Right after the mandatory school closures due to COVID-19 (March 2020) we started working with a Highly Gifted 7 year old young lady who we will call Stephanie. By the end of 1st grade, based on multiple assessments she is performing at 3rd grade level in both Mathematics and English Language Arts.
Stephanie is enrolled in a small private school where there are 12 kids in her classroom. For reference most public schools have 24+ students in an elementary classroom. Stephanie's mom is concerned that this school year is a loss and that her daughter's development has been interrupted.She is considering changing schools if Distance Learning will continue into the 2021-2022 school year.
There are a lot of families out there that share the same concerns as Stephanie's mom and are stuck in a challenging position. Stephanie's mom has scheduled a zoom conference with the teacher to share her concerns and has asked the teacher to provide additional material for Stephanie to work on. While this is by no means a solution, this is the right start.
What we have done to better support Stephanie is incorporate 30 minute 1 on 1 private tutoring lessons with an English and a Mathematics teacher 3 times a week. We decided to look at Stephanie's overall development and have identified the following areas to work on.
Stephanie has continued to remain engaged with her tutors and is now covering fourth grade material. She has more confidence in solving multi-step problems and is excited about the upcoming chapters. Stephanie is starting to work on chapter books and is developing a profound love for reading.
Going forward, Stephanie’s tutor will continue to balance enrichment with supplemental school support to help her continue developing her knowledge and skills.