Smarty Pants

About two weeks ago, I received an email from Ella's teacher requesting a meeting. Of course, my first thought was WE/SHE are in trouble! Then, two days later we received her standardized test scores in the mail. A-Ha. I began to suspect maybe that's why her teacher wanted to talk with us. (Verbal reasoning 99%, composite score 93%).

We've always known Ella was smarter than the average bear, but honestly, also were very aware that she is her own person, marching to her own little drum at times. We don't mind and probably, truth be told, encourage this. My nature is to freak out, but I have learned with Ella that everything comes in due time. When she is ready. Not a second earlier. The ONLY thing she did early was talk and was a full-on chatter box well before 2. I know she has an unusually large vocabulary for a 2nd grader (or for most adults to be honest), but I also know she was one of the slowest readers in her class last year. Writing was like pulling teeth. So with Ella, often we are not quite sure how others will perceive her. Add to that we are SO NOT the in your face my child is a genius and needs special instruction folks.

Back on topic.

Per her teacher's request, Hung and I had a meeting with her a couple of weeks ago. I adore her teacher. Turns out Ella is doing very well in school. The girl whose teacher gave up in the middle of the 1st grade, calling her little einstein and saying that she KNEW she was super smart but she was just not getting through. She's a tough case because she's such a nice girl and so obviously not stupid that the teacher just couldn't figure her out. Ella was Ella. She sized up the teacher quite quickly and did that which she was comfortable doing but didn't push the boundaries at all. THANKYOUVERYMUCHBUTNO.

At the end of 1st grade she was actually "reading" (reading is in quotes because what she was doing wasn't really reading) below grade level and pretty much not writing much at all. The bare minimum to get by. Of course my instinct was to freak out!!! But I know my girl. I took a very deep breath and had a glass of wine and reminded myself this is how she operates. Instead of freaking out, we took the summer off. No pressure, no tears because "its just so hard, mama", no mandatory reading list. Two weeks into 2nd grade whe was on grade level, two weeks ago she was above grade level. As for writing. At the beginning of 2nd grade it was like pulling teeth to get her to write two words on a page, now she is writing 3 page long stories. She gets it on her own timeline. Pushing her does NO good and when she gets it, she's got it 100%.

I know we are unbelievably lucky to have the teacher she has this year. I would venture to say that she takes figuring out what makes Ella tick as a personal challenge and, as a result, Ella is making serious progress. So much so, that her teacher is recommending her for Fairfax County's level 4 gt program. (I being the complete slacker mom that I am, didn't know what that meant! I learned a lot about the Fairfax GT program, now called Advanced Academic Program, or AAP). Did you get all that? No neither did I. I had to look it up online and follow the flow chart. Her teacher must have thought I was completely clueless.

Turns out the Level 4 AAP program means she would go to another school, a school where she would be in a full day, all gt kids program. What I gathered is the following:

Level 1 - everyone gets, and from what I could gather it probably exists because parents in this area are crazy and obsessed with their kids being GT. This lets everyone say their kid is GT. Welcome to Fairfax County, the capital of over achievement and helicopter parents! The teacher comes into the classroom and basically gives activities to assess/ID who should be at a higher level.

Level 2 - kids get pulled weekly into a special class period in their own school. Basically enrichment in one subject area for those kids who learn quickly. This is what I had back in the day!

Level 3 - a 1/2 day in-school instruction with special GT teachers and kids, and

Level 4 - which can best be described as a magnet all day, all GT program, in a different school.

Her teacher thinks she is Level 4 material and wanted to talk to us about the program and make sure we were on board. I knew from her CoGAT scores she was in the pool for consideration. We got a nice little letter from her principal giving us basic info, but we really still had no clue what that really meant. Did I mention I am such a slacker? I know people in Fairfax Co. who are talking about GT in kindergarten. I am the mom who thinks "they'll figure out that she's smart and let us know, right?" People have been saying to me forever that she needs to be in a gt program and I have pretty consistently said, "I am not pushing it." I know she is smart. I don't need the county or anyone to tell me that. I also am FULLY aware that she has her limitations. As long as she is enjoying school and is being challenged I am ok. I guess I would err on the side of MAYBE MY CHILD ISN'T THE GENIUS I THINK SHE IS instead of being that annoying in your face 24/7 mom.

So as you can see, I did not really know what all this entailed. I think her teacher found that super refreshing. Well, it means that her teacher has to put together a Ella's "package" (class work, a narrative about Ella, complete a GT rating scale, etc) and turn it in. We, as parents, also had to fill out a questionnaire and submit materials from home (art, projects, pictures, whatever) as part of the "package".

The whole thing kind of scares me, because though she's smart I don't think she's uber geeky, but whatever. I am also a parent who puts a very high value on social intelligence. I would SO rather her be kind and interesting to talk to and fun and engaging than a prodigy who can't make eye contact. Not that there is anything wrong with prodigies.

We are, of course, EXTREMELY proud of her but also I reiterated to her teacher we are all about what is best for Ella. It is so gratifying to have our philosophy and approach validated! The thing is she might not get into the program at all. Apparently 60-70% of those in the eligible pool do get into the full program. I think her chances are good but it is by no means a done deal. If she does get in, I think she will either sink or swim. She will either be completely overwhelmed and crash and burn or be completely in love with the program and will flourish. Either way the good news is if she doesn't get in (or gets in and struggles), she is guaranteed at least level 3 services at her own school.

And still Hung and I look at each other often and say, "Wow, imagine if we really worked with her! Like used flashcards and stuff!" lol. Our philosophy is simple. Figure out what interests her and expose her to it. Answer all of her questions. This one is becoming increasingly difficult though as mama often has to go look up the answers!