APS is failing my gifted child

[Anonymous]

Do you think Asian immigrants are crying saying my kid isn't learning anything, boo-hoo, woe is me?

Of course not. If you can come post on here about your supposed tragedy you can certainly google enough to find academic enrichment for your child. It is so easy so your kid doesn't have homework so he or she has plenty of time to be doing Kumon, Beast Academy, Singapore Math, etc. They can be doing higher level reading, grammar and spelling at home. Make sure your kid has a good book to read in class. Teachers. don't object when a student finishes all their work early and then takes out a book to read.

There are now so many resources to use. If you don't work then homeschool. If you do and have days you get off early then pick your kid up from school early and make some excuse or say your kid is sick if you have a day off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Meeting your profoundly gifted child is more than just challenging them in spelling or math. It's also socializing them, giving them the opportunity to find solutions to being bored, teaching them to exist with others who may be different from them. It's about PE, and recess, and music, and art class. Not just math and reading. It's all the things.

All those are dumbed down as well in elementary school. At least in our APS experience.

PE is about silly things such as coordination or stretching (juggling with silks anyone?) and not about competition games and improving skills: not to say that kids shouldn't learn those things but gym class is not for that, maybe some kind of physical therapy or something.

Most playgrounds in schools don't have actual playground equipment anymore (no swings, no tall slides, etc.) and just have that giant plastic behemoth that's mostly useless. Plus there's limited time to do anything meaningful.

Music is literally not taught at any level that would be considered enriching (except maybe at ATS??). Even the junior honors band level is not that great overall.

And art class is a complete joke that teaches no actual art technique except gluing and coloring.

They don't want to push the gifted and talented kids, or even the gen ed kids, because the county has a perverse mission to not exclude anyone in their one size fits all classrooms. Can't hurt anyone's feelings I guess.

These statements about PE, music, and art are so false that I wonder if you have a child in an APS school at all? If so, which one?

Yeah I don’t think OP is actually in an APS school. My kid’s school most definitely has a real playground with slides, competitive PE games, and music opportunities. In 3rd grade they start with recorder and then in 4th and 5th can join orchestra or band playing stuff like violin, clarinet, trumpet, etc. There are also opportunities for enrichment like Odyssey of the Mind. Also my K kid got spelling lists with 2-3 letter words last year. I’m calling BS on 2 letter words on a 3rd grade test.

OP should name her dud school if this is true and see if it lines up with what other parents are hearing from their kids.

[Anonymous]

They aren’t bored because they’re too smart, they just don’t have the social skills to interact with peers appropriately because their parents signed them up for kumon instead of soccer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They aren’t bored because they’re too smart, they just don’t have the social skills to interact with peers appropriately because their parents signed them up for kumon instead of soccer.

You're an idiot. Subpar genes I guess to not understand what it means to raise a gifted child. Many gifted kids excel at sports, especially individual ones. And they have no problem interacting with intelligent adults or other gifted kids because they can actually understand each other.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a couple of thoughts as someone with older kids now in college. 3rd grade got better, it is still very early in the year, give it a chance. The work will get harder and there should be more opportunities with projects for a gifted kid to stretch themselves (if they want to).

Just a warning, I have two. My older kid never complained about being bored. Used her extra time to revise, review, and improve, would read a book if she still had extra time. As they get older and work on more projects, a gifted kid like this can flourish even without a lot of differentiation.

My younger kid was not like this at all. He is gifted but rushes through everything claiming he is bored and it is too easy. Rather than using his natural abilities, he wanted a teacher to guide him to the next step (not gonna happen in a mixed ability classroom). This is a personality type and no matter what you do, he may always be bored.

I agree with you as a teacher and a parent of a gifted kid. Luckily my kid is the first type, Most of his APS teachers have been very willing to push him or let him extend assignments on his own. I’m not pleased with gifted services in our county, but even in a dedicated program the personality of the student is a huge driver.

[Anonymous]

I haven't read everything. My experience with gifted instruction in APS is that it can be done in very different ways. Sometimes "gifted" kids are clustered together. Sometimes "gifted" kids are the strongest student at a table so they can help the other kids. I wouldn't assume anything just because your student isn't sitting next to other kids you think are "gifted" too.

+1 to the recommendations to supplement and send things for them to do during "free reading" time. Also, have you talked to your principal? The two letter spelling test is weird for third grade.

[Anonymous]

Isn’t it a requirement in APS to have a cluster of gifted kids? I agree that the services are weak but some of what OP says sounds false to me. What two letter words are we talking about on a spelling test? Were you exaggerating? I don’t actually believe that.

Tell us the school.

[Anonymous]

Look, you aren’t getting better gifted services anywhere locally or even in private at the elementary level because no one believes that memorizing math tables is an actual useful skill for 2nd graders anymore (or whatever it is that this gifted parent wants). The reality is that what you hope for is a good teacher who can support their interests and some really smart classmates. We got that in APS elementary school (North Arlington). Also, these demanding gifted parents tend to be parents who helicopter and their child isn’t as gifted as they think. The truly gifted kids are 1 in a blue moon and those kids actually obsessively learn on their own with a little guidance from teachers and parents.

