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--If her DS truly is gifted/accelerated, then it is likely that worksheets where they are doing single digit addition in 2nd grade is too easy for him. My son did these in K and 1st and could not stand the sight of them anymore. I cannot even imagine if he had to do them again in 2nd.
I had to ask about this. My granddaughter is in a suburb of Houston. They were not doing single digit addition worksheets in second grade. The curriculum has been accelerated from what it was when my own children were in school in that K is the new 1st grade, etc., I have to wonder about this statement about the Austin public schools to begin with.
At any rate, I do think that doing lots of worksheets are going to be a turn off to many kids especially to very bright ones.
The other point though is that children who are academically bright are often the ones placed in GT programs. The ones who get missed are the superbright who are bored, turn off and don't bother. My daughter had a friend in hs who was like this. He got Ds and Fs in math, yet he was actually very bright. He did the minimum because his parents did not expect more of him and because he was bored by it all.
I had to ask about this. My granddaughter is in a suburb of Houston. They were not doing single digit addition worksheets in second grade. The curriculum has been accelerated from what it was when my own children were in school in that K is the new 1st grade, etc., I have to wonder about this statement about the Austin public schools to begin with.
At any rate, I do think that doing lots of worksheets are going to be a turn off to many kids especially to very bright ones.
The other point though is that children who are academically bright are often the ones placed in GT programs. The ones who get missed are the superbright who are bored, turn off and don't bother. My daughter had a friend in hs who was like this. He got Ds and Fs in math, yet he was actually very bright. He did the minimum because his parents did not expect more of him and because he was bored by it all.
I promise, I am not making it up. They were doing drills to get ready for the TAKS which isn't even given until the third grade.
I am still in touch with several of the parents that are in the GT program that was part of my son's old school and they are very frustrated (two have actually called me to vent and to ask how the homeschooling experiment is going). On the one hand, the school has made kindergarten like the old first grade. Less finger paints, no naps, academic work but on the other hand then first grade doesn't really pick up pace. Let me reiterate though, that was our experience being at the school for just over a year. Houston has a different school system so their curriculum will be different.
Your point about the super-bright sometimes being missed is right on.
I promise, I am not making it up. They were doing drills to get ready for the TAKS which isn't even given until the third grade.
Were the students possibly reviewing math facts to enable them to solve multi-digit problems more quickly? The point of the drills is to improve speed. It's a very, very traditional method, but it's also pretty common. Second grade math is not, however, limited to single digit figuring. At this level, students are working out word problems, learning how to carry numbers, graphing, showing their work in both pictures and math sentences, and using line plots. My second grader is also doing some work with basic fractions and geometry.
Were the students possibly reviewing math facts to enable them to solve multi-digit problems more quickly? The point of the drills is to improve speed. It's a very, very traditional method, but it's also pretty common.
My 4th grader is doing Kumon math, and math drills is all it is. The goal is to improve speed and accuracy which helps greatly with the other math he is doing at school. No slouches in the Kumon program.
My 4th grader is doing Kumon math, and math drills is all it is. The goal is to improve speed and accuracy which helps greatly with the other math he is doing at school. No slouches in the Kumon program.
Ours have used Investigations, but it sounds similar.
Were the students possibly reviewing math facts to enable them to solve multi-digit problems more quickly? The point of the drills is to improve speed. It's a very, very traditional method, but it's also pretty common. Second grade math is not, however, limited to single digit figuring. At this level, students are working out word problems, learning how to carry numbers, graphing, showing their work in both pictures and math sentences, and using line plots. My second grader is also doing some work with basic fractions and geometry.
Exactly. I think it's possible to take a snapshot of any one moment in a classroom, present it in its worst possible light and then try to unfairly characterize what truly goes on. It would be the same as if I walked by a parent snapping in frustration at their child in a grocery store, or allowing them to eat a junky meal of cotton candy and nachos. Sure, if that's all they did, it would be poor parenting. But probably that parent does lots of good things too, and it's just a part of the big picture. Similarly, speed drills to reinforce previous concepts can be a useful tool for many students (again remembering that when you enroll your kid in public school, you're getting the method that works for most kids. If you want instruction tailored only to your kid, homeschool.)
