Special Education Conference

I have just returned home from a two day trip to Hershey for the annual Pennsylvania Department of Education Special Education Conference. Our state provides parent scholarships for those with a child who has an IEP or GIEP. What a wonderful opportunity! I had a chance to network with parents, spent some time with my long distance fellow cyber schooling friend and heard some excellent speakers.

I was able to attend three sessions with two different speakers. The first was Tracy Cross. His presentation was titled, "From Underachievement to Suicide: How Students Cope with Being Gifted". He was such an engaging speaker and so full of knowledge on the subject of gifted children; especially adolescents. He has written much on the topic, both in book form and in articles in many publications such as Gifted Child Today.

I also participated in two sessions that Carolyn Coil presented, "Motivating Gifted Underachievers" and "Differentiation for Students Who are Gifted". She also has a fantastic collection of materials she has published. (books) Including the book "Motivating Underachievers".

What a thoroughly enriching experience! As soon as I came in the door I started spewing out all of my new found knowledge. My poor husband was in no state to receive this information. He had happily taken on the care of the boys for 2 days and was ready to drop. Normally, JT goes with my dad on Wednesday. Unfortunately, this week he didn't feel well. Then this morning, my youngest went off to Kindergarten. The school called mid-morning to ask my husband to come pick him up. They thought he looked like he had pink eye! My husband does so much to support our cyber schooling endeavor. He deserves extra kudos for this one!

There is one thing I learned at this conference that may change my entire approach next year. During his presentation, Tracy Cross pointed out that if you look back at what a particularly successful adult spent their childhood doing; you will find it was usually directly related to what they have accomplished. So many gifted kids are forced to be well-rounded. Dr. Cross points out that gifted kids usually aren't well rounded, "they're lumpy"... and that's okay. I am going to sit down with JT tomorrow and ask him to start thinking of something he feels particularly passionate about. Then I am going to work that into our plan for next year. I need to stop trying to make him less "lumpy". Yes, he needs to learn the things that all kids need for success. However, his quick learning style should allow us to master those and then move our focus to what he loves. Who cares if 4th graders don't usually spend half the year studying Archaeology!? If that's what he loves, we are going to be all over it next year!

If you live in PA and are interested... save the date for the 2010 conference..April 6th-9th. I'd love to see you there!

Consequences

One of the problems with a gifted child, especially those gifted in language, is their tendency to act like a lawyer. My parents will probably enjoy reading this post as they remember the parent curse they put me under; "I hope someday you have a child just like you!"

JT has become an expert litigator. We ask him to do something or not to do something and he can spout off every reason why he shouldn't be asked to do whatever it is. We have been dealing with this since he was able to speak. But recently, he's thrown in an exciting new twist. He no longer seems to care about consequences. Usually when JT is refusing to do assignments for school, we work towards taking away privileges. A couple days ago, he declared he didn't care if he lost his computer privileges. From there it moved towards not caring for the loss of any other fun stuff. He was determined to hold out to win the battle.

My husband has come up with a new plan that involves moving JT through a series of levels where he loses different privileges and can't regain them until he stops moving to the next level down the ladder. This seems to be helping a bit. Part of my problem has come from the fact that when JT would lose several days at a time on one bad day, I would allow him to gain back what he had lost with good behavior. I think he had decided that he could be as 'bad' as he wanted, then when he felt like it, be 'good' and regain what he had lost.

I have to admit, this was my worst week since we started cyber school. I felt miserable and did NOT want to spend another minute in the classroom. I had friends who warned me not to give up the first couple weeks we started. I wasn't prepared for this when things had been going so well. So my bit of advice to other parents is; be prepared for the low points. I believe they will come throughout the process. I've had jobs (out in the REAL world) where I wanted to give up. I didn't because I needed the money. I think it would be easier to give up here when so many people already think you are doing something unnecessary. Because I know this is so very necessary for my child, I will remember that this time in my life will be over in a flash. When the boys have gone on to succesful lives, the percentage of 'bad' days will be a small portion of the big picture. At least, I hope they will be.... :-)

Test Packets

The Calvert curriculum that we use through PA Cyber has a packet of tests that you send in for grading every 20 lessons. We sent our lesson 20 packet in a little under 2 weeks ago. Today we received the graded tests along with a pile of information. We have been assigned our ETF (Elementary Teaching Facilitator). She sent a nice letter to JT, introducing herself and explaining some of the things she was looking for in his testing packets. We had been asked to fill out a student survey to send in with the first group of tests, so she knew some things about our family to allow for a bit of conversation in the note. She had also graded all the tests and sent a summary on each subject. JT had A's in all subjects. She did point out that he made a few spelling errors that she had overlooked for the first test, but would not on future testing. After we read the letter, JT said, "I think she'll be really good for us." It's funny to think of the long distance relationship we will have with this woman. It's so foreign to the standard student-teacher relationship we think of nowadays.

