What to do w/advanced 1st grader who is starting to dislike school?

[Anonymous]

Home-school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I dunno. Not OP, but I was reading "The Hobbit" by myself at 6. I suspect that's at 6th grade reading level. No special instruction by parents, just a reader. My writing was certainly not at "The Hobbit" level.

I probably read The Hobbit by myself at 6, too, but I seriously doubt that I would have been able to answer complicated reading comprehension questions about it. Certainly there would have been a lot that I missed, from vocabulary to humor to characterization and characters' motivation (such as there is, in The Hobbit).

Which is not to say that six-year-olds should not read The Hobbit! Just that merely being able to read the book doesn't mean you're at that reading level, the way the school defines it.

But just because you couldn't, doesn't mean other kids couldn't. Not to toot my own horn, but I definitely could. My parents were awesome about asking discussion-type questions, and I spent nearly all my time outside of school with adults who were like that. (Not the best thing socially, but I was happy.) And I know I'm not the smartest person in the world, and wasn't the most advanced child. So, that's just to say that I think it's unwarranted to disbelieve OP. It's entirely possible that there's a kid doing this.

I think that one should be cautious about saying that one could have done something one didn't actually do, when one was six.

No, I'm saying I actually did. And I just checked with my mom, because I wondered if I was misremembering. She confirmed, and said that wasn't even the most advanced thing. But it's a vivid memory because it's tied to an odd, dramatic family event that I'm not going to share.

[Anonymous]

Homeschooling is not for everyone. We tried it and found it too isolating. And still hard to find peers to share common interests. School for Tomorrow is probably the closest you can come to homeschooling and still be in a school.

OP I was also going to suggest that you have your daughter practice printing at home a lot. Handwriting without Tears has very inexpensive workbooks. Another idea is that you dictate from a favorite book and she prints a few sentences daily. The reward for good effort (for such a boring task) could be that you then spend x minutes discussing the book, or read together after the printing. You will be encouraged to get your daugther into keyboarding, which I have had mixed feelings about for my very fine-motor challenged son (gifted with special needs). I resisted the advice because I knew his printing would only get worse and the fact of the matter is your child will be relying on printing on many in school assignments and all quizzes and tests. Also these kids think very fast and get frustrated when their slow and labored printing can't keep up. So I recommend really working on printing and any fine motor activities as much as possible. And gross motor for that matter (foundation for fine motor). There are threads on activity ideas on this thread and the special needs thread for fine motor stuff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Homeschooling is not for everyone. We tried it and found it too isolating. And still hard to find peers to share common interests. School for Tomorrow is probably the closest you can come to homeschooling and still be in a school.

OP I was also going to suggest that you have your daughter practice printing at home a lot. Handwriting without Tears has very inexpensive workbooks. Another idea is that you dictate from a favorite book and she prints a few sentences daily. The reward for good effort (for such a boring task) could be that you then spend x minutes discussing the book, or read together after the printing. You will be encouraged to get your daugther into keyboarding, which I have had mixed feelings about for my very fine-motor challenged son (gifted with special needs). I resisted the advice because I knew his printing would only get worse and the fact of the matter is your child will be relying on printing on many in school assignments and all quizzes and tests. Also these kids think very fast and get frustrated when their slow and labored printing can't keep up. So I recommend really working on printing and any fine motor activities as much as possible. And gross motor for that matter (foundation for fine motor). There are threads on activity ideas on this thread and the special needs thread for fine motor stuff.

OP here. Thank you for this. I will get the workbooks and try out your suggestions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also keep in mind that the school will not let her progress in reading until her writing is on an equal level. This hold many good readers back in ES

And they shouldn't.

I know this is the view du jour, but why? I have a kid who can read chapter books, and clearly comprehends them. She can answer questions about what's happened, and she asks good, probing questions about characters' motivations, etc. But she certainly can't write at the level of a chapter book, not without a lot of labor and time anyway. Why shouldn't she be allowed to go with her higher level reading and comprehension ability while working on writing at a lower level?

Because reading and writing are intrinsically tied together.