Additionally, I think it's important to compare apples to apples. It's not fair to compare a magnet school in Seattle that only allows the top 2% of students to even attend to a public school in Texas that takes 100% of students. If you wanted to make a fair comparison, you would have to either compare it to a magnet school in Texas (which AISD doesn't have at the elementary level) or compare a regular ed classroom in Seattle to the top 2% magnet school in Seattle. Calling the regular ed classroom "dumbed down" and then trying to slam all public schools in Texas when you are comparing apples to oranges just looks foolish. I don't think anyone with an ounce of common sense would have expected a classroom designed for all learners to be exactly the same as one where they refuse to admit anyone but the top 2% of students.
How sad that people expect parents to basically hide their child's giftedness or risk being accused of bragging, and heaven forbid they should impart to their child that he/she is gifted (though trust me, a truly gifted child already knows he/she is different).
If a parent has a child who is athletically gifted, does the parent try to stifle their ability or do they usually get out there with the child and practice throwing, catching, hitting, etc? But somehow, that's ok!
The truth of the matter is, be it sports, music or academics, some kids/people are just WAY more athletic, more musically inclined, or much smarter. They are born with a gift, whatever that gift may be. Should Michael Phelps' parents tried to stifle his gift in swimming so other people would not think they believed their son was better at swimming than their kids? Well guess, what! Their son WAS better than the other kids! They didn't stifle that gift, they nurtured it.
My dd is on a swim team. She works very hard and does well, but she is an AVERAGE swimmer when compared to all the other kids. There are kids who do not work half as hard as she does, but they were born with a NATURAL gift and they EXCEL at the sport. The parents of these gifted kids can not even say one word about how well their child did at a past meet without other parents talking behind their backs about how the parent is bragging! They are not bragging; their child has a gift and they are proud of it. So what?! Yet somehow it is ok for the parents of average swimmers to talk about their child's accomplishments, i.e. stating their child dropped time in the 50 free. But heaven forbid the parent with the gifted swimmer says their child dropped time AND won a medal; that's seen as bragging.
Parents of academically gifted children are NOT bragging, they just want to nurture their child's talent. The only difference is their child is talented academically.
I'm sorry, but I have to say, this seems really unfair.
You don't know all the reasons she is choosing to stay away from your local public schools.
--From what I read, it seems they were lacking compared to the accelerated program they came from in Seattle (?).
--If her DS truly is gifted/accelerated, then it is likely that worksheets where they are doing single digit addition in 2nd grade is too easy for him. My son did these in K and 1st and could not stand the sight of them anymore. I cannot even imagine if he had to do them again in 2nd.
It is not that worksheets in and of themselves are evil, but for *some* gifted childen, they smack of tedium and repetition. Gifted children usually do not need to do the same amount of drill and repetition work that regular learners need.
--If 64% of your students come from economically disadvantaged families, maybe the education is fine relative to their backgrounds and their expectations. That doesn't mean it fits with the other poster's needs and expectations.
Surely Austin has some superior and, one might imagine, expensive private schools, both secular and religious. Surely the poster is not the only person in the Austin area who does not feel that public schools are not the best fit for her child.
--Perhaps the poster's DS has other needs that you don't know about that would not be met in the public school system. One school cannot be all things to all children.
--No where is the other poster going on about her "little pumpkin" and her "wunderkind". From what she says, her son is remarkably intelligent. I have no reason to doubt her. Why is this threatening to you? It is not elitist that some people, yes even children, are incredibly smart. It is a fact of life.
How sad that people expect parents to basically hide their child's giftedness or risk being accused of bragging, and heaven forbid they should impart to their child that he/she is gifted (though trust me, a truly gifted child already knows he/she is different).
If a parent has a child who is athletically gifted, does the parent try to stifle their ability or do they usually get out there with the child and practice throwing, catching, hitting, etc? But somehow, that's ok!
