Maybe Not So Much
Oct. 8th, 2009 03:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lydamorehouseI'd been thinking we made the right choice in not sending Mason into the gifted and talented magnet here in Saint Paul. Now, I'm not so sure.
Mason came home a couple of days ago with a book from the school library. It was a book he'd read last year (part of the MAGIC TREE HOUSE series), one, in fact, he already has at home. We asked him why he took that particular book out. He said, oh, this was his "AR" (reading testing book), and he'd picked something else out but his teacher said he should, "take it slow."
RED FLAG.
I told Mason that I'd ask his teacher about it when I went in to do folder volunteering today. For a moment, I thought I was going to miss her (it's her break time, as the students are all off at the I-Zone,) but we ended up having a very short conversation in the hallway. It went something like this...
Me: [retell the bit about the library book] and you said he needed to "start slow." What's that about?
Her: Well, he's only in first grade. Even if he can read at a seventh grade level I don't feel that he should.
Me: Why?
Her: We want kids to be kids. He's only six.
Me: And? We let him read whatever he likes at home.
Her: I'm worried that some of the older book are too emotionally advanced for him.
Me: [Internally sputtering, so only manage to say] I suppose I can see your point.
[We stare at each other for some time as my wheels continue to spin, she might at this point have gone on about emotional maturity, but honestly my brain was just sputtering.]
Me: But that's just fiction. He could test on non-fiction at any level, right?
Her: I suppose. *IF* he understands it.
Me: [Sensing I've lost this argument on some fundamental level, I say that I think he does and we sort of leave it at that.]
Wow, here I am facing the sound of my own music. How many times have I said that we don't want Mason to lose out on "being a kid," only to have that thrown in my face as a reason he should be denied access to books at the library?
Also, it was clear from the way his teacher talked about it, she does NOT believe his test scores. I mean, really, it must be some kind of fake. What six year old can read at a seventh grade level? (I wonder what she'd say if she knew he's actually reading fiction books at an adult level?) Worse, I was unprepared for this particular argument. I've been reading a book called GENUIS DENIED about profoundly gifted students and their problems, yet I wasn't ready for someone to look at his test scores deny the facts staring her in the face.
Worse, to decide that the test scores be damned. He's six, he'll read six year old books because they're good for him.
Are they? My feelings, to be fair, are mixed. But Mason has proven himself very good at deciding for himself what he can and can't handle, emotionally. That's the beauty of a book. Unlike TV, you can put it down with a lot more ease. For instance, he loves the GOOSEBUMPS series, but when he gets scared he puts them down. Or he skips to the end to see how things work out. Some days, I peek in his room and he's dug out the box of board books from under his bed and he's happily reading "Where's Maisey?" by Lucy Cousins. Other days he picks up SPLINTER OF THE MIND'S EYE a grown-up level Star Wars book and reads a chapter or two. Some days he wants CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS, others he wants an encylopedia of bugs written for college-level students with Latin species names and scientific discusions.
I could understand his teacher's objections more if she was concerned about, let's say, Mason picking up a book full of explicit sex.* But how likely is that he'd find that in the Crossroad's Media Center?
Also, I'm worried that implying that there are books he SHOULD and SHOULDN'T read (in terms of grade level) is going to make Mason more self-conscious about his choices. Since the "start slowly" comment, Shawn and I have noticed Mason has been preferring his old stand-by GARFIELD to the Star Wars books he'd been devouring. Shame is a powerful and subtle weapon. I would be absolutely livid if I thought Mason was feeling shamed about his ability.
And I can't help but feeling that this wouldn't happen if he was at a gifted magnet.
Though, it has slowly dawned on me, that perhaps one of the reasons Mason's teacher is having trouble accepting that Mason can read and understand what he's reading at such an advanced level is that he's not just gifted... he's profoundly gifted. As the book GENUIS DENIED suggested the difference is that his teacher has probably come across one in hundred students who are mildly to even quite gifted. But a six year old who can read and understand adult level books? She may only meet one student in her lifetime who is like that.
And most public school systems spend exactly $0 dollars on gifted students. They spend millions on students who need basic and rudamentary help. There's a place for the struggling student to go. There's no place for Mason. More than that, it's considered a waste because if he can get "A"s then he's supposedly not suffering.
You know the worst part? I KNEW this was coming. I just didn't think I'd have to have this fight now.
----
*I read things that were sexually explicit far too early, and you know what? I just plain didn't get them. However, I will say that the things that did scar me were the scary things. I still get the chills over certain sceens in AMITYVILLE HORROR because I read them "too soon."
Mason came home a couple of days ago with a book from the school library. It was a book he'd read last year (part of the MAGIC TREE HOUSE series), one, in fact, he already has at home. We asked him why he took that particular book out. He said, oh, this was his "AR" (reading testing book), and he'd picked something else out but his teacher said he should, "take it slow."
