Education Options We've Been Offered (Gifted vs French Immersion)
A couple of weeks ago, I received a phone call from the principal of another school in our area, wondering if our daughter might be interested in attending there next year. She met the criteria for the gifted program, and she has a choice of staying within her own school and having a slightly adapted program, or switching schools into the gifted program.
The fact that she met the criteria was not a surprise to us. Every teacher she has had over the years has commented that she probably fits into the "gifted" category. My husband was in gifted as a kid, and I was always one point away from meeting the criteria, but instead, I skipped two grades (grade 1 and grade 8).
The gifted program in our city is very small. It is currently one classroom of students ranging from grade 5 to grade 8. They are sometimes broken up into grade level (5/6 vs 7/8), and for that reason there are 1.5 teachers designated towards this class.
We went on a tour earlier this week, and I was blown away. It seems fabulous. Heck, *I* want to be in the class! The 5/6 portion of the class only has 6 children. One in grade 5 and the rest are in grade 6. They were working on a Carmen San Diego type exercise. (None of the kids know Carmen San Diego, but the teacher being about my age knew that I would understand the reference.)
With world maps, atlases, and Netbooks on hand, the kids were working in pairs to figure out where they were going. They had a list of about 15 countries, had to figure out where the countries were, then figure out what currency the country used, and then they had to convert a certain amount of the currency into Canadian dollars. The teacher was helping one of the kids in writing down the answers for his work.
The class has some kids who are strictly "gifted", and others who meet the dual diagnosis of gifted and learning disabled. You can be gifted in some areas, but learning disabled in others, which many people don't realize.
Our daughter joined one of the groups for about an hour working on this assignment. She loved the class, and has decided she would like to switch to this school.
The one downfall to switching is that she will have to leave the French Immersion system as this program is only offered in English. However, since my husband speaks French he can teach her. Busing is provided, which is great, because if it wasn't offered we wouldn't be able to realistically get her to and from this school.
She could start at anytime, but I think we've decided to have her finish her year out, and have her start in September.
The fact that she met the criteria was not a surprise to us. Every teacher she has had over the years has commented that she probably fits into the "gifted" category. My husband was in gifted as a kid, and I was always one point away from meeting the criteria, but instead, I skipped two grades (grade 1 and grade 8).
The gifted program in our city is very small. It is currently one classroom of students ranging from grade 5 to grade 8. They are sometimes broken up into grade level (5/6 vs 7/8), and for that reason there are 1.5 teachers designated towards this class.
We went on a tour earlier this week, and I was blown away. It seems fabulous. Heck, *I* want to be in the class! The 5/6 portion of the class only has 6 children. One in grade 5 and the rest are in grade 6. They were working on a Carmen San Diego type exercise. (None of the kids know Carmen San Diego, but the teacher being about my age knew that I would understand the reference.)
With world maps, atlases, and Netbooks on hand, the kids were working in pairs to figure out where they were going. They had a list of about 15 countries, had to figure out where the countries were, then figure out what currency the country used, and then they had to convert a certain amount of the currency into Canadian dollars. The teacher was helping one of the kids in writing down the answers for his work.
The class has some kids who are strictly "gifted", and others who meet the dual diagnosis of gifted and learning disabled. You can be gifted in some areas, but learning disabled in others, which many people don't realize.
Our daughter joined one of the groups for about an hour working on this assignment. She loved the class, and has decided she would like to switch to this school.
The one downfall to switching is that she will have to leave the French Immersion system as this program is only offered in English. However, since my husband speaks French he can teach her. Busing is provided, which is great, because if it wasn't offered we wouldn't be able to realistically get her to and from this school.
She could start at anytime, but I think we've decided to have her finish her year out, and have her start in September.
It is a best educaion option that you talking about. Students have a great career with this program. Gifted program is an effective enrichment programme that allows students to reach their potential. Youe daughter is dedicated toward this new type of education programe. All students can make their learning skills strong after adopting this programe.
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