1st Grade

Well, in first grade Andrew was tested and his IQ confirmed what I was already suspecting. He qualified as "highly gifted" in our school system. So he was allowed a mentor. It was right before Christmas, I didn't have time to think about it and said yes. When I ask his regular classroom teacher what he would be missing and she told me it would be during his center time, something didn't sit right with me.

Andrew is smart in everything, but math is his main interest and talent. His mentor was going to teach him Spanish. After about 3 weeks with his mentor it was Christmas break and I had a chance to think about it. I didn't like Andrew missing center time (the time of the day in which I feel is the social part of the day) and I really wanted him to be learning math. I decided to pull him out of his mentoring program when early in January I asked Andrew if he wanted to participate in the Spanish club after school again and he said no. He told me he didn't want to learn Spanish. That's when I knew that the mentor he had wasn't the right one.

Andrew was devastated and I felt awful as a parent. I had no idea if I was making the right choice or not. We "weaned" Andrew away from his mentor and then all seemed fine. My biggest problem however is that Andrew only does the first grade math. He is not challenged at all in his math in 1st grade.

I just spoke with the gifted facilitator at his school and we are planning on finding a math mentor for Andrew right away in the fall. I can't wait!