posted on December 22, 2000 11:05:19 PM new
Checking in late tonight...
You already know, VM, how fortunate your daughter is to attend a school dedicated to gifted students. You're wise to work this out because I'm sure the educational opportunities there surpass any she could receive elsewhere.
My son wasn't so fortunate to have a dedicated building ... or even a dedicated classroom, for that matter. Being identified as gifted got him 6 hours of extra instruction/week in a pullout program. Which actually amounted to little more than pennance, what with having extra assignments plus having to catch up on what was done while he was out of his regular class.
One thing I always made sure of, though, for both my kids, was to make myself a fixture in their schools. Active in everything, president of anything I could, helping everywhere, especially in the classroom. When you do that enough, you get to know where/who the problems are and fixing things often becomes as easy as a quick phone call.
Good luck to you and your gifted student -- I'm sure everything will work out fine!
posted on December 23, 2000 07:27:14 AM new
Yes fountainhouse - I know how lucky I/she is. They have a pull out program here also. This school is in it's second year and according to yesterday's newsletter they are going to start another next year for grades 6-8 and from there the kids go to the local university where they have a program. What this means is that we are not moving from this city. She is getting a free - better than private school - education.
I cannot hang about the school for a few reasons. 1 is that I have a 20 MO old and another is that I don't want to. (The staff there breathes a collective sigh of relief).
On my daughter's behalf - this is also her preference. I have a very strong presence and she does not want me breathing down her neck. School is her gig and he is very possessive of it, she wants it to herself and I will respect this. She does not even want to tell me the names of the children at her table, she apparently worries that I may steal them from her. No doubt about it - I am staying back except when she specifically requests I make a showing or some problem comes up.
As for pulling her out of this school I feel that making a choice like that would be akin to parental malpractice and if I did this, I would not especially expect her to forgive me. She has made it abundantly clear that she is driven and that this is the path on which she prefers to drive. I am not about to grab the wheel and steer her into a ditch. Instead, I will watch the traffic so that she can travel as safely as possible.
One time I was on the way to Las Vegas with a pal who had/has the best mother I have ever heard of. Evidence of this was everywhere.
I am a traveler type, but she really was not. She was slightly uncomfortable and mid flight she leans over and tells me kind of in a whisper that the plane is safe. She explains that her mother is holding it up with her hands. Apparently she spoke with her mother the night before and she promised XXXXX to lift the plane with her hands and hold it up during the flight, to guide it down gently in Nevada. XXXXX was 29 at the time and I decided right then that if I ever had children I would always hold up their plane.
