| PGTAG Prince George's County Association for Talented and Gifted Education |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| Advocacy at Your Child's School |
How to be an Advocate, not an Adversary
Most parents of young gifted children look forward to sending their children
to school After all, these children love to learn so what better place for
them to be than school? Parents expect that their gifted children will love
school, absorbing all the information offered, winning achievement awards
and the praise of the school staff.
Unfortunately for many of us, reality just didn't quite match up to that image.
Our children ask so many questions that the teachers can't find time to teach
the lesson, they shout out answers before the other children have time to
think for themselves, and, when they tire of hearing the same lesson
repeated, they don't always sit quietly waiting for something interesting to
happen. And the homework we see is clearly not challenging our children.
As parents, we begin to experience frustration that the school system seems
unable to provide a challenging environment for our children. After all, we
just want them to spend the day learning which is exactly what the schools
are designed to do, right?
Well, not exactly. Schools are designed to make sure everyone reaches a
certain level of competency in all subjects. You can blame the teachers, the
principals, the superintendents or No Child Left Behind if you want but that
won't increase your child's daily opportunities to learn. And it's not any one
person's fault.
In particular, it's really not the teacher's fault. There's no requirement in
Maryland that Teacher's Colleges teach strategies for teaching gifted
children so most teachers have no training in this field. The County TAG
Office offers TAG training but they are understaffed and there are limited
opportunities for this to happen.
As a parent, however, there are some things you can do:
1. First, acknowledge that teaching is a tough job and teachers often don't
know how to deal with gifted children in the classroom.
2. Approach your child's teacher early in the year, before problems arise
and establish a positive relationship. Offer to help first, ask for help second.
3. Remember to thank the teacher when things go well.
4. Join the PTA to meet other TAG parents. This gives you the advantage
of knowing when there are opportunities to make improvements. One
opportunity that may come up occurs when a school's principal leaves. If
you are known as an involved and thoughtful parent you may be able to get
on the Principal Selection Committee. These committees have teacher,
administrative and parent members who pre-screen the applicants for the
position and recommend their three top picks. It is vitally important to find
a principal who is committed to TAG. See Item #5 below.
5. Make friends with the principal - the TAG program will only be as good
as the principal wants it to be.
6. Read your school's School Improvement Plan. Help to make the plan a
success.
7. Ask if you can hold a TAG parent support group meeting. The school
should be willing to send home flyers to the TAG parents. Make the
meeting a positive experience, not a complaint session. Have a goal of
identifying 1-3 positive things you can do to help. Examples:
8. Find ways to persuade the staff at the school that demonstrating respect
for gifted children sends the message to all children that excellence is
valued.
9. Be part of the Gifted advocacy network:
Send any other ideas that have worked at your school to president@pgtag.org
and I'll include them here as well.
What to do if the above fails:
If you've tried the positive approaches outlined above without success, you
can contact your Regional Office and ask to speak to a Regional
Instructional Specialist. They haven't been trained to know how to help (yet
- we're working on it) but you can still ask them. If you're lucky, they'll take
up your cause and things will improve. Just remember that the Specialist
will be interested in helping the whole school, not just your child so explain
your concerns in relation to all the gifted children attending the school. And
the first thing they'll ask is if you've already spoken to the teacher and
principal so make sure you've already tried that.
Most parents of young gifted children look forward to sending their children
to school After all, these children love to learn so what better place for
them to be than school? Parents expect that their gifted children will love
school, absorbing all the information offered, winning achievement awards
and the praise of the school staff.
Unfortunately for many of us, reality just didn't quite match up to that image.
Our children ask so many questions that the teachers can't find time to teach
the lesson, they shout out answers before the other children have time to
think for themselves, and, when they tire of hearing the same lesson
repeated, they don't always sit quietly waiting for something interesting to
happen. And the homework we see is clearly not challenging our children.
As parents, we begin to experience frustration that the school system seems
unable to provide a challenging environment for our children. After all, we
just want them to spend the day learning which is exactly what the schools
are designed to do, right?
Well, not exactly. Schools are designed to make sure everyone reaches a
certain level of competency in all subjects. You can blame the teachers, the
principals, the superintendents or No Child Left Behind if you want but that
won't increase your child's daily opportunities to learn. And it's not any one
person's fault.
In particular, it's really not the teacher's fault. There's no requirement in
Maryland that Teacher's Colleges teach strategies for teaching gifted
children so most teachers have no training in this field. The County TAG
Office offers TAG training but they are understaffed and there are limited
opportunities for this to happen.
As a parent, however, there are some things you can do:
1. First, acknowledge that teaching is a tough job and teachers often don't
know how to deal with gifted children in the classroom.
2. Approach your child's teacher early in the year, before problems arise
and establish a positive relationship. Offer to help first, ask for help second.
3. Remember to thank the teacher when things go well.
4. Join the PTA to meet other TAG parents. This gives you the advantage
of knowing when there are opportunities to make improvements. One
opportunity that may come up occurs when a school's principal leaves. If
you are known as an involved and thoughtful parent you may be able to get
on the Principal Selection Committee. These committees have teacher,
administrative and parent members who pre-screen the applicants for the
position and recommend their three top picks. It is vitally important to find
a principal who is committed to TAG. See Item #5 below.
5. Make friends with the principal - the TAG program will only be as good
as the principal wants it to be.
6. Read your school's School Improvement Plan. Help to make the plan a
success.
7. Ask if you can hold a TAG parent support group meeting. The school
should be willing to send home flyers to the TAG parents. Make the
meeting a positive experience, not a complaint session. Have a goal of
identifying 1-3 positive things you can do to help. Examples:
- Purchase a book on gifted education for the teacher's resource library.
(Recommended books) - Offer to organize "Centers" or other enrichments materials. (This
activity can be done in the evening.) - Offer to photocopy, sort, whatever to free up time for the teacher to
plan lessons. - Manage a Destination Imagination Team.
- Organize an after school Chess Club. Send email to president@pgtag.
org if you'd like to be put in contact with someone who can help you
get started. - Tell the parents about PGTAG - take some membership forms.
8. Find ways to persuade the staff at the school that demonstrating respect
for gifted children sends the message to all children that excellence is
valued.
9. Be part of the Gifted advocacy network:
- join PGTAG and when flyers for upcoming events are sent to the list,
check with your TAG coordinator and offer to photocopy them and put
them in the teachers' mailboxes. - Have a link to PGTAG's website, www.pgtag.org, added to your
school's website. While you're at it, have them add a link to The Arc
of Prince George's County, www.thearcofpgc.org and the Special
Education Citizens Advisory Committee, family-networks.org/secac.
cfm, both organizations that help special education students.
Send any other ideas that have worked at your school to president@pgtag.org
and I'll include them here as well.
What to do if the above fails:
If you've tried the positive approaches outlined above without success, you
can contact your Regional Office and ask to speak to a Regional
Instructional Specialist. They haven't been trained to know how to help (yet
- we're working on it) but you can still ask them. If you're lucky, they'll take
up your cause and things will improve. Just remember that the Specialist
will be interested in helping the whole school, not just your child so explain
your concerns in relation to all the gifted children attending the school. And
the first thing they'll ask is if you've already spoken to the teacher and
principal so make sure you've already tried that.
| PGTAG Advocacy, outreach and support for gifted education since 1975 |