[Anonymous]

My child finds it much harder to write about "baby" books than about books at his level. This is a false connection between reading and writing. Many very gifted readers have great difficulty with writing. This is certainly true for kids with special needs, like Aspergers Syndrome, but I have seen it also among people I know. Really bright, good students but their weakness is writing. This has to do with executive function among other things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also keep in mind that the school will not let her progress in reading until her writing is on an equal level. This hold many good readers back in ES

And they shouldn't.

I know this is the view du jour, but why? I have a kid who can read chapter books, and clearly comprehends them. She can answer questions about what's happened, and she asks good, probing questions about characters' motivations, etc. But she certainly can't write at the level of a chapter book, not without a lot of labor and time anyway. Why shouldn't she be allowed to go with her higher level reading and comprehension ability while working on writing at a lower level?

Because reading and writing are intrinsically tied together.

That's not actually an answer. It's like saying they go together because they go together. Support for the idea that reading and writing must develop at the exact same pace?

[Anonymous]

My child finds it much harder to write about "baby" books than about books at his level. This is a false connection between reading and writing. Many very gifted readers have great difficulty with writing. This is certainly true for kids with special needs, like Aspergers Syndrome, but I have seen it also among people I know. Really bright, good students but their weakness is writing. This has to do with executive function among other things.

+1000

MCPS is just a collection of dumb sheep. They follow the herd. In a few years, the herd direction will change and they'll pretend that they never held back reading levels for writing skills.

OP you really are just wasting your time trying to get anything useful from MCPS. Go private or supplement at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^ I like this but I'd say "how WE can help her." The teacher has some responsibility here.

OP, will you keep us posted? I alsohave a bright student who is also starting to get discouraged because the class is way too easy for her.

OP, your post describes my second grader. Although it started last year and is still going. She gets P's and ES's and likes the social aspects of school, but the work is not challenging enough for her right now. Teachers have told me that she needs to take the test for HGC next year. Meanwhile at home we supplement with whatever she wants to delve deeper in to. If she does not get into a HGC we may consider a private. Have not crossed that bridge yet though.

[Anonymous]

OP, I wholeheartedly agree with PPs advising to have a discussion with your child's teachers...be diplomatic in describing your child's need for greater challenge -- you want her teachers to be allies and later, advocates for HGC if that's what's best for her. Our DD was also a very advanced reader -- reading chapter books at 4 and all of Harry Potter at 6. Her writing was also advanced...math too. We actually moved from another school district because they could not meet her needs and she had no academic peers in her grade. At her school at MCPS, she immediately found friends at her same reading level who shared her interests, and that made a big difference. Even better after she went to the HGC. We talked regularly to her teachers and they did a good job keeping her challenged. But we continue to stay on top of her at home too with enrichment -- lots of books, and math practice on Khan Academy. Daily journaling is a good practice too. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Your daughter seems great! I understand the early and strong reading profile. Just keep her exposed to new and interesting things outside her school hours. Building into your identity at age 6 a construct like GT is best avoided.

[Anonymous]

In regards to helping handwriting improve, this summer (between K and 1st) we taught our daughter cursive using workbooks. It was something new and fun to learn and the motor-skill development really helped with her printing.

But you do get looks from the teacher when she signs her name in cursive.

[Anonymous]

look into scholarships to private or move to Virginia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In regards to helping handwriting improve, this summer (between K and 1st) we taught our daughter cursive using workbooks. It was something new and fun to learn and the motor-skill development really helped with her printing.

But you do get looks from the teacher when she signs her name in cursive.

I also have an advanced 1st grader who has been teaching himself cursive with an iPad app, and I've found much of the information on this thread helpful, though slightly discouraging. I also have a meeting with my son's teacher this week. Thanks for starting this thread, OP.

[Anonymous]

No, I'm saying I actually did. And I just checked with my mom, because I wondered if I was misremembering. She confirmed, and said that wasn't even the most advanced thing. But it's a vivid memory because it's tied to an odd, dramatic family event that I'm not going to share.

No offense, but my mom SWEARS I was talking in full sentences, never used baby talk, when I was one. I have spoken to pediatricians and they say it is impossible.

Also my daughter was not reading advanced books, not even on grade level, in second grade and tested with both a high IQ and a fifth grade level vocab and reading level. When I asked her teacher how this was possible, she said that most kids who read more advanced texts do not really understand what they are reading and the tests filter that out. They also skip over words and sections they don't understand.