smart kid not really being fostered at a JKLM; what to do?

[Anonymous]

it's funny, within this one thread there are two distinct conversations going. The public school parents who are, as always, laser-focused on metrics and test scores and numbers and percentiles and rankings and pushing and acceleration .

And the other faction of posters, much smaller, who say, fuck that shit. think big thoughts and question everything. There's no rubric for that.

[Anonymous]

"In all the years we have spent at Deal we have found very few troublemakers but a ton of teachers willing to push kids and work with them afterschool or in the classroom to make sure their needs are being met."

And how do you get this to happen? Because we've found in our JKLM a huge lack of concern about gifted kids only performing at grade level (at least, as far as school testing goes.) And a refusal to use the works gifted or advanced, or to discuss, publically or privately, the needs of these kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"In all the years we have spent at Deal we have found very few troublemakers but a ton of teachers willing to push kids and work with them afterschool or in the classroom to make sure their needs are being met."

And how do you get this to happen? Because we've found in our JKLM a huge lack of concern about gifted kids only performing at grade level (at least, as far as school testing goes.) And a refusal to use the works gifted or advanced, or to discuss, publically or privately, the needs of these kids.

It is pretty easy at Deal. There are LOADS of clubs to choose from and once you pick one the teacher can be a huge resource. One year the Brainteaser teacher was happy to work on math teasers. Science tends to have various clubs and those teachers are good resources. I think my DC's favorite though was creative writing and working with the teacher who ran that club to improve writing outside of class/club time. Lots of options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Put him in the lottery for BASIS next year.

+1. DC scored 96/95 on PARCC and was bored. Is happy at BASIS and still has a life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Put him in the lottery for BASIS next year.

+1.

This isn't a bad idea - but juggling the travel sport with BASIS could be tough depending on which sport it is. The BASIS school day is long -- 8:45-4:00 and will be 45 minutes from your home best case scenario.

You can always return to Deal if you or DC doesn't like it.

BASIS is convenient if you work downtown. DC does homework after school and we get real quality time on the train every day. Instead of my 45-minute commute being a waste, it's a discussion with DC about current events, politics, and philosophy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Wish I had your problem, OP. My kid considers it a personal affront to do math on scratch paper before giving the answer."

LOL! Mine too. 99% kid whose PARCC scores were in the bottom 1/3 of the grade. Not sure whether to laugh or cry.

Same boat. I'm just going to tell everyone DC is not motivated because he is so gifted.

[Anonymous]

What do previous posters mean by "99% kid"?

[Anonymous]

Seriously? My kids also get 97-99% on the PARC for both ELA and Math. We are at a JKLM too - some times they have great teachers, good enrichment, occasionally there is a a dud. Now one is on to Deal which is wonderful. But every situation that has had a lack of challenge or the "perfect" environment at Elementary school has always seemed to have a positive affect that I never would have predicted. Mainly social or personal development. So, I learned to just ride things and teach my kids that things aren't always perfect. Which is a very valuable life skill.

When things got more challenging my kids who coasted - learned to step it up. I wouldn't worry. Unless you like to spend money

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Put him in the lottery for BASIS next year.

+1. DC scored 96/95 on PARCC and was bored. Is happy at BASIS and still has a life.

Another vote for BASIS. My kid had the same high scores last year and is now in 6th at BASIS. Loves it. DC feels challenged and is learning a ton, but still manages to get most homework done during the school day. This leaves time for music lessons, sports, learning to code on various websites, reading books for pleasure, friends, etc. Maybe we could have afforded private school with some serious budgeting, but it wouldn't have been easy. We're really happy with our situation now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one is getting 99% on parcc

of course they are. Just like someone is getting a 1%

But scores aren't reported that way.

Yes, they are - - flip the page over, lol. It says "How Does Larla's Performance Compare?" To the point, no? Then it lists the percentile compared to the school (e.g., "better than 89% of Unicorn School students who took this test"), compared to DCPS ("better than 99% of DCPS students who took this test"), and compared to all of DC ("better than 99% of DC students who took this test").

PP said No one is getting 99% on parcc

That may or may not be true.

Scoring better than 99% of DC students is not the same as scoring a 99% on a test.

My kid scored 804/850 which translated to mean that he scored better than 99% of test takers for his grade.
His actual percentage on the test would have been 95%.

Which just means you are both misinterpreting the conversation. Percentile =/= percentage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Put him in the lottery for BASIS next year.

+1. DC scored 96/95 on PARCC and was bored. Is happy at BASIS and still has a life.

Another vote for BASIS. My kid had the same high scores last year and is now in 6th at BASIS. Loves it. DC feels challenged and is learning a ton, but still manages to get most homework done during the school day. This leaves time for music lessons, sports, learning to code on various websites, reading books for pleasure, friends, etc. Maybe we could have afforded private school with some serious budgeting, but it wouldn't have been easy. We're really happy with our situation now.

This was our kid too. Was bored starting in 2nd grade in DCPS and is now a happy, challenged 6th grader at BASIS. And commutes by bus and metro with a gaggle of friends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seriously? My kids also get 97-99% on the PARC for both ELA and Math. We are at a JKLM too - some times they have great teachers, good enrichment, occasionally there is a a dud. Now one is on to Deal which is wonderful. But every situation that has had a lack of challenge or the "perfect" environment at Elementary school has always seemed to have a positive affect that I never would have predicted. Mainly social or personal development. So, I learned to just ride things and teach my kids that things aren't always perfect. Which is a very valuable life skill.

When things got more challenging my kids who coasted - learned to step it up. I wouldn't worry. Unless you like to spend money

Perfectly put.
- parent of a DCPS grad and 2 in DCPS currently
M

[Anonymous]

Grade school material is easy for really smart kids. That will be true no matter where they go to grade school. They still have to learn the basics, even if it comes easily to them.

Also, OP if you read the PARCC score descriptors in depth, you will see that the fact that your child scored a 5 proves that your school is not teaching to the mean. My DC's grade has 41% of the class score 5s in math --because they are not teaching the grade level material and stopping there --the are going deeper, getting more complex, stretching understanding, and also advancing beyond grade level. And that is in class. They also have formal math enrichment and formal advancement for kids who demonstrate extreme precociousness. Honestly, it just gets better, and better every year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Grade school material is easy for really smart kids. That will be true no matter where they go to grade school. They still have to learn the basics, even if it comes easily to them.

Also, OP if you read the PARCC score descriptors in depth, you will see that the fact that your child scored a 5 proves that your school is not teaching to the mean. My DC's grade has 41% of the class score 5s in math --because they are not teaching the grade level material and stopping there --the are going deeper, getting more complex, stretching understanding, and also advancing beyond grade level. And that is in class. They also have formal math enrichment and formal advancement for kids who demonstrate extreme precociousness. Honestly, it just gets better, and better every year.

which DCPS is this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Grade school material is easy for really smart kids. That will be true no matter where they go to grade school. They still have to learn the basics, even if it comes easily to them.

Also, OP if you read the PARCC score descriptors in depth, you will see that the fact that your child scored a 5 proves that your school is not teaching to the mean. My DC's grade has 41% of the class score 5s in math --because they are not teaching the grade level material and stopping there --the are going deeper, getting more complex, stretching understanding, and also advancing beyond grade level. And that is in class. They also have formal math enrichment and formal advancement for kids who demonstrate extreme precociousness. Honestly, it just gets better, and better every year.

what school is this?