'Gifted' child

sarahlouise210

I agree with everyone that you need to devolop the whole child and not just concentrate your efforts on their academic abilities. I also have a very clever 5 year old ..though I have not yet had the joy of being told by a teacher that she is gifted!! I know she is way ahead of her peers - as an indication she is currently reading the Oxford Reading Tree at stage 10 - I have only seen tonight that this is the eqivalent of a reading age of 8.6 ! I have never heard of the gifted and talented "scheme" in schools before..I do all that I can at home with her but wonder if I should be asking the school about their policy-I have not really wanted to say anything before as everyone thinks their child is wonderful !! Being in a similar postion to the OP (our children being the same age) I would say that forget private school for now-give plenty of stimulation on a wide range of subjects at home and then consider private school at Secondary age if they can get a bursary etc.

patchwork_cat

As a parent of 2 children on the gifted and talented register at their schools. I think that you should be a) rightly proud, but b) don't rush into anything.

He is 5 that really is too young to be concerned that he is not going to be stimulated enough.

It is a worry, they have special needs just the same as other children at the other end of the spectrum, however at both my childrens' schools they do not get any special work. I am really not sure that I would want them to as long as they are mentally stimulated as it is important that they fit in.

My advice would be that as your child gets older to look into schools in your area that have other bright children, if your school doesn't. A teacher should be able to set work at the child's correct level in any school, but you do want the child to have the peer encouragement from having other children in the same class with the same intellect. There is probably no need to move to a private school.

Be careful to ensure your child is well rounded as the cream will rise to the top!

My daughter for instance has a reading age of 14.6 at 10.1. this is without any special classes or extra help, just reading at bedtime - if I can get her to!+ school books. She is having tutorials once a week, at the moment though, to prepare her for the Grammar school entrance, but my son goes to the local high school and is predicited A's and A*'s again with no extra help (although it is a large school with streaming now and he is in top set for all subjects)

sarah*a

We always knew my Step-D was exceptionally bright but as long as she was well rounded and not too bored we didn't really change anything or do anything about it - we played games at home that some of her friends may have struggled with (scrabble/monopoly/sudoko) and she chose herself to channel her energy into extra-curricular drama/performance classes.

When she was in Year 5 (10yr old) her school registered her as 'Gifted and Talented' and she was offered free tution once a week which we took up willingly. Which she enjoyed. She was constantly top of her class by a great margin and sailed through her SATS without any problems.

She is now at a fantastic private school in Birmingham and on an almost 100% bursary - but she is now a big fish in a small pond and finds it quite stressful to ensure she keeps good grades across the board and is now 'average' amongst her classmates which is a totally new experience for her and one she hates. However we feel she is in the right school for her and, despite her teenage angst, will serve her well in the long run.

As previous posters have said - your son is only 5, encourage him at home. You can buy great workbooks for use at home - and they have the answers in the back! But don't spend money you can't afford sending him to a school he may not be ready for.

On another note - I was BORED at school when I was 5/6 as everything was too easy for my so the school moved me up a class to a higher age group and by 9/10 I had levelled out as everyone else caught up with me. By the time I went to secondary school I was back with my own age group. Could you talk to the school and see if they would be willing to let your son join a higher age class for some, if not all, his lessons?

Good luck :A

Madmel

My DDs too are on the G&T register in their school. The school has only 66 pupils, and they are the only 2 on that register.

DD1 is in year 4, but for the last 3 years has worked with the year above. Mostly this is due to year 5 having a particularly small cohort and her own year having 2 children with difficulties. However, she has flourished. There is an organisation in Devon which promotes G&T activity and DD1 is known to them. She went to a Maths day last term, and on Friday to a Science one, both of which she loved. These are aimed at years 5 & 6 but as she works with them anyway, they agreed she could go.

DD2 is in year 2 and doing Maths with the bright year 3, and top year 4, excluding DD1. She too adores it - the school only has 3 classes, but 4 teaching groups for Maths, so they can divide them up according to their ability rather than their chronological age.

We knew early on that both were bright (DH taught in a uni and I'm also a teacher) but we opted for "distraction", meaning that they do lots of outside things so they don't have their head permanently in a book. Both swim, learn ballet & tap dancing and have music lessons. Through these activities, they work with like-minded children and have a great social life.

Let your DS enjoy his infant years, but carry on supporting him at home. I have thought about private education, but TBH, I can't find a school that would do any more than their state primary. I'd still end up paying for the music and sports, and this way, I have more cash for other activities.

patchwork_cat

I am v surprised to read that other primary schools have free tuition and provision for G&T kids our 2 schools do nothing or very little. The High School did do an extra 3 days in school in holidays in YR7 , my son was not best pleased! Apart from that nothing. Having said that though both schools are large and High School does stream. My daughter does have peers who are about her level - although she doesn't have the competition in Maths. So I suppose if there are a few of them then they can gear it without putting her up a year for some lessons - there are 50 in her year.