I have one thing to say about Grace: she got into the gifted program here! I know not all gifted programs are created equal, so I’m not banking on it being amazing, but from what I know of it so far, it sounds like a good fit for her. They don’t just give the kids extra homework and wish them luck; they have teachers who are specifically trained to teach gifted kids and deal with their particular quirks. They sound very ready to adapt to children’s individual needs as much as possible.
At her last parent-teacher conference, I learned that Grace is waaaaay above grade level for reading, but just average in math (“just” average, I know that’s not a bad thing). It surprised me because she picks things up really quickly when she wants to. Her teacher suggested going over the current concept a few times per week with her. I thought it was stupid. I mean, we’re in kindergarten. She should be chasing butterflies all day. But five minutes three times a week won’t kill her, right?
And then we got her ALPS scores back. She’s 99th percentile for reading and comprehension, and well above average nationally for math. Locally, though, she was at 40th percentile. Which makes a lot of sense. The tech and engineering fields are huge here, so everyone who is reproducing probably has math genius children. The interpretation of her scores also indicated that, while she has a high ability in all fields, she tends to do well only in a structured learning environment. So that’s when the light bulb went on. My kid wants to learn more, and do more, but she actually needs help. I’m not tiger mom-ing her by giving her some structure.
So every day that we have the time, I’ve started a 15 minutes homework or piano/15 minutes play/15 minutes pick up, and then repeat. Emmy just plays during the 15 minutes homework, and if they screw around instead of picking up, they don’t get their next playtime.
I thought they would hate this, but even Emmy likes it. The house is picked up most of the time, and everyone is happier. They even ask for it on days I forget. So weird. Grace’s piano has made her much better at handling frustration and figuring things out for herself.
Anyway, the other great thing is that Grace LOVES math. She does problems for fun now. She advances every time she’s assessed. Her teacher has been sending home extra homework (from third grade!) for her to do. We skip a lot of the math stuff, but she does understand how and why to add in columns and carry the one, and all kinds of things now. It’s so exciting.
All this time I’ve been determined to make her do as much on her own as possible, but she’s really not cut out that way. I don’t spoon-feed her anything; but I set up a time and place for her to learn, and I help her when she asks. And my help usually consists of pointing to the directions and asking her if she even read them (“What? Oh! I get it now!”). Just knowing that the structure is there makes her brain function on a much higher level.
She still won’t be a math genius, but I’m less apprehensive about first grade. I was worried about her being the dumb kid in math (like I was, for a long time), but I think she’ll be fine.
And hopefully the gifted program is awesome because one of our kids needs to be successful to support us when we’re senile, and unless she marries a really rich dude, I’m pretty sure Emmy will turn out exactly like me.
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