[Anonymous]

Disagree with the above poster. Better services for gifted kids in FCPS. Certainly in
Math. Especially in late elementary/middle school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look, you aren’t getting better gifted services anywhere locally or even in private at the elementary level because no one believes that memorizing math tables is an actual useful skill for 2nd graders anymore (or whatever it is that this gifted parent wants). The reality is that what you hope for is a good teacher who can support their interests and some really smart classmates. We got that in APS elementary school (North Arlington). Also, these demanding gifted parents tend to be parents who helicopter and their child isn’t as gifted as they think. The truly gifted kids are 1 in a blue moon and those kids actually obsessively learn on their own with a little guidance from teachers and parents.

Most non-gifted but reasonably bright children are capable of far more complex math than elementary school makes any effort to teach. This is a uniquely American failing, and you're just making a virtue of necessity here. Go to the parking lot of any local Kumon or Russian school of math and count the number of diplomatic license plates. Those families know U.S. math education is a joke. They also know that most kids are not only capable of more, but will probably be better-prepared for advanced math in later grades if they get a rigorous foundation now.

If you think your kid not memorizing times tables is going to position them well for success in math, you're in for a rude awakening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I haven't read everything. My experience with gifted instruction in APS is that it can be done in very different ways. Sometimes "gifted" kids are clustered together. Sometimes "gifted" kids are the strongest student at a table so they can help the other kids. I wouldn't assume anything just because your student isn't sitting next to other kids you think are "gifted" too.

+1 to the recommendations to supplement and send things for them to do during "free reading" time. Also, have you talked to your principal? The two letter spelling test is weird for third grade.

Oh yeah, the using smart children as free tutors trope: it’s good for them. (Hint it’s been proven it’s detrimental for the smart kids)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look, you aren’t getting better gifted services anywhere locally or even in private at the elementary level because no one believes that memorizing math tables is an actual useful skill for 2nd graders anymore (or whatever it is that this gifted parent wants). The reality is that what you hope for is a good teacher who can support their interests and some really smart classmates. We got that in APS elementary school (North Arlington). Also, these demanding gifted parents tend to be parents who helicopter and their child isn’t as gifted as they think. The truly gifted kids are 1 in a blue moon and those kids actually obsessively learn on their own with a little guidance from teachers and parents.

That’s a false dichotomy. Just because a student is not “blue moon” gifted doesn’t mean they wouldn’t benefit significantly from real differentiation. But APS does care because there are no penalties for not meeting the needs of high performing students, where for low SOL or ESL performance the state will penalize the school and hold teachers to account. It’s all about incentives. There are ZERO incentives to educate beyond the low SOL baseline, and teachers are stretched with large class sizes and sizable high need populations that they leave the capable students to twiddle on their iPads.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you think Asian immigrants are crying saying my kid isn't learning anything, boo-hoo, woe is me?

Of course not. If you can come post on here about your supposed tragedy you can certainly google enough to find academic enrichment for your child. It is so easy so your kid doesn't have homework so he or she has plenty of time to be doing Kumon, Beast Academy, Singapore Math, etc. They can be doing higher level reading, grammar and spelling at home. Make sure your kid has a good book to read in class. Teachers. don't object when a student finishes all their work early and then takes out a book to read.

There are now so many resources to use. If you don't work then homeschool. If you do and have days you get off early then pick your kid up from school early and make some excuse or say your kid is sick if you have a day off.

You amazingly prove OPs point. There are almost no Asian immigrants in APS, and certainly almost ZERO “fancy Asians” that do math enrichment like AOPS. We do math enrichment and there are almost no kids from Arlington, and almost all the programs are in Fairfax (one might have just opened in Arlington this year I think).

The Asian immigrants see their kids will not be educated to their standards in APS and vote with their feet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They aren’t bored because they’re too smart, they just don’t have the social skills to interact with peers appropriately because their parents signed them up for kumon instead of soccer.

You're an idiot. Subpar genes I guess to not understand what it means to raise a gifted child. Many gifted kids excel at sports, especially individual ones. And they have no problem interacting with intelligent adults or other gifted kids because they can actually understand each other.

Nice job proving PP's point .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I haven't read everything. My experience with gifted instruction in APS is that it can be done in very different ways. Sometimes "gifted" kids are clustered together. Sometimes "gifted" kids are the strongest student at a table so they can help the other kids. I wouldn't assume anything just because your student isn't sitting next to other kids you think are "gifted" too.

+1 to the recommendations to supplement and send things for them to do during "free reading" time. Also, have you talked to your principal? The two letter spelling test is weird for third grade.

Oh yeah, the using smart children as free tutors trope: it’s good for them. (Hint it’s been proven it’s detrimental for the smart kids)

I didn't say anything about tutors. I said supplement.