Is moving my daughter to a new school with an advanced program the right choice for her future?
My daughter just tested into an advanced program for "academically highly gifted" kids. She is currently in second grade in a regular public school. She is one of the older kids in her class but physically one of the smallest. We adopted her from China when she was 15 months old. She has always been very bright but emotionally and socially we felt that it would help her confidence to be on the older side. She had to play some emotional "catch up" after living in an orphanage for her first 15 months. Her birthday was right before the cut-off so we had her wait a year to start kindergarten for social and emotional reasons. At the time we knew that she was very bright and that was one of our hesitations with having her wait. Her preschool teacher said that she thought she might qualify for gifted programs in school and thought that she was more than ready to start kindergarten but that it was our decision. At the time, our biggest concern was her social-emotional development, so we decided to have her wait a year so she wasn't always the youngest and smallest. In first grade she started complaining that school was too easy and she would score in the 99th percentile on all the achievement tests. So in second grade we decided to have her tested and she qualified for the most advanced gifted program in our public schools. Our daughter likes her current public school and is looking forward to some of the special programs that she can participate in next year (school play, having a younger "buddy" in a younger grade, etc.) She says that she doesn't want to move to the other school. She has good friends at her current school and we like the community there, too. Some teachers are good at challenging the more advanced kids in her current school. The weak area is math, but in reading, writing and spelling the current program does pretty well. Some teachers do a better job than others. This year, my daughter's teacher has kept her challenged pretty well except in math. My daughter doesn't want to leave her current school. We feel torn. Going to the advanced program could enable our daughter to attend a better middle school when that time comes. She could also work more at her level in math which is an area of strength for her. Our daughter is very well behaved in class. She is very confident socially. However, she seldom shares her ideas in class although she is bright. Sometimes I fear that she is overlooked and that her teachers are so busy with large classes that they don't focus much attention on my daughter. At home she is very "spirited" and can be a perfectionist. She'll scream in frustration when she has trouble learning a new piano piece. My husband and I are both teachers and try to be very patient and supportive. We love her very much and just want to do what is right for her and for her future. Thank you for your advice.
- answers
Rating 0 Rating 0 Unfortunately, I can't answer your question with a definitive answer of yes or no. But I can tell you this, if you daughter is a bright as you say she, then she could really benefit from an advanced program. Ultimately though, it is going to be a decision that you, your husband, your daughter, and her instructors will have to make.
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