DS is in 3rd grade. We got the results from his Stanford Achievement Test in January. The letter from the school says he qualifies for math and reading gifted services in 4th grade. There is a meeting at the school in a couple of weeks. What questions should we ask? Anything we should make sure is included?
Good for him. I don't know that I would "make sure anything is included" at this stage, honestly. Especially if he already likes school and is doing well. Just view it as a nice opportunity and additional challenge. Just my personal opinion and jokes aside, based on what I remember of my experiences from that age. He's young, this program isn't a Harvard-qualifier.
The bolded is right. It's just our local public school. We don't do extra worksheets or flash cards at home or anything. I don't want it to overwhelm him or make him not enjoy school anymore. We've never pressured him, just told him to always try his best.
My only question would be how is time missed from his regular class addressed (is he given time to make it up in class, will he have to do it as homework/etc). Other then that just let him enjoy the extra challenge and don't worry about it.
I'm kind of lol that you posted his test scores. I don't think I asked any questions beyond what grade levels were together in the g/t classes, whether they were done during class time and how often, and who was teaching / what was the curriculum like.
this makes some sense to me, but people are fuckers here, so I didn't bat an eye that she posted the scores for "verification".
In my very limited experience (I don't have kids) I would also suggest looking into enrichment programs. Sometimes the gifted programs through the school are hit or miss.
I would ask the GATE representative: 1. What GATE model they are using ( Is it a pull out program during the day? Are there after school and weekend meetings, field trips, etc.)?
2. What does the GATE progression looks like as he matriculates into middle and high school. Does he automatically place into the Honors/AP track or courses? As he gets older, can he be selective about which courses he takes, and still remain on the GATE track?
3. What are the stress level patterns of GATE students, especially with the additional Common Core layer?
4. Describe the training of GATE instructors? Unfortunately, like most school programs, there is variance in the quality of GATE. Some districts are awesome, others just use the name, but aren't really providing anything value-added to students.
5. Are students tracked, and clustered together as they grow? If so, will there be opportunities to interact will students of other tracks?
6. What are the protocols if a GATE identified student shows signs of struggle in the future (are there supports, or do they get the boot)?
Thanks! This is the kind of info I was hoping for.
I'm kind of lol that you posted his test scores. I don't think I asked any questions beyond what grade levels were together in the g/t classes, whether they were done during class time and how often, and who was teaching / what was the curriculum like.