Should I let the school test him?

[Katana]

My ds will be starting second grade in about 8 hours, at our public grammar school.

They are probably going to come to me by the end of October and ask to test him, to see if he's gifted. I was told that, last spring, before school let out. :lol

It's not that I'm against the testing, per se, as I have a pretty strong feeling that he will do quite well. It's when he does really well, and they want to put him in the gifted program that I worry about.

Pretty much, any public grammar school's gifted program in my area is the same. Pull the kid out of his regular class to go do a bunch of work in the library, and maybe keep him in from recess, too, if that's when the teacher has the time to be with the kids.

He needs recess. He's a very active, very movement oriented type of person. When he reads, or spells, he has to be moving. He walks/runs around in circles, spelling, reading, and always has. I can't imagine him being happy doing extra sitting, and extra work, especially if the subject matter doesn't interest him. And then, to not have recess? I can see him shutting down and refusing to work, just typing that last sentence.

The man in charge of the gifted program seems to have a lot of personal issues that keep him from devoting the needed time to the students. I know, life happens, and he's had a rough couple of years, but I don't know why they won't give him an assistant at least, to help.

Supposedly, you can request that your child not be kept from recess to do the program, but there's all these politics. Certain parents and our PTO president can be really crazed about this. sigh.

I talked to a lady I work with, who has a son who is very much like ds. She said what was happening with her ds was that he was so bored in his regular classroom that he became a behavior problem, and they had to do something. So she tested him, he scored off the charts, and they then put him in a private school, as the public school's program was lacking.

She also suggested that I ask ds what he wants to do, as ultimately, it is his decision. Which is a very good point that in my worry about all this, I haven't thought of.

Dh and I take public school one week at a time. Right now, with ds being so extroverted, and loving the structure and schedule of a school environment, he is very happy there. He's had two wonderful teachers who have understood who he is, which has been so wonderful. But the older he gets, the more nervous I get about keeping him there. Not every teacher is going to be like his first two.

Right now, there's no way we can afford private school. Homeschooling is a last resort scenario. I'm guessing most people here hs, but it just hasn't been very much of an option here.

I don't even know if this makes any sense, I'm mostly just worrying out loud. I don't want him to be bored, or causing chaos, but I also don't want him missing recess and having to leave his friends to go be in a library. Dh, who ds is a carbon copy of said that all that mattered to him was being with his friends. He could have cared less about people oohing and ahhing about what he could create or do when he was a kid.

Does anyone have any thoughts or advice?

[boongirl]

You can have him tested and not enroll him in the program, even if he scores off the chart. If you have him tested, at least you would have that done. You can decide to not enroll him in the program now but maybe in a year or more, when this teacher moves on, if a better teacher comes in, then you could enroll him. This was done sometimes in a district I used to teach and test in. A few parents got their children tested not to put them in the gifted elementary school program but to make them eligible for the middle school program.

[eilonwy]

I would have him tested (it's usually free when the school does it!) and then see if the scores can help you get him a scholarship to a private school (if there is an appropriate one in your area). I'd also ( :duck: ) start looking at your homeschooling options; there are lots of very extroverted, active kids who homeschool in many areas, and you might be surprised how much stuff you can find for him to do (physically & socially). :thumb

[Roar]

I vote to separate out the decisions of having him testing and missing recess. I would suggest getting him testing because then you have it on record. It opens up the possibility if a better gifted program comes along that he will be ready to join. You never know what will happen - the icky school guy could get hit by a bus, parents could join together to fight the recess thing, etc. but you will have options open. I say take the free testing as helpful information and make programming decisions separate from that.

[Katana]

You can have him tested and not enroll him in the program, even if he scores off the chart. If you have him tested, at least you would have that done. You can decide to not enroll him in the program now but maybe in a year or more, when this teacher moves on, if a better teacher comes in, then you could enroll him. This was done sometimes in a district I used to teach and test in. A few parents got their children tested not to put them in the gifted elementary school program but to make them eligible for the middle school program.

That's a good idea, to have it in case I need it for middle school, or even high school.

I would have him tested (it's usually free when the school does it!) and then see if the scores can help you get him a scholarship to a private school (if there is an appropriate one in your area). I'd also ( ) start looking at your homeschooling options; there are lots of very extroverted, active kids who homeschool in many areas, and you might be surprised how much stuff you can find for him to do (physically & socially).

