stanford-Binet, MAP) and placed in the top 1/4% to 1% in the country for Reading and Math. One child is in the upper 1/4% in Math and attends a free Magnate school (one of the best in the country). After years of struggle, their needs are finally being addressed.
This has been an unbelievable struggle for our family (but it was worth it). I have had to become a full-time advocate for my children. I've spent hundreds of hours in school meetings and have had heated disagreements w/teachers and principals. I've spent thousands of dollars for private schooling and supplemental homeschool products.
Why is it so hard for our society to provide a challenging education to high-achieving students - the future leaders and innovators of our country? And what happens to those gifted kids who have the potential for academic greatness but who, unlike my children, have no funding or parent advocate on their side?
I just though I'd vent a little and share my story. Maybe others have had similar experiences? I have struggled for years and have nearly gone bankrupt to provide an appropriate education for my children. Are my children Learning Disabled? Behavior Disordered? No, they are gifted, high-achievers.
In 1st grade, my child was so far ahead in math and reading that she was given 2 choices: She could quietly sit at her desk and color or read or she could become an unofficial "teacher's assistant" and help teach other students. We took her out of this school immediately and enrolled in a brand new charter school. This charter school promised everything and delivered nothing (it eventually failed). We then tried homeschooling and eventually transferred to a $15K+ a year private college-prep school. This school was better but so expensive and they still could not adequately address the needs of our children (their only solution was to have our children skip grades - we chose not to do this).
Finally, we sold our house, moved hours away from family and friends, and rented a home in (IMO) one of the best (and most-expensive) school districts in our state. Our children then took multiple IQ and Assessment tests (Cogat, Weischer, Stanford-Binet, MAP) and placed in the top 1/4% to 1% in the country for Reading and Math. One child is in the upper 1/4% in Math and attends a free Magnate school (one of the best in the country). After years of struggle, their needs are finally being addressed.
This has been an unbelievable struggle for our family (but it was worth it). I have had to become a full-time advocate for my children. I've spent hundreds of hours in school meetings and have had heated disagreements w/teachers and principals. I've spent thousands of dollars for private schooling and supplemental homeschool products.
Why is it so hard for our society to provide a challenging education to high-achieving students - the future leaders and innovators of our country? And what happens to those gifted kids who have the potential for academic greatness but who, unlike my children, have no funding or parent advocate on their side?
No Child Left Behind has made it impossible for teachers to teach to anyone except the lowest common denominator. Have you considered homeschooling? It sounds like your children would benefit from that situation more than their current school situation.
I understand what you have gone through. My daughter is in first grade and is reading on 5th-6th grade level. Until I addressed the issue, she was sleeping at her desk while others had reading group. After numerous meetings, she is now in second grade for 2 hours (reading) and first grade for the rest of the day. This is working out well. She's less bored and more happy. The second grade teacher asked, "What are you going to do next year?" I guess I'm going to do the same thing next year--fight for my child. Previous poster is right about No Child Left Behind Act. Contrary to its name, NCLB leaves many children behind, especially high-achievers.
No Child Left Behind has made it impossible for teachers to teach to anyone except the lowest common denominator. Have you considered homeschooling? It sounds like your children would benefit from that situation more than their current school situation.
I call that one "no child gets ahead." 2Girls and 2Boys--Why didn't homeschooling with hired tutors work out for you? The thing is, when your children are that bright, they can be taking charge of their own education. My girls homeschooled for years, are now in public school, and they often advocate for themselves. The school often doesn't quite know how to take it when the girls go in and state (very nicely) what they would like to do. My girls also score quite high, so the school is generally happy to grant their requests--within reason. I don't know--I haven't been feeling quite that disgruntled, but then maybe I'm easier to please or we spend more time gathering our own materials or we're just happier with our public school.
I tend to steer clear of "programs" and go for high quality books--it's cheaper by far. Anyway, good luck with that, and I'm glad you found the school you're looking for.
American public education is designed with the idea that ALL children learn and achieve at similar levels, and most private schools mirror what is taught in most public schools even in spite of advertising to the contrary (which you learned the hard way). Since the advent of NCLB, teachers are mandated to teach to what I consider to be the minimum level. As a teacher, I can say it sucks. It sucks for me as the teacher to be micromanaged and stuck with curriculum created by others who are usually not teachers. It sucks for my high achieving students who are stuck with the meet the bare minimum standards. It sucks for my lower level students who cannot have the deficiencies addressed and be able to move forward. It sucks when students who do well in these bare minimum classes come to my AP classes and are shocked and traumatized by the amount of work they have to do to catch up to where they need to be. NCLB is designed to bring the medium and low level students to a mediocore range of testing skills - it's not about learning, it's about scoring proficient on tests in the name of political expediency.
To give you an example, I teach inner-city high school and have always had extremely high pass rates on state and district exams because I ignore the district pacing plan and actually teach my students. This year, all teachers are working to create a common curriculum district-wide. Our district curriculum "expert" has divided the number of questions by the standards that cover those questions and derived a formula that says teach X for this many minutes, teach Y for this many minutes with the goal to "cover" all of the standards that are going to be on the state test before the exam. I asked about reading novels in class - after all I do teach English. He replied that it is not necessary to read the entire book - "an excerpt will give students the gist of it." I was told emphatically the point is to prepare students to do well on the exams, and I needed to get with the program - the program, of course, being the plan created by the expert who has never taught English, or high school for that matter.
Yea NCLB!
You are fortunate that you have the time and resources to find appropriate schooling that will meet the needs of your children. I am fortunate that I have only one more child who has only a year to finish high school. I fear for the education of my grandchildren. Sometimes I fear for my teaching career because one day someone is going to pay attention and notice that I am not following the party line. Hopefully, this insanity will end before that time.
I found it--it was called homeschool. We did a lot of reading--independent reading and reading out loud. They are way ahead of the kids in their school--in reading and everything else b/c they were allowed to gain the background knowledge that you need to understand what is going on in this world, which is sadly lacking in most schools. I sub at school and I like to read to the kids. I was reading a Dave Barry column to a group of fifth graders and some of them didn't even know what he was talking about, though I had chosen one w/ no adult content. How sad is that? Maybe the reason they hate to read is b/c they don't know what the author is talking about. It's a sad cycle--the kids start to struggle, so we respond by making it all easier.
I It's a sad cycle--the kids start to struggle, so we respond by making it all easier.
Yet no one in a position to actually make changes seems to notice. Every year, I've taught Antigone in my 10th grade English classes complete with background of the Oedipus trilogy and Aristotle's Elements of Tragedy from The Poetics. Not only do they learn this, they do well, and the love it. This year, I've been told I need something easier because there aren't that many questions about drama on the CST, and they can learn enough drama reading an easier play, so I use use an excerpt from the anthology.
Did I already say Yea NCLB?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I was told emphatically the point is to prepare students to do well on the exams, and I needed to get with the program - the program, of course, being the plan created by the expert who has never taught English, or high school for that matter. 