The truth of the matter is, be it sports, music or academics, some kids/people are just WAY more athletic, more musically inclined, or much smarter. They are born with a gift, whatever that gift may be. Should Michael Phelps' parents tried to stifle his gift in swimming so other people would not think they believed their son was better at swimming than their kids? Well guess, what! Their son WAS better than the other kids! They didn't stifle that gift, they nurtured it.
My dd is on a swim team. She works very hard and does well, but she is an AVERAGE swimmer when compared to all the other kids. There are kids who do not work half as hard as she does, but they were born with a NATURAL gift and they EXCEL at the sport. The parents of these gifted kids can not even say one word about how well their child did at a past meet without other parents talking behind their backs about how the parent is bragging! They are not bragging; their child has a gift and they are proud of it. So what?! Yet somehow it is ok for the parents of average swimmers to talk about their child's accomplishments, i.e. stating their child dropped time in the 50 free. But heaven forbid the parent with the gifted swimmer says their child dropped time AND won a medal; that's seen as bragging.
Parents of academically gifted children are NOT bragging, they just want to nurture their child's talent. The only difference is their child is talented academically.
I don't think that people expect parents to hide their children's accomplishments- it's OK for them to be proud. BUT There is a big difference between a child being gifted at athletics and a child being gifted at academics. The more athletic child will run faster and win the race. You can see the cartwheel they are doing or that they can do the backstroke.
Academic giftedness seems to be more subjective in many ways. For every parent proud of their child's perfect SAT score or their acceptance into MIT there is a parent who thinks their kid is a genius because they remarked that the sky is blue - and will tell everyone within earshot. And then on top of that they complain that their child is far too intelligent to be subjected to all of the "other" kids who are less observant of the atmosphere. And hey, that horrible public school doesn't even have a skylight -how will little Johnny develop his skills of observation?
For every parent proud of their child's perfect SAT score or their acceptance into MIT there is a parent who thinks their kid is a genius because they remarked that the sky is blue - and will tell everyone within earshot.
I agree with you but I don't think Jennibc is one of 'those' parents and I don't believe she deserves some of the flack she's been getting in this post.
As for the topic of the thread, behavior problems in gifted children in the YOUNGER grades is not uncommon. Just as a child with a learning disability will often misbehave in school due to the frustrations of being behind academically, so does the child who is academically gifted often misbehave due to the frustrations of being completely bored out of his/her mind!
Neither the learning disabled child nor the academically gifted child is mature enough to understand and verbalize those frustrations, and so often misbehave. Realize that 1st graders typically seek to please the adults in their lives, so again, the misbehavior is usually born out of frustration.
The problem, however, is often where the schools/teachers understand that a child who is struggling will act out and they seek to provide the accommodations necessary to help the child succeed, often times the opposite is true where the gifted child is concerned. They don't realize that for the gifted child school is just as frustrating for them as it is for the academically challenged child.
They often blame the child and blame the parents. Tell a teacher you believe your child is misbehaving because they are bored and you've just committed a cardinal sin. Many teachers do not have the time or understanding to meet the gifted child's needs. OTOH, the learning disabled child has an IEP that the teacher, by law, needs to follow, and so will act accordingly.
So now the public schools across the country have created gifted programs, but every district's program can and does differ. In my district the GATE program consists of the children being pulled from regular class for one hour a week in which they can pursue their own interests and create a project around it.
I have two children currently in the public school system. Neither is gifted. I have an older child now an adult. He is gifted. The GATE program in our district would never have met his needs. He needed to be in a class with other children who learned as quickly as he did. Back when he was younger, he did not have this available to him. He tells me now how his primary years in school were complete TORTURE. That is the word he used. TORTURE. Ask any adult who had a learning disability in school and received no help what they thought of school. Something tells me they would use the same word.
Currently in my district it does seem that the parents who have kids in the GATE program see it as a status symbol, because I can't see how any parent with a truly gifted child would be satisfied with the program in place. One hour a week? So for the other 29 hours, a truly gifted child will be sitting is school feeling like they are being tortured.
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