One of the other things that came with this package, was a new incentive the school is offering. PSSA's are a big focus with the cyber school, just as they are in our traditional schools. In fact, they are probably even more important to them, since they can lose their charters if they don't make AYP (annual yearly progress). The students are being offered a chance to add percentage points to their grades if they complete worksheets geared towards test prep. I'm not sure how I feel about this. I haven't looked at all of the materials. If they are below level, I can't see wasting JT's time (and mine) doing any busy work. We have a hard enough time squeezing in our regular subjects!

This coming Monday, we are going to attend our first "meet and greet". It's a lunch get together hosted by "family link". Family link is a cyber version of the PTA. We will have a chance to link up with other families in our area that are using PA Cyber. I'm hoping JT will find someone in his age range. He has lots of local friends, but it would be nice to have someone local within the same school system.

He will also be starting his first virtual class this coming week. Gifted students are offered a few enrichment courses throughout the year. JT has signed up for a class that will be reading the book, "Chasing Vermeer". There will be discussion and activities every Wednesday from 2-3 pm, virtually. I thought this would give him a chance to see what the virtual classes are like and maybe make a few connections with other advanced learners.

Once again we have had a good week. Today we were working on a little Spanish. JT said, "Let's practice having a conversation in Spanish." We have done this in the past. It usually consists of me saying, "Como estas?" (How are you?) He says, "Muy bien, gracias." (very well, thanks) I usually also ask him how old he is and if he likes school. He used to say that he didn't like school. Today he answered..."Me gusta escuela. Gracias por el aula." (I like school. Thank you for the classroom.) It was a good day.....

Out of the Box

It's finally here! Last Friday when the UPS truck pulled up to the driveway, I couldn't wait to rip into my box. Of course, it would come on a weekend with absolutely NO free time. So, I took a quick peek and put it aside. Yesterday I managed to pull enough time together to really start checking it out. Most people probably don't get all that excited about textbooks but I LOVE them. I buy them at yard sales, I take them free when the library doesn't know what to do with them, I even buy them online!

Looking through the material I realized a few things. First of all, I have a lot of questions I need to ask before I'll know exactly what I'm doing. Luckily, I have a friend who is already familiar with PA Cyber. I made a phone date with her for tomorrow to pepper her with all of my doubts and fears.

I also realized that the Spelling words are way below my son's level. He reads around a fifth or sixth grade level right now, so third grade spelling isn't going to cut it. My current plan is to give him the pretest on Mondays. If he knows them, we will use the reading words (much more appropriate level) as his spelling words. Since these words are already involved in the lesson plan, I won't have to do much beyond that to teach them. Of course there's always the old, "Use these words in a sentence" method.

I have also found that the math may not be as far off for him as I thought. Part of this may come from the fact that our former school seemed to be a little behind the state standards. It may also just be the change from Saxon to Calvert. My plan for math currently looks like I will be giving him the Chapter tests as a pretest and then covering what he doesn't know. It's so hard for me to be sure where he really is in math. Last year he spent a lot of time using Pearson's Digital Learning at school. This program allowed him to move ahead in math, but didn't give any instruction. He moved ahead to a level the program considered to be end of 3rd grade, but I don't know what kind of gaps he has in that material. It will take us a little while to figure out where he really is. The good thing is, I was told he may move ahead at his own pace and when we complete the 3rd grade material in math, they will send us the 4th grade material. I think we should be able to finish it by Christmas. But even if he doesn't, that's okay. We will move at a pace that allows him to learn appropriately for his ability.

Have I mentioned how much I love this plan!

On another note, I had a conversation with a mom who is considering cyber for her child. I realized I am not having my usual school- is- starting dread that accompanies the end of summer. I would start worrying about all the conversations I would be having with school personnel that would go no where. I would know that my child was heading into an environment that did not allow for his special needs to be met. It was great to realize this load had been lifted. Thanks to the parents who convinced me I was capable of taking matters into my own hands. I wouldn't have done it without the knowledge you have passed on to me.

