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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>I would sure hope not! I am deeply interested in ensuring that my kids are provided the appropriate opportunities for learning and success. It is my job to teach them how to respond to those opportunities and then let them go to experience life and to reach their potential!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>For what it’s worth, I’m also an older parent of five lovely daughters. I have learned much along the way and my second grader is fortunate to benefit from the mistakes I’ve made with the others </span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Wingdings;color:#1F497D'>J</span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Jane<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> ohiogift-bounces@lists.service.ohio-state.edu [mailto:ohiogift-bounces@lists.service.ohio-state.edu] <b>On Behalf Of </b>(Mary Collier)<br><b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, May 28, 2013 12:19 PM<br><b>To:</b> ohiogift@lists.service.ohio-state.edu<br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [Ohiogift] gifted parents as advocates<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>You made my day, but it is a shame you had to do this. Would you also be labled a helicopter parent?<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>Mary Collier (an older parent)<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>-----Original Message-----<br>From: Jane Brewster <<a href="mailto:JBrewster@brewsterandbrewster.com">JBrewster@brewsterandbrewster.com</a>><br>To: Ohiogift <<a href="mailto:Ohiogift@lists.service.ohio-state.edu">Ohiogift@lists.service.ohio-state.edu</a>><br>Sent: Tue, May 28, 2013 12:09 pm<br>Subject: Re: [Ohiogift] gifted parents as advocates<o:p></o:p></span></p><div id="AOLMsgPart_0_184768a0-0eba-4590-8b9a-99f7a76a9696"><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>I have never posted before, but this topic is near and dear to my heart. I am <o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>not an educator. I am the parent of several gifted children (and a past school <o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>board member). Parents absolutely MUST step in and advocate for their children, <o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>beginning with the local classroom. My daughter entered kindergarten a year <o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>early and is currently in second grade. During an early conference with a <o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>teacher this year, I was told my daughter was not motivated. She was disruptive <o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>in the classroom and not progressing beyond the beginning second grade reading <o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>level the teacher had given her. I discovered it was the teacher's habit to <o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>make each child read the same book three times. I asked the teacher (okay, I <o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>wasn't that nice) to quit making her read the same thing three times, when she <o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>clearly already understood it, provide her with more challenging work, increase <o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>the difficulty of her spelling assignments, and, in addition to the usual test <o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>for the reading level, allow my daughter to p<o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'> rovide a report or project for each book she had read. Amazingly (not really), <o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>she has progressed in her reading level to about the end of the fifth grade. <o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>She and I did some really cool projects at home, too (no help from the teacher). <o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>Sadly, had I not intervened, I believe my daughter would have continued to <o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>disrupt the classroom and refuse to do her work, making it appear that she was <o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>actually BEHIND rather than ahead of the other kids. I will say that the <o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>teacher later indicated to me that she had never had a child like my daughter <o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>and was thankful for the insight I had provided into differentiation in the <o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>classroom.<o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>Jane<o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>Katie and other gifted parents,<o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>Margaret is absolutely right. You must advocate for your son. Talking to your <o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>legislators is crucial. Ann Sheldon and/or the Ohio Association for Gifted <o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>Children website at oagc.com can give you advice. Click on advocacy on the <o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>left, and then advocacy alerts you will see that gifted is once again embroiled <o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>in a fight to have units reinstated so that districts actually have gifted <o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>teachers and gifted coordinators who understand and actually like gifted <o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>students and know how to address their needs. The House had addressed this <o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>issue, but the Senate seems poised to revert to the initial budget which did not <o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>specify exactly how money should be spent for gifted--if at all. Regrettably <o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>most classroom teachers have had zero coursework of any kind on gifted children. <o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>Your representative needs to hear your story. <o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>Good luck to you,<o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>Barb<o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>_______________________________________________<o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>Ohiogift mailing list<o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'><a href="mailto:Ohiogift@lists.service.ohio-state.edu">Ohiogift@lists.service.ohio-state.edu</a><o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'><a href="https://lists.service.ohio-state.edu/mailman/listinfo/ohiogift" target="_blank">https://lists.service.ohio-state.edu/mailman/listinfo/ohiogift</a><o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre></div></div></div></body></html>