[Oz-gifted] Saw the counsellor today...

[Matthew & Tracey Wood]

Hi Ellen,

Just wanted to add...S was tested at 5.5 and was skipped when she was 6  yrs
3 months old so was a similar age to you Ds when we were making these
decisions. S was 6 when she finished year 1 and went into year 4...your son
would be a year older if you wait until after year 1. I just wonder what the
frustration level would have been like for S, had we waited a year
longer.????? May not be an issue because boys tend to be a little  less
mature than girls at this age but something to think about.

Tracey

-----Original Message-----
From: oz-gifted-bounces at rite.ed.qut.edu.au
[mailto:oz-gifted-bounces at rite.ed.qut.edu.au] On Behalf Of Matthew & Tracey
Wood
Sent: Friday, 22 September 2006 10:00 AM
To: oz-gifted at rite.ed.qut.edu.au
Subject: Re: [Oz-gifted] Saw the counsellor today...

Hi Ellen,

S was academically so far ahead of her peers that there was literally no
common ground. There was absolutely nothing academic that she hadn't already
done and although she mixed well with her friends in the playground, she had
nothing in common with them and she had to dumb herself down to them to be
understood. 

S was always on a different curriculum to the rest of the class and worked
independently in year one so, the only reason for her to be there was for
social reasons, which really wasn't a good reason, because socially she
wasn't being herself.

S just wanted to be like everyone else...to do the work everyone else was
doing at the same time as them, and to be able to work in groups etc This
was never going to happen when she was with her age peers. A one year skip
would have made absolutely no difference as she still would have been way
ahead of the class in most subjects.

Year one was in a way, a good experiment for S. It let us see her at her
most unhappy, which confirmed the need for her to be somewhere else. In a
way it was good for her, because she really appreciated the acceleration
when it happened and often reminisces about how awful it was when she was
with her age. This allows her to feel very lucky for the opportunity she has
been given.

Certainly if you have serious doubts, an experimental year could be a good
idea.

Tracey

-----Original Message-----
From: oz-gifted-bounces at rite.ed.qut.edu.au
[mailto:oz-gifted-bounces at rite.ed.qut.edu.au] On Behalf Of Ellen Hrebeniuk
Sent: Friday, 22 September 2006 9:42 AM
To: oz-gifted at cobia.ed.qut.edu.au
Subject: Re: [Oz-gifted] Saw the counsellor today...

At 8:58 AM +0800 22/9/06, Matthew & Tracey Wood wrote:

>My DD was jumped two years after year one to year 4. Looking back, we 
>should have done it a year earlier as year one was when she was the 
>most unhappy....having said that Acceleration is not for everyone and S 
>was a perfect candidate. She missed her old friends for about a week 
>and moved on to new friends who she had so much more in common with. I 
>believe if a multiple jump is necessary it's better to do it in one go 
>rather than two (too much disruption) so if you need to wait a year for 
>him to be ready for that, then it might be the ways to go. But, if it's 
>not obvious he needs a two year skip now, one may be all he needs. It 
>was really obvious S was ready for a two year skip even in Kindy.

Could you explain why it was obvious to you?  Any boredom is less obvious to
us because DS1 is in a composite with Year 2, and so his interest is, in
part, being sustained by the Year 2 curriculum, and in part by the newness
of school and getting to know his classmates. 
He is also not *behind* socially, but not that sophisticated in his view of
friendship yet, probably due to his self-sufficiency and self-confidence.
Incidents in his K friendships this year have included a "ten-week training
course" to teach one friend to be a superhero, and a ten-day trial
separation from his jealous female best friend (which lasted two days at
most!) in order to play "AFL kicks" with two boys who are not particularly
her friends.  Earlier on, the best friend insisted that he exclude another
child from their game, which he happily acceded to, and I'm not sure he
understood why this was a Bad Thing even after I'd explained it.  DS1 is
also playing handball with a group of older boys (Year 5?) in the mornings.

It's only just occurred to me that perhaps we should see his placement in
his chronological year as an experiment as well!  Duh!
--
Ellen Hrebeniuk
Sydney, Australia

Being a librarian is how you change the world.
Nancy Pearl

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