Do you know what your child is doing in school?

A new study has been done that shows...ready for this?....children should be expected to master math concepts! Isn't that a shock? If you have looked at the math that comes home from most public schools you'll know that mastery is a *new* idea. When I was in school, mastery was the norm. First you learned addition, then subtraction, then multiplication...and so on. Now, every year through elementary school a child is given a little bit of many math concepts. They never work to the point of mastery in any one concept. The general consensus among the experts for the last several years was that this was the best way to teach math. In some ways it makes sense. The regular reviewing helps to keep things fresh in mind. However, for kids of average intelligence, this can be extremely tedious. For kids who are above average, with high rates of acquisition and retention, it can be torture. I am hoping this study will be used to improve the curriculum offered in schools. It will be funny to see how quickly spiraling curriculum will be labeled as horrible for kids. Many in the gifted ed community have been saying that for years, but until the *educational experts* declare something law, it's not true.

Space is at a premium.

Most people who decide to cyber school generally just find a quiet corner somewhere in their house to allow their child to do their school work. Not me. I decide we should add a two story addition!

This was actually a plan we had from the time we first bought our home. Our kitchen is a smallish, eat in style kitchen typical in a ranch home. The house we lived in previously had been built in 1920 and had a huge kitchen and dining room. The downsizing was irritating, but we loved the location and decided to just deal with it. I would occasionally mention the need to add a "real" dining room someday. Once we decided to cyber school, I knew I had my chance!

I believe one of the great aspects of cyber schooling is that you can do it anywhere. Of the families I know that do cyber school, most use a desk in a living room or family room. One friend took her previously unused formal dining room and turned that into cyber central for her 3 children. At an information session I went to for PA Cyber, a teacher told us about some of her students. One girl had a father who was a very successful businessman. He spent a lot of time traveling in his private jet. She would travel with him, laptop ready for school anywhere, anytime. One student was in the hospital waiting for a bone marrow transplant. This child needed to be kept away from others physically, but could still interact with classmates through cyber schooling. What incredible opportunities technology has opened up for learning!

So...do we need a new classroom added to our home? Probably not. I'm enjoying myself imagining and planning what it will be like. Ultimately, what will make the difference for my child will be the opportunity to immerse himself in learning for the first time in his school career. I know that could be accomplished anytime, anywhere when he is given the freedom to dive in and drink it up.

What's wrong with this picture?

This is one of the many shirts my son has destroyed with his teeth! In K-4 he would suck on his shirt collar and sleeves. I figured it was just a security issue and would fade with time. Eventually, he broke the habit, or so we thought. After the grade skip, the habit started again, with a vengeance. Not a day went by that my son came home with a shirt that didn't look like swiss cheese.

Was this just a bad habit or a sign that something was really wrong? Considering my son's level of energy, I knew sitting still in school was not a fun experience. He never got in "trouble" for it, he just found an outlet. I noticed at home, when he worked on something that was challenging for him, he never chewed. It was only when doing mindless, routine activities that the chewing would happen. Even if he read at home, there was no chewing, so I was pretty sure it was inappropriate placement that was doing him in (and killing our clothing budget!)

When talking to friends with gifted children about my experience I found out this was a common sort of problem. Some situations were much more severe than ours. One friend had a son go through a nervous breakdown in elementary school and a daughter that picked at her skin until it became full of infected sores. I heard about many children who either zoned out all day in class or became the ultimate trouble makers. What were all of these highly intelligent children suffering from? I believe it all boiled down to lack of appropriate challenge and improper educational placement. Sometimes it was educator's lack of knowledge about gifted children that brought it on. Sometimes inflexible rules about what was allowed in a certain district.

The shirts were a clear sign to me of what was going on inside of my son everyday. Not enough learning=shirt chewed to bits. Some days he would come home and blow up about every little thing. When I'd ask what the problem was, he would say it was a bad day at school. He had a hard time being specific about what was wrong. He loved his teachers, especially his second grade teacher. He wanted to be happy in school. I think some of the time he felt guilty for wanting so much more than they were willing to give.