RED FLAG.
I told Mason that I'd ask his teacher about it when I went in to do folder volunteering today. For a moment, I thought I was going to miss her (it's her break time, as the students are all off at the I-Zone,) but we ended up having a very short conversation in the hallway. It went something like this...
Me: [retell the bit about the library book] and you said he needed to "start slow." What's that about?
Her: Well, he's only in first grade. Even if he can read at a seventh grade level I don't feel that he should.
Me: Why?
Her: We want kids to be kids. He's only six.
Me: And? We let him read whatever he likes at home.
Her: I'm worried that some of the older book are too emotionally advanced for him.
Me: [Internally sputtering, so only manage to say] I suppose I can see your point.
[We stare at each other for some time as my wheels continue to spin, she might at this point have gone on about emotional maturity, but honestly my brain was just sputtering.]
Me: But that's just fiction. He could test on non-fiction at any level, right?
Her: I suppose. *IF* he understands it.
Me: [Sensing I've lost this argument on some fundamental level, I say that I think he does and we sort of leave it at that.]
Wow, here I am facing the sound of my own music. How many times have I said that we don't want Mason to lose out on "being a kid," only to have that thrown in my face as a reason he should be denied access to books at the library?
Also, it was clear from the way his teacher talked about it, she does NOT believe his test scores. I mean, really, it must be some kind of fake. What six year old can read at a seventh grade level? (I wonder what she'd say if she knew he's actually reading fiction books at an adult level?) Worse, I was unprepared for this particular argument. I've been reading a book called GENUIS DENIED about profoundly gifted students and their problems, yet I wasn't ready for someone to look at his test scores deny the facts staring her in the face.
Worse, to decide that the test scores be damned. He's six, he'll read six year old books because they're good for him.
Are they? My feelings, to be fair, are mixed. But Mason has proven himself very good at deciding for himself what he can and can't handle, emotionally. That's the beauty of a book. Unlike TV, you can put it down with a lot more ease. For instance, he loves the GOOSEBUMPS series, but when he gets scared he puts them down. Or he skips to the end to see how things work out. Some days, I peek in his room and he's dug out the box of board books from under his bed and he's happily reading "Where's Maisey?" by Lucy Cousins. Other days he picks up SPLINTER OF THE MIND'S EYE a grown-up level Star Wars book and reads a chapter or two. Some days he wants CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS, others he wants an encylopedia of bugs written for college-level students with Latin species names and scientific discusions.
I could understand his teacher's objections more if she was concerned about, let's say, Mason picking up a book full of explicit sex.* But how likely is that he'd find that in the Crossroad's Media Center?
Also, I'm worried that implying that there are books he SHOULD and SHOULDN'T read (in terms of grade level) is going to make Mason more self-conscious about his choices. Since the "start slowly" comment, Shawn and I have noticed Mason has been preferring his old stand-by GARFIELD to the Star Wars books he'd been devouring. Shame is a powerful and subtle weapon. I would be absolutely livid if I thought Mason was feeling shamed about his ability.
And I can't help but feeling that this wouldn't happen if he was at a gifted magnet.
Though, it has slowly dawned on me, that perhaps one of the reasons Mason's teacher is having trouble accepting that Mason can read and understand what he's reading at such an advanced level is that he's not just gifted... he's profoundly gifted. As the book GENUIS DENIED suggested the difference is that his teacher has probably come across one in hundred students who are mildly to even quite gifted. But a six year old who can read and understand adult level books? She may only meet one student in her lifetime who is like that.
And most public school systems spend exactly $0 dollars on gifted students. They spend millions on students who need basic and rudamentary help. There's a place for the struggling student to go. There's no place for Mason. More than that, it's considered a waste because if he can get "A"s then he's supposedly not suffering.
You know the worst part? I KNEW this was coming. I just didn't think I'd have to have this fight now.
----
*I read things that were sexually explicit far too early, and you know what? I just plain didn't get them. However, I will say that the things that did scar me were the scary things. I still get the chills over certain sceens in AMITYVILLE HORROR because I read them "too soon."
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no subject
Date: 2009-10-08 11:14 pm (UTC)I was a bright kid and I had teachers who didn't know what to do with me, but I never had one who actively tried to prevent me from reading upper-level material. As long as Mason isn't picking up GOSSIP GIRL or something, why make him read things he'll be bored with? And he definitely shouldn't be made to feel ashamed of his abilities.
That being said, while it isn't quite the same as the gifted/non-gifted school question, my parents never let me skip a grade because they did want me to have a "normal" school experience. I've never regretted that decision on their parts. I think the points that other readers have raised are valid: is the problem with the system as a whole, or is it this one teacher? No school is going to be perfect.