Yes, the free part is good. :)

I have looked into a few of the private schools in the area. On average, they're $5,000/year per child. There's not too much in the way of scholarships that I know of. They offer some financial aid, but the basic jist is, you want what's best for your child, then it's going to cost you. Most parents take out loans for it and figure the kids will pay them back by not putting them into nursing homes when they're older. :lol

Dh went to private school. He thinks it's ridiculous to spend money on grammar school years, as his view is that kids are basically taught the same thing during K-5th grade, regardless of where they go. He also had miserable experiences there, so that colors his view.

And homeschooling. :bag:

I'm not so worried about social things. Our kids are involved in park district and sports teams, where there are plenty of kids, whether they're in school or not. They have lots of friends in the neighborhood that they play with, and many cousins and other aquaintences. They're very active and social, and I don't see that changing, much.

We know a lot of hs'ing families. I can think of at least fifteen, right off the top of my head. Two of them seem to have well adjsuted, typical kids. The others...:eek So many of them hs to keep control of their children's minds, not to teach them, or help them learn, necessarily. It's pretty scary. And those are the families who are involved in all the groups. I can't imagine being happy or fitting into an environment like that.

I know we'd definitely be unschooling, which is the only way I could see it working. And I do think about this a lot, as we have unschooled in many ways, already. It's not completely off the table, it's just not completely on there yet.

I vote to separate out the decisions of having him testing and missing recess. I would suggest getting him testing because then you have it on record. It opens up the possibility if a better gifted program comes along that he will be ready to join. You never know what will happen - the icky school guy could get hit by a bus, parents could join together to fight the recess thing, etc. but you will have options open. I say take the free testing as helpful information and make programming decisions separate from that.

Separating the issues is a good idea. Yes, the gifted teacher has had some bad luck. First, his wife left him. Then, he got some sort of cancer. Then, his son was in a horrible car accident and in rehabilitaiton for most of last year. It's like, his bad luck never stops. And I'm :lol about him getting hit by a bus. It's very possible, considering what he's already been through.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

[mamabeca]

I vote to test him now, so that it's there for future use. Also, you can use it against the school recs for behavioural issues (which the school can push for it it DOES become an issue) and say that he just needs more time to let it out, rather than spend all his time book-learning. Works both ways, sistah!

Good luck!!!

[Roar]

If your son is aware that he might lose recess with the program, I'd make it really clear to him that you aren't testing so he can get in the program just in case he's the kind to throw the test for that reason.

[Katana]

If your son is aware that he might lose recess with the program, I'd make it really clear to him that you aren't testing so he can get in the program just in case he's the kind to throw the test for that reason.

You know, I didn't even think of this. It could happen, if he doesn't want to do something, he does sabatoge things, at times. Thanks for the suggestion, I'll keep it in mind.

[Katana]

I vote to test him now, so that it's there for future use. Also, you can use it against the school recs for behavioural issues (which the school can push for it it DOES become an issue) and say that he just needs more time to let it out, rather than spend all his time book-learning. Works both ways, sistah!

Good luck!!!

Thanks!

I heard today from a mom who did this last year that they probably won't test him till the spring. So that gives me some time. I'm leaning towards going ahead with it, as long as he wants to do it. Five to six months from now, who knows what will be going on, so that could change.

[eclipse]

I vote to test him, and then ask for an IEP. My friend has suggested that I do this with my son, who will be entering kindergarten in a few weeks. She suggests to have written into the IEP that he will not be removed from his peer group for this - that he is to be taught along side the other children, just given work that is at his level. You can actually request an eval now, regardless of when they regularly test, and they are required to comply and then give an IEP if he has educational needs that are not being met by his current situation.

[Katana]

I vote to test him, and then ask for an IEP. My friend has suggested that I do this with my son, who will be entering kindergarten in a few weeks. She suggests to have written into the IEP that he will not be removed from his peer group for this - that he is to be taught along side the other children, just given work that is at his level. You can actually request an eval now, regardless of when they regularly test, and they are required to comply and then give an IEP if he has educational needs that are not being met by his current situation.

Thanks for this, I'll look into it. :thumb