I think there is absolutly nothing wrong with you going to bat for your daughter. I believe that is the job of the parent. I wish mine would have. Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to share what my education was like and how it could have been different had my parents fought for me.
I moved a few times in my childhood, and they happened to be at bad times, mathwise. When I was in 3rd grade we moved in November. My new school had already learned simple multiplication. I knew nothing of the sorts. I remember bringing home flashcards that I had to make in class and every single night I had to go over those stupid things. I learned them, and I learned them well. We moved again at the start of 5th grade. It was a very small school, and the class was not divided by level. There were just two classes. We switched teachers for subjects, but we were always with the same kids. I believe somewhere in my school stuff I still have a t-shirt that says "Math Wizard". I received that shirt in front of the whole middle school (OK, so I'm still just a little proud of myself) because I completed all of my timed test on addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division first in the whole 5th grade. So, obviously, I not only caught up in math, but I also excelled. Math was easy for me. Story problems never created a problem for me. It just clicked. No problem.
So, now we move again at the end of 6th grade. I move to a bigger school, and they divide the classes by math level. Well, who knows where to put me? No one, so they put me in the average class. Not a problem with that, nothing wrong with the average class, but I didn't belong there. In 7th grade, I loved math. I aced it. I never had a problem doing anything, but I also was not challenged. I had a very strict teacher that didn't allow for me to goof off. So, I became a brown-noser and answered all the questions. I had all A's in math. In 8th grade, the teacher was HORRIBLE! He should not have been teaching even kindergarten math. I spent all of my 8th grade math year writing a story about my 8th grade science teacher that I was in love with
I think about all the math I payed attention to in 8th grade was trying to figure out how much of an age difference there was between the science teacher and myself.
Now it's time for high school. I got to pick my own classes. And, guess what, for any of the students who were overlooked on the math thing, you could make up for that by taking Algebra and Geometry at the same time. So, now that I was the one making the decision, I did that. I had no studyhalls, but that was the only way that I was going to get to take Calc. my senior year. The same thing goes for English. Without boring you to death, I was put in average and I did a wonderful job in all things related to English - spelling being my downfall.
So, my point being in this LONG story is that had my parents cared enough to push the school and disgree with placement, it would have allowed me to be challenged, because that is a good thing. It would have also allowed me to not have such a heavy load in highschool. And, it would have allowed me to believe I was as smart as I was. My daughter is very bright. She turned 5 in Oct. and the cut-off was in Sept. She could read when she was 4. I went to the principal at the beginning of the year and told him she needed to not be in kindergarten because she'd be bored. After giving her the little pre-kindergarten test, they decided 1st would be good. Not only is she in 1st grade, but she is at the TOP of her 1st grade class. She should have stayed behind because it's not fair to the rest of the kids who had to wait another year?
It is our job as parents to fight for our children and make sure they are not left behind.
I moved a few times in my childhood, and they happened to be at bad times, mathwise. When I was in 3rd grade we moved in November. My new school had already learned simple multiplication. I knew nothing of the sorts. I remember bringing home flashcards that I had to make in class and every single night I had to go over those stupid things. I learned them, and I learned them well. We moved again at the start of 5th grade. It was a very small school, and the class was not divided by level. There were just two classes. We switched teachers for subjects, but we were always with the same kids. I believe somewhere in my school stuff I still have a t-shirt that says "Math Wizard". I received that shirt in front of the whole middle school (OK, so I'm still just a little proud of myself) because I completed all of my timed test on addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division first in the whole 5th grade. So, obviously, I not only caught up in math, but I also excelled. Math was easy for me. Story problems never created a problem for me. It just clicked. No problem.
So, now we move again at the end of 6th grade. I move to a bigger school, and they divide the classes by math level. Well, who knows where to put me? No one, so they put me in the average class. Not a problem with that, nothing wrong with the average class, but I didn't belong there. In 7th grade, I loved math. I aced it. I never had a problem doing anything, but I also was not challenged. I had a very strict teacher that didn't allow for me to goof off. So, I became a brown-noser and answered all the questions. I had all A's in math. In 8th grade, the teacher was HORRIBLE! He should not have been teaching even kindergarten math. I spent all of my 8th grade math year writing a story about my 8th grade science teacher that I was in love with
I think about all the math I payed attention to in 8th grade was trying to figure out how much of an age difference there was between the science teacher and myself. Now it's time for high school. I got to pick my own classes. And, guess what, for any of the students who were overlooked on the math thing, you could make up for that by taking Algebra and Geometry at the same time. So, now that I was the one making the decision, I did that. I had no studyhalls, but that was the only way that I was going to get to take Calc. my senior year. The same thing goes for English. Without boring you to death, I was put in average and I did a wonderful job in all things related to English - spelling being my downfall.
So, my point being in this LONG story is that had my parents cared enough to push the school and disgree with placement, it would have allowed me to be challenged, because that is a good thing. It would have also allowed me to not have such a heavy load in highschool. And, it would have allowed me to believe I was as smart as I was. My daughter is very bright. She turned 5 in Oct. and the cut-off was in Sept. She could read when she was 4. I went to the principal at the beginning of the year and told him she needed to not be in kindergarten because she'd be bored. After giving her the little pre-kindergarten test, they decided 1st would be good. Not only is she in 1st grade, but she is at the TOP of her 1st grade class. She should have stayed behind because it's not fair to the rest of the kids who had to wait another year?
It is our job as parents to fight for our children and make sure they are not left behind.
