Yesterday was our son’s conference, and fortunately for him, there were no surprises. In fact, in fourth grade he reads at the 7th grade level, so I’m thrilled and very proud of him.
Then I met with the gifted teacher, who showed me some of his work and sung his praises as well. We bemoaned the lack of accelerated learning resources (both in terms of books for gifted students and teacher time) and discussed my last column about students falling through the cracks. She has an interesting POV as she’s taught both ends of the spectrum, “special ed” and gifted. She says as different as the levels are, there are so many similarities. Certainly that is due largely to the fact that both are the minorities, so they don’t have a great deal of resources. Each school has to buy elementary school science books, but not necessarily a curriculum for high ability learners. The lack of resources and teachers is also exacerbated by the fact that it’s a small school in a small district.
That said, they do a remarkable job with what they have, the number of students, and the range of abilities. This seems like a good time of year to thank each teacher who gives their heart and soul to make a difference in the futures of my child and all the others out there!
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