When I first suggested the possibility to him that we might pull him out of public school, he worked harder to fit the mold. But a few months after we first mentioned it, he told me he wanted to leave his school and be at home. I was glad he had made the decision on his own. It would make my job so much easier. I know so many kids whose parents just can not bring their kids home to cyber school. They need to work full time or have other issues that prevent it. As a person who has worked with an advocacy group for the last two years, I want to make the public brick and mortar schools do what is right for those children. I hope to still have enough energy while working with my kids to devote time to that effort. No child should have to suffer. These are supposed to be the best years of their lives! Why should they be forced to slow their pace to match their classmates?

I'll close this post with a link to one of my favorite sites, Hoagiesgifted. This particular link is to the, "Ridiculous things I've heard today" page. These are the kinds of things parents and children are being told on a regular basis.

http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/ridiculous_things.htm


Something needs to change in our educational system. It is broken, can we fix it?

And so it begins.....

Thursday afternoon we enrolled our middle child in a cyber school. I never thought I would make a decision like that. Don't get me wrong, I love my children and enjoy spending time with them. However, I was enjoying the upcoming freedom I was seeing with my youngest heading off to Kindergarten. Things never go quite the way you think they will.

The trouble began when our son started K-4. We knew he was probably going to test as gifted even before he started school. Our little boy said things to us that we recorded in the baby book... "My sandals make the sound of a bird's wings cutting the air", age 3. "Look Mom! There's an unusually large fleet of pirates in our back yard!", also age 3. He wasn't one of those kids doing phenomenal math problems at age 2 or reading at age 3. He was just a really deep thinker who picked things up as soon as we taught him, or even before we did.

In school, they recognized this and told us he could be tested when he started Kindergarten. By half way through the K-4 year he started telling me he didn't like school. When I asked why, he would say, "We do the same things everyday." I told him not to worry, Kindergarten would be better. I couldn't have been more wrong.

At the start of K, we requested testing. By January we were told, "Congratulations! Your son is gifted. He can participate in the pull out program 2 days a week, 45 minutes a day." Basically, they would give him the reward of extra work. By now, I had been doing a lot of research online about gifted children. I was concerned about underachieving. I asked about the possibility of having him skip first grade since all of his scores seemed to show he was already working at least one grade level ahead in every subject. The answer? "We don't do that here." So, we pressed on. We requested that they test him further to explore grade skipping, even if they didn't "do that here". Eventually, after filing Due Process, we were granted the grade skip. We told our son, "Don't worry, things will improve next year." Wrong again.

The summer between K and second grade he read "The Hobbit". He was six. I remember one conversation in the car about war and dictators. It was a very deep, intelligent conversation. He was 5. I knew public school was never going to meet his needs. But, the desire to have that free time pushed me to keep trying to make it fit. He spent his second grade year improving his writing skills, but really picking up little else in education. When I asked him what he learned in math so far that year (around January) he told me, "curtains come in pairs". I emailed his teacher regularly asking for something to change. I went to parent teacher conferences and made suggestions for things that might allow our child to have a more appropriate education. None of these things amounted to much. Usually I was told something along the lines of, "your child is benefiting from the work he is being given". My child was chewing his shirts to bits while bored out of his mind in class! So, I made the decision. We would stick it out to the end of year (per child's request to stay with friends) and start with PACyber in the Fall of his 3rd grade year.

I spent time through the Spring talking with our son about his future in cyber school. When I told him he could spend an hour each afternoon reading, I thought he was going to cry with joy. We started planning the kinds of things we would like to do. We looked over some of the curriculum that the school would offer him. He has never been more excited about school than he is now. HE can't wait to start, and neither can I.

This blog is going to be dedicated to following our progress as we move into uncharted territory. I have talked to many parents of gifted kids who are so frustrated with their children's schools, but don't know if they are ready for the challenge of cyber school. I'm planning on letting everyone see the good, bad and ugly of the day to day cyber schooling of a gifted child. This year I will be working with only one of our children. For the Fall of 2009, I will also start my youngest in first grade. For this year, he will attend a private K. I wanted to dedicate this year to getting our 7 year old back into the habit of learning in school.

If you are considering the possibility of cyber school, please follow us on our adventure. Even if you are not, follow us to learn how our public schools, in most cases, are failing the children they are designed to teach.
And now......

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began,
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with weary feet,
Until it joins some larger way,
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.

--JRR Tolkien, The Hobbit