Where to go with a gifted child?

Question

I am concerned about meeting the needs of my daughter, who is turning four in June. She has been reading since last September and is already reading at a 2nd-3rd grade level, and I have been told that she is drawing at a 1st-2nd grade level. There is no four-year-old kindergarten in our area except for a private school. I'd love to send her there, but it's expensive. Where do I go with this child? Is there somewhere else I can look for financial aid besides the school (which has only offered minimal help)? The school district isn't any help at all. I'm afraid if I don't get her into school this fall she might lose interest or get bored. I want to make sure I nurture this ability of hers instead of wasting it! Any ideas? Who do I call?

Answer 1

There is a school for gifted and talented in Fox Point.  I don't know much about the school or if financial aid is available but it might be worth checking out.  Have you considered home schooling?  I've found that a lot of people with gifted children find that a better alternative to traditional school in order for the children to stay enthusiastic learners.  

http://www.homeschooling-wpa.org/

Answer 2

Well, I don't have a story or kids because I am only 15, but that's cool.

Answer 3

my story-

my daughter was in the same boat. and i was given a terrible run around because i'm a young, single mom. i called the school district and said that i wanted her to be tested to start school early. they were like, 'oh, it's really hard to pass the testing to start school early. your daughter has to have a iq over 130...blah blah blah'. and i said, 'right, i want to have her tested to start school early.'

so they set up her first test with the school guidance couselor. of course she passed with flying colors and went on to take 2 more tests with the school psychologist on a different day. after passing those, they  then gave her yet ANOTHER test and passed that. it was quite a lot of testing.

after the four tests, we had a 'team meeting' which consisted of me, the school psychologist and the school principal. again, my daughter was in the same boat as yours, reading at 3, writing, drawing, adding, patterning, sorting, etc... the school psychologist still didn't recommend her starting early. luckily, she passed all the tests so highly, that i had the right to say, 'well, i want her to start.' and she did.

and i don't regret it one bit.

she's the youngest in her class, yes. she's in second grade. still the highest reader in the class. doing basic multiplication and basic division. she's not any smaller than the other kids and fits in great.

in my senior year of college (my daughter was 3 at the time and i knew she was gifted), i did my critical inquiry paper on whether it was advantageous to place gifted children in acceleration programs or simply in enrichment programs. i'll be honest with you, i was hard pressed to find information saying that acceleration is not good for gifted children. you really need to pick up and read in a hurry:

Genius Denied

you'll love it. you should read it before you embark on your daughter's grade school adventures. YOU are your daughter's best advocate.

so what you need to do now (may is the time of the year to do it), is call your public school district and tell them that you want your daughter tested to start school one year early. don't let them push you around. get familiar with your state's information and policies on gifted education before you call and before you go for the first round of testing. be sure that your daughter knows that there is no doing good or bad on the test. i told my daughter that they do these tests with all types of kids to see the best way she learn. be sure that you really want to put her through the tests, too.

a good site to look at is the davidson's institute for talented development. there are so many articles on early childhood giftedness that would be so helpful to you. here's the link to their articles on giftedness in early childhood education:

http://www.gt-cybersource.org/ArticleRes...

i have found their website extremely useful for all sorts of information and guidelines.

good luck!

EDIT:

as i mentioned above, most studies say that gifted students do better with their intellectual peers than their age peers.

i wrote and defended my senior seminar on this matter.

my daughter is doing splendidly having skipped a grade. i agree that schools don't do enough for our gifted kids. but in all honesty, there is not one group of kids who gets the true education they need. special needs kids are placed in groups with such a wide range of skills, be it low functioning special needs kids or high functioning special needs kids. in a gifted program you're going to have moderately gifted kids and extremely gifted just like the other end of the spectrum..

my point being is that a child's academics are fostered both at school and at home. a child will do socially fine if they skip a grade. if you worry about your daughter being with age peers, put her in things like dance or soccer. that's what i do. but when i listen to my daughter dumb down her language to be around her age peers, i know i did the right thing by letting her start school early.

