A New Path Presents Itself

I felt rather guided the other day. I had not planned to do anything in particular, and for some reason, I decided to make a phone call. A mom from Mommapedia had referred me to a website for parents of children who need special education. The website is devoted entirely to disabled kids, so I was hesitant to call, but the Mommapedia mom assured me that they could help.

And they did! Actually, it was a she. And she just did some web research, but came up with lots of pages to look at and lots of different options. And lots of different phone numbers. And every one of these sentences starts with "and." And I'm sorry about that.

The first number I called was the Idaho State Department of Education, who gave me some information and the name and phone number of the new head of gifted programs in my school district. I know I've called and talked with the head of that department before, and was given the usual runaround. But there's a new gal in town, and she gave me all sorts of new information!  I was very excited to find out about a school rather closer to our home that has a gifted immersion program. It doesn't start until 3rd grade, but I was thinking we'd have to drive 1/2 an hour to a school in the other district to get him an immersion program!

She told me to talk with J's principal. I don't know why I'd never thought to do that. And she described a possible path for us to take, involving J skipping first grade. I don't know how I feel about skipping grades in general. I didn't want J to skip kindergarten. It was fun, and only half a day, a great way to get used to going to school. I didn't see any reason to start his school career in first grade. But moving up to second grade now means that he could start the pull-out gifted program immediately. Which is a big benefit from a jump that he could probably handle quite easily.

To make things even easier, J is buds with an outstanding 2nd grade teacher. They talk at "parent pick-up" while J's waiting for me to take him home. I don't know if we could get him into his class, but they would both like that to happen.

I talked with the principal over the phone, and it's truly a miracle that she occupied the post of gifted coordinator just 3 years ago! I told her briefly about a few of J's abilities, and she actually believed me. She will be calling me this week to set up a meeting with a few key people, such as the school psychologist. She will also speak to J's teacher about the evaluations she has done. I'll be very interested to know what she's found out, since I'm sure her usual evaluations have a ceiling far below J's capabilities.

And then J will be tested. This is a HUGE step in the right direction, and an answer to prayers. We can not pay for private testing after Z's seizures wiped out our health savings account. The school will pick up the tab and make recommendations for his schooling. Then we get to decide what to do. We could leave him in 1st grade, even after going through all of that. It's a no-risk proposition, and I'm quite excited about it.

As for how I'm feeling about skipping J? While it's a scary decision to make, I keep reminding myself that this is J. He's always been mature and crazy smart. I really think he can handle it. In fact, I think he'd thrive on the challenge. I'm not at all sure that skipping just one grade will be enough, but it's a step in the right direction. And he naturally has some skills that need to catch up, like his handwriting and study skills.

Dad isn't so sure. He worries about J being the youngest in his class, about sports, about all sorts of things that most people think of. I did, too, before I began my research about giftedness.  I want him to feel good about this, too, if the says J is likely to succeed. But mostly, I think I could never make this decision without a good deal of serious prayer!