I have noticed since Landon was small that he observed, problem solved, explained, and asked questions unlike any other kids his age. As a teacher, I kept my mouth shut because a lot of parents think their kids are really smart. Over the last couple of years with preschool or when Landon would come to school other teachers started to notice what I was seeing. Then last year when I met with his kindergarten teacher I had my suspicions confirmed. His teacher told us that he was performing way above where he needed to be and that she was sorry that she was not able to serve him as high as he needed.
At the beginning of first grade, this year, I was approached by the gifted teacher asking if she could go ahead and test Landon. Our answer, of course, was yes. After 3 tests he was placed in the gifted math and reading class. Since, at that point, there were no other 1st graders that were placed (the real test was not until October) they asked if I minded him going in with the 2nd grade group. Landon is only 18 days away from the cut off for second grade, so I didn't mind him going in for those 2 subjects 3 times a week. He seemed to really love it and after a month there was another 1st grader that joined him.
The funny thing is, the first time he went he told me he never wanted to go back. I was shocked because the teacher that he has is WONDERFUL! I want to be in her class!!! So we had a long talk about why. After talking I realized that it was because he was challenged and really had to work through the problem. He said that he did not come up with the answer because he ran out of time. I asked him if he was getting to the answer and he said that he finally figured it out. By this time I was in tears because I realized that my son had been in school for 2 years and he did not realize that you shouldn't know everything that the teacher talks about. He had spent that last 2 years not really thinking or being challenged, this is by no means the fault of the teacher because they both were wonderful! We talked about the point of school is to not understand everything. At the end of the night long conversation, he decided to go back and has LOVED it ever since.
At the beginning of October Mrs. Lewis, his gifted teacher, rocked my world. After having a conversation with Landon and his first grade teacher, Ms. Beckwith, she asked me if I have ever thought about accelerating Landon. I wish I had a picture of my face, to say I was shocked is an understatement. I had her define what accelerating means, I think the shock made my brain not work. Of course, accelerating means he would finish the rest of the year in 2nd grade. She needed me to decide before she went to my prinicpal and then to the county to defend the move.
Wes and I spent all night talking about the pros and cons and decided to go ahead and see what the school and county says and then we can make the final decision. The next two weeks were spent thinking about this nonstop. We decided to keep it quiet. I know we would have had a lot of support, but at the same time I know that some would have their opinions and honestly I just wanted it to be a decision that we made on our own. In the long run we are the ones that know Landon best and God has blessed us to raise him, so we depended more on God to lead us. (He opened the DOORS WIDE!!!) I spoke to some teacher who work with the gifted students and have observed Landon and they also felt like this is what he needed. (I always had to work hard at school and I work in an inclusion classroom where many are served in special ed, so this was completely out of my relm of teaching!)
So we had a meeting set for right before we left for Disney to meet with his current teacher, gifted teacher, principal, counselor, and school psychologist. Wes was on call that day and I had been praying hard that he would not get called out. I really wanted him to be there with me to hear what they had to say. Well, he got called out that morning and I was very bummed out! I have to say GOD IT GOOD! Wes got to the airport and they called him and said that his flight had been cancelled and that he could go back home. WHAT??? They have called before and cancelled his trip, but never let him go. Let me tell you that is a GOD THING!!! So Wes was able to make it to the meeting.
The meeting was full of great information about Landon. I have to say that it was very different sitting on the parent side of this kind of a meeting. At the end of the meeting we all decided that accelerating Landon was the best decision for him in the long run. We decided that he would join Mrs. Glasgow's 2nd grade class (this is who I wanted him to have for 2nd grade! She is wonderful!) and would start when he comes back from Disney. The great thing is he would be in class with kids from his gifted class. We thought that this would be an easy break in the school year for him.
That night Wes had to go to work, so it was my job to discuss this with Landon. We did not want to make a huge deal about this to him. We do not want to "brag" about him moving up. I talked to him about how he has told me that he seems to always know the answer in class and done with work very quickly. How his brain might work differently than others. (This is what the gifted teacher says to her students.) That his teachers all think that he would be a better fit for second grade. Now, I wish that I could say that he said "this is awesome mom" but that it not how it went. Instead there were a lot of tears. When I asked why he was crying he said...1. He will miss Ms. Beckwith (I promised that he would love Mrs. Glasgow and he could go visit Ms. Beckwith any time.) That seemed to help. 2. That he would miss his friends. (I promised he would still see them in the halls. and one of his closest friends he could still hang with after school.) I spent about 45 minutes with tears and laugher. At the end he said, "Mommy I am nervous, but I am excited for the challenge." I knew when he got to 2nd he would be fine, we would just have to get over that first day.
Now Landon has not clue that we are leaving next week for Disney, so I think this will help. Mrs. Glasgow is also getting some stuff together for Landon to work on to get him ready for what they are working on in class. She also left Landon this sweet note in my mailbox along with a bag of candy. He loved the note! I know this is going to be a great adventure for Landon. We have let him know how proud we are of him, but we decided to not make this a huge public thing (Facebook).
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