please please PLEASE read Genius Denied and go to the website for the davidson institute for talented development.

you will learn all about the advantages of putting your daughter in school a year early. you will read how, with kids like ours, it is quite normal for them to start school a year early or skip a grade. when i did my paper on gifted studies, there had just been published a longitudinal study on a group of highly gifted kids who had been accelerated vs one who had not. it followed these kids from early childhood through their 30s and the facts were astonishing. the kids who were accelerated did better their whole lives, including socially. i'll try to find the study and get back to you. i'm off to teach :)

Answer 4

Federal law mandates that "Every child is entitled to a free, APPROPRIATE public education" (PL 94-142), and that includes gifted children. The school district must provide the service for school-aged kids or must pay for them to attend another school that does have a program.

Gifted kids actually fall under "special education" and require an IEP (Individualized Education Plan). However, most public school gifted programs start in 3rd grade (some as early as 1st).

My son was in the same boat as your daughter in K-2. It was recommended to us to create enrichment activities at home and in the community. Music, dance, writing stories, gymnastics, swimming, library trips, zoos, museums, and activities that foster family relationships, such as board games (Parcheesi was my son's favorite, but dominoes has simple math and he liked that, too. He was playing Monopoly in 1st grade and beating everyone).

In second grade, rather than giving him enrichment activities, the teacher made him a "peer tutor". A second grader? Come on!!

What you need to be careful of is a "normal" classroom teacher pushing your child to read up to a grade level where she will begin to fail because of concepts or vocabulary which aren't suited to her ability. That happened to my son, too, when he was reading at 7th grade level in 1st grade. It seemed like he was able to do it because his word-attack skills were so good, but he really wasn't comprehending because of the language complexity and abstract concepts.The failure really blasted his self-esteem.

It's always tough to find the right fit, but hang in there. You may want to consider a play group and do enrichment at home.

Answer 5

I think the best way to go about with a gifted child is to home school them. I have a son who turns 4 in June too. He has been going to school since he was 15 mnths, mostly for social reasons. He spent 3 hrs at school 3 times a week and when he turned 3 he is going all 5 days but for 3 hrs only. So we spend the afternoon together doing maths, reading encyclopedia, lots of books, practice writing, spelling, geography(flags, maps etc.) and a whole of other things.

A normal school cannot fulfil the desire for knowledge these kids have. And if u put them in a higher grade for their age they will suffer socially which might have long term effects on them.

My son's teacher writes in his monthly rpts that he does get bored at circle time coz he knows these things. But he always looks forward to go to school and there is something new that school also exposes him too.

Answer 6

My son was like your daughter.  Reading and doing math at age three.  I ended up homeschooling him because a traditional brick & mortar school will never meet his needs.

We use the K12 curriculum, because it is a rich and rigorous program.  You could start your daughter out with just math and Language Arts and it wouldn't cost too much.  Then, as she "ages into" traditional school age, you could add other subjects.  You can find out more here:

http://www.k12.com/

You didn't say what state you are in, but there are a number of states who use K12 in a "virtual school" where students receive the curriculum and materials for free as "public school" students, but learn at home.  That is not going to help you until your daughter is school age, but you can look there to find out more for when she is.

http://www.k12.com/getk12/

The MOST important thing I can tell you is to nurture her love of learning.  Exceptional children's spirits can be easily trampled, so keep her needs as your focus.

Good luck to you both,

: )  P

ds 9

ds 7 (sixth grade math and reading, 4th grade everything else)

Answer 7

Our public school system is not set up to really encourage children.  They are all taught xyz at the same time and same speed.

My real and honest suggestion is to save the money and put her somewhere they will actually challenge her.  Now I don't think you need to do this right away... but as she gets older.  Right now, it is important to get her into some type of preschool pre-K program, and teach her at home also.

Good luck!

Don't ever rely on the public school system... !  Go after the best choice for your kid on your own!

Answer 8

Britain's got talent!