[James]

A really gifted program shouldn't have a lot of "homework". Homework is not challenging to a gifted student. homework is for plodders.

Is she assimilating the knowledge for the class? Is she testing well on the material?

I have noticed a trend in education in recent years to become more system oriented. Homework being a key component of the grade.

the Gifted, which I assume you mean naturally high aptitude people, which is different than regular IQ, don't necessarily respond as well to systems, they just want to learn the stuff, test and move on.

I was lucky, I went to a really progressive private school that gave over 100 plus grades per quarter and the total grade for each subject was derived by how well you tested on the material.

Originally posted by AXO_MOM_3
GRRRR...Here we go again! We put daughter 2 in the highly gifted program thinking the challenge would keep her interested. There's a TON of work to do, and everything is very accelerated. Daughter seems to be really trying with her homework which is what I see. Her teacher says she is behind everyone else academically in comparison and is not keeping up in the classroom. When she is interested in the topic, she is tuned in. Otherwise, the teacher says that she is not paying attention, spaced out and a "body in the room".

In a nutshell...I have nationally normed aptitude and achievement tests that indicate that my child scored better than 99% of the children who took the same tests, which puts her in the top 1%. Granted - so are the rest of the kids in the class. (All are 95% and above) She is one of the youngest students in her class, and has kids over a year and a half older than her in the class (due to "Readiness"). According to the teacher she is "behind" everyone else in the class and her work is not of the same quality in comparison.

Daughter thinks she is doing just fine, and wants to stay in the program. Does not appear to care about her grades or being as the teacher says "clueless".

We are doing a few mods - preferential seating, a buddy to help with organization (packing things up, unpacking bookbag, etc), some modified assignments. The teacher does not seem to have time or is not willing to do much more.

Should I move her to a less challenging program now, or give it more time? I personally feel that no matter what setting she is in we are going to experience the same ADD behaviors - so shouldn't we address that first? I am also looking at getting the dx and possibly medicating so she can focus, which I REALLY do not want to do at this point. (Have any of you been taking meds since you were in the third grade?) I don't know what the heck to do!

Okay - all you really bright people that have ADD and struggled with school, help me out! Anyone gifted with a learning disability? How about gifted, learning disabled and ADD? Ya'll always have great inputfor me to consider, so please share!