Smart kid vs School is too easy (child, teach, teacher)
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And do tell how this will tell a person about their child?
Well, in some families where finances are more of a challenge it is much harder for children to achieve to their full potential. It is more difficult for parents who are financially challenged to meet their children's needs. Weird work schedules may make it difficult to help them with their schoolwork, for example. I have tutored reading to children in these circumstances, because that's how I myself grew up and learning to read was difficult. Also, some parents with less education just don't know how to help their children with schoolwork. Children where English is not the language spoken at home also may have a harder time. I don't think you can label your child especially bright unless he is competing with others with equal advantages or equal disadvantages. Schools can be easier or harder based on demographics. Hopefully the OP does have an especially bright child! All parents want that!
Well, in some families where finances are more of a challenge it is much harder for children to achieve to their full potential. It is more difficult for parents who are financially challenged to meet their children's needs. Weird work schedules may make it difficult to help them with their schoolwork, for example. I have tutored reading to children in these circumstances, because that's how I myself grew up and learning to read was difficult. Also, some parents with less education just don't know how to help their children with schoolwork. Children where English is not the language spoken at home also may have a harder time. I don't think you can label your child especially bright unless he is competing with others with equal advantages or equal disadvantages. Schools can be easier or harder based on demographics. Hopefully the OP does have an especially bright child! All parents want that!
None of that tells a patent about their child. It's quite possible to be smart and well taught with all those concerns and in a school with challenges.
Look at the student if you want to know about an individual.
One quick and easy way to test a child's intelligence is to get in the habit of making jokes. The faster the child laughs at the joke, the more likely they're more intelligent. Because, higher intelligence makes jokes become clearer faster. A slow child might not get the joke at first, and might laugh politely, upon perceiving that it's a joke, without really understanding the joke. That polite laugh is easy to recognize, and differentiate from a real laugh when a joke is understood faster.
But people should also keep in mind that just because a child doesn't laugh at their jokes doesn't always mean the child is dumb. Just as often it means the joke is dumb.
If your child gets straight A's all the time. how do you know if he is just real smart vs the school is not challenging enough(sorry to say).
A child may be getting straight As and the school and his class are just right for him (so he does not need additional challenges),
Or he may need more challenges,
Or he may be a very, very hard worker and the work is actually quite difficult for him,
Or the teacher may be a very easy grader and many/most of the children in the class are getting straight As, too.
IMHO, grades, especially in elementary school, do not give as much information as a standardized test.
if your kid studies and has a positive attitude towards learning/school... then just enjoy it....for gawds sake
leave well enough alone...
we had some "advanced" kids in our class,,,,, and their parents asked the same questions,,,, and the kids were separated to the library for "advanced" learning/subject matter... for half the day
the kids hated it.......
it stigmatized them...
one of the boys was pushed a grade ahead...... the boy didn't want to be,,,,he was now the smallest boy in the class and got picked on,,,,kids can be cruel
You talk to his teacher and find out if he's understanding the material and getting those As easily or not. You ask if he's being challenged to do work above his grade level and find out what areas he's strongest in and look for resources outside of school that support him in those area, as well as what in school resources are offered, such as support from a gifted and talented teacher.
And yes, you listen to your child and how he expresses himself and what his interests are. If he's interested in science, join the closest science museum and make sure he gets to visit often, so he can keep getting exposed to things outside of school.
And not every child hates the "advanced" pull out sessions - my son's favorite teacher is the gifted and talented teacher and I think he would have hated school if he didn't have that additional stimulation to keep him interested.
Nobody has answered the other part of your question - how do you tell if a school is not academically challenging?
Look at what schools it feeds. Ask teachers from those schools. (For example, if elementary school A feeds middle school B, ask a teacher from middle school B about how prepared the kids from elementary school A are. They can usually tell.). Also look at the school's statistics, especially how their kids do on standardized achievement tests.
And lastly - sit down and watch your kid do his homework. If you watch, you can usually tell pretty easily if the kid is smart or the homework is dumb.
If your child gets straight A's all the time. how do you know if he is just real smart vs the school is not challenging enough(sorry to say).
If your kid is reasonably intelligent, he can make As all through the K-12 school system. Elementary school through high school isn't that challenging, even at good schools.
If that kid goes on to college and picks a tough major like engineering, accounting, or computer science and continues to make straight As all through his upper level courses, then I would say he is very smart.
if your kid studies and has a positive attitude towards learning/school... then just enjoy it....for gawds sake
leave well enough alone...
we had some "advanced" kids in our class,,,,, and their parents asked the same questions,,,, and the kids were separated to the library for "advanced" learning/subject matter... for half the day
the kids hated it.......
it stigmatized them...
one of the boys was pushed a grade ahead...... the boy didn't want to be,,,,he was now the smallest boy in the class and got picked on,,,,kids can be cruel
be careful what you ask for,,
Wow, your experience with Gifted & Talented programs was the total opposite of the experience of my children, my nieces & nephews, the children of my friends and the children in all of the schools where I was a teacher.
Those children all loved the extra learning opportunities, individual and small group attention and being able to do challenging activities (usually on topics that they were able to select).
If your child gets straight A's all the time. how do you know if he is just real smart vs the school is not challenging enough(sorry to say).
I would consider the amount of time and effort the child needs to put forth, in order to get those straight As. If the child works hard, spends a fair amount of time doing homework, asks questions, but doesn't really seem to "extend" what he's learned in class to other aspects of his life, then it's probably a good fit, and you have a bright kid who is being appropriately challenged.
If you have a child who breezes through the classes with minimal effort and never has homework because he finished it in class or while waiting for the bus, doesn't have to study much...perhaps not challenging enough.
I happen to have one of each. They both get good grades, but for different reasons.
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