Even if she feels bored sometimes in the classroom, school is still one of the best places to gain invaluable social skills. One of the most important skills for our children is their ability to have fun with other kids . By the time your daughter is a teen having friends will be a big part of how successful she feels - and spending time with them will be high on her list of favourite things to do. One of the positives about being one of the older children in a year group is that emotionally they are able to confidently cope socially - so that’s a real plus.
Maybe you could also focus on afterschool activities to develop her skills in sport, music, drama, art or whatever else she enjoys.
Another question that question comes to mind with any gifted child is, has she been assessed by an Educational Psychologist?
Cognitive testing looks at both intellectual functioning and academic functioning.
At the completion of the testing a report will be written and feedback will be given to the parents along with recommendations for the young person’s future development.
This process often includes
- an initial assessment with the young persons parent
- an assessment phone call with classroom teachers.
- Approx. 3 hours of testing , scoring and report writing.
If parents prefer the feedback session can take place at school and include teachers and other involved agencies.
This is expensive but the school may provide some funding to help with costs.
If your child is genuinely gifted then many schools will be flexible in meeting her needs. One thought may be that she attends the morning extension class and has a dual enrolment with the Correspondence school in the afternoon. Or maybe she completes GO in the afternoon , an online version of One Day School run by the Gifted Education Centre. Your Ed psych. will be able to give you good advice here and also work with the school to ensure your daughter’s needs are met.
I would also suggest you go online at wwwgiftededucation.org.nz to check out all the resources they have available. They also have a parents’ forum and it would be interesting to chat with other parents as to what they are doing for their gifted children.
I wish you all the best in mapping out a personalised learning plan for your daughter.
JulieMulcahy
