not gifted

[flea]

Casper didn't test as gifted, as per the very gently-worded form letter we received (she could have had a bad day! maybe she needs to mature! she still counts as smart! don't be sad - read her some books!).

I'm a bit disappointed, only because from the little I know of the gifted program at her school it's kinda fun-looking, one-on-one or small group attention, they seem to do a little French. (One of the best things about my own education, IMO, was my public school had French for everyone starting in 5th grade. Of the numerous languages I have studied or been extensively exposed to - German, Italian, modern and ancient Greek, and Latin - French is the only one I retain any fluency in, and I stopped studying it when I was 16 and haven't used it in an immersion setting since then. I think everyone should have a second language in elementary school.)

I do worry a bit that Casper can't (or won't) read and seems, in general, very little motivated about school work. Mrs. B, her Pre-K teacher, talked to us about her motivation - the goal with Montessori, as that was, is to develop self-motivated kids. Left to her own devices, Casper would have colored all day, but, you know, she was 4! She seems to enjoy school now, as a whole, but from what I've seen she's often a bit lazy and has to be prodded to do things fully (things other than making elaborate drawings, that is). It is a huge struggle to get her to "read" us a simple book that she usually has memorized, and she hates doing the flash cards of words she supposedly knows, and often guesses at them half-looking (based on initial letter) and gets them wrong. She might be able to struggle through Hop on Pop at this point, but nothing beyond that. And she's known all her letters and sounds for about a year now!

I know that the age of learning to read is variable, and in some countries (Scandinavia and Germany?) children aren't expected to read until 7. I know Casper is smart and creative. But reading is so incredibly cool! It's deeply important to me and to success in life! Why the heck isn't she doing it yet? She's five and a half - am I being silly?

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/_swallow/]

My littlest sister didn't learn how to read until she was 7 or 8. She was the youngest of four, and the rest of us had all gone through a strict Catholic school that had you reading in first grade like it or not. Calla, however, went to a comfortable, granola-y neighborhood schoolhouse that was much more relaxed. My mother didn't know whether she had a learning disorder or whether she was just doing it at a more natural rate. If Calla had been the first child, instead of the fourth, she probably would have had lots of intensive attention. Her teacher was recommending lots of tests for placement in special education. But what happened is that my parents just pulled her out of school for a year to homeschool, with weekly visits from a reading tutor and lots of free time for herself... and she just sort of taught herself to read.

OK, I just found the post in my mother's livejournal (devils_interval) where she talks about this, instead of me just parroting what I remember her saying to friends at the time. Here:

This is the kid who could not, despite hers and our best efforts, read when she was eight. We had tutors, we had assessments...then in desperation I took her out of school for a year during which she spent most of her time lying on her bed reading Spider magazine. Or trying to. And then, like magic (because her tutor had taken a full-time job and she wasn't being tutored at the time) she started reading with a depth that was way beyond her chronological age. In April she was still struggling through Little Bear books; in summer when the 4th Harry Potter book came out she spent a whole week catching up. In a week she read the first three and then the 4th book.

I guess what I mean is, don't panic; it's definitely possible that Casper's brain is just taking her own pace, and doesn't mean she won't read as well or as happily as other kids once she gets there.

(Sorry for the edits!)

[casperflea.livejournal.com]

Did I once know you as R. Lizard? If so, so nice to hear from you!

[http://users.livejournal.com/_swallow/]

Yes! I'm impressed you remembered. I found you on LJ not long ago and wanted to catch up on your life-- I hope I didn't seem too weird, friending you up out of the blue.

[casperflea.livejournal.com]

Oh, not at all. I will now friend you back so you can read my deep dark secret posts.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_swallow/]

:)