Seeking Experience with High Achievers &The Discovery School in Murfreesboro, TN

M.,

I do not have a child at The Discovery school but I do have 2 gifted children that are or have been in regular public school classes. My oldest chid did not have a problem being bored until he was in High School and he was in all Advanced classes and still bored. My Younger child that starts Middle School this week has never been bored because we work with the Teachers to make sure that he gets guided properly to work at his full potential and gets stimulated in the classroom.

I have a lot of friends at Discovey School and from what I can see the same things are being taught, but maybe compared to other schools the Teachers "think outside of the box" more than your average teacher. However the school my child attends has fabulous Teachers and they are always willing to work with the Gifted or High Achievers.

They no longer have Gifted teachers at the schools but they will test only with strong Parental involvement(keeping on top of things) in the 3rd grade. This testing has to be your idea as very few teachers recommend this. They will get an IEP~Individualized Education Placement but then it will be your responsibility to make sure the teachers do their part to cultivate your Child's education. From what I hear Discovery School is no different. I have several friends whose children will be going to Middle School from Dis. School and they did not know anything about having their children tested gifted so they could be in Spectrum(gifted) in the County Schools. You will still have to fight to get your child tested. This is a lot of extra work on the Teacher.

The only negative thing I have heard about Dis. School from friends is that there are always lots of projects. I don't know if that has gotten better or not.

Good Luck with your decision.

I have 2 duahgters who just started at the Discovery School this year one in K and one in 2nd. I am so excited about the experiences they will have here. We were at Scales which was a wonderful school but sooo big so I am excited to have them at a MUCH smaller school. There are 4 classes for K and 3 for all the rest and from what they have said they do not plan on growing anymore. There are lots of projects but from my understanding they do this rather than the rote worksheet type work. There is much less repetition of things. Like in the regular classrooms they will spend weeks on certain things doing them over and over. This is great for some kids but the kids that get it quickly can and do often get bored. My oldest daughter had this problem in her last class. Her teacher did a good job challenging her but had she had a different teacher I don't know that she would have the same opportunities and may have gotten very bored which would not have been good for her or them. :) The Discovery School works with MTSU a lot they are right there so they will go over to the campus for different things throughout the year. They have a brand new Science lab and I believe a newer computer lab (but I have not seen that or heard much about it so I am not positive). Once a week they have something called clusters where the children have picked a subject they want to learn more about and they go to a classroom where they get to learn about this with other kids from other classes and grades. I like that they are learning both what they need to and what they want to. I think it will make learning a lot more fun. In the first meeting they talked about how kids that go here are high achievers. Some are actually gifted others work hard and like to be challenged. There are even more opportunities as they get older. In 4th grade they all get thier own laptops. They also are going to start doing school plays and drama is offered to all the kids this year. I am still learning more everyday and while the work is definitely harder than a regular classroom I am very excited to be a part of this school. Oh just an FYI many of the kids are reading here in K where as in the regular classroom they are not. You will have some still learning thier letters and how to spell thier own names in regular classes. I am sure my youngest will be more like this but my older 2 things seemed to come easier to and this school was recommended by my 2nd graders last teacher. I guess my advice would be to have your daughter tested in the spring. If she is accepted then you go from there but no one says you have to go. Her zoned school could be a wonderful school too and you should ask around about how they do with high achievers. If you want to talk more you can e-mail me prvately at ____@____.com Good luck with your decision. I know it is a tuff one!

I have a teacher friend (I am a teacher, too) whose daughter is at TDC. She LOVES it. She, too, was concerned about her child being bored in a "typical" classroom and was excited when her daughter was accepted. K is in 1st grade now and couldn't be happier. But, as with all schools, the experience really depends on the teacher your child has. I taught at a school that most people thought was full of thugs and the kids weren't getting an adequate education because of the high number of low-income students. I think they were getting an amazing education because the teachers cared about their students and were willing to do whatever it took to help them learn and apply the material. It would definitely be worth your time to sit down with the principal and find out about the school and if it's a good fit for your family. Good Luck!
BTW...that is a school we will be looking at for my son when he's ready for Kindergarten, too.

You are so lucky!!!! I wish I had teachers and shown that much interest in my son and then maybe I would not have to fight so hard to get him the help he needs. My son is seven and like your daughter seems to "know" things naturally. He reads on a ninth grade level and that was after I fought like crazy to have him tested. My son complained of boredom in first grade. Kindergaten was a new experience for him since he had no formal education up until that point. I think you should provide every opportunity whatsever for your daughter, because you do not want to waste her beautiful mind. I have not heard of the discovery school so I will leave that to someone else but TRUST me once you get her into formal education she will slip through the cracks. You do not have to become pushy as far as with your child I'm not all that way, but look into every possible avenue for her. Good luck. Please keep me posted. You also need to look into the Magnet schools they have a different sort of cirriculum.

My only advice is that I was told the same thing by my son's preschool teachers... to have my son tested...you get into all the hype and then...he did not get in. I was SOOO upset! You hear all this about how your child is so smart and ahead of everyone in their class and then someone tells you that they are "not" able to attend? It really, really upset me. I went as far as having a meeting with the Director b/c I had to know what happened. I found out that he was just too young, his attn span was not what it should have been and he was not able to focus. He turned 5 in June so he was tested at 4 yrs old, She said that it seems most kids that are even a few months older do better. She said that he was very close but there are so many things that they look for, other than just smarts. I tell you this b/c you need to know what to expect and how to deal with it if she does not get in. With that being said, I have friends w/ children in that school and they love it. They do get homework a lot and they do expect a lot from the children. The Director told me that you need to know your child's personality and if they are the type that wants to please so badly that they feel pressure to do better and that can hurt their self esteem. She said to me, "would you rather have your son at the top of his class at a regular school and a happy, fun, demeanor, or would you want your son to be the middle of his class, struggling, and always feeling left behind or having to work so hard to keep up with other classmates". Your daughter who is already reading will do great, I am sure she is "smart enough" to get into the school but they also look at demeanor, shyness, focusing, how well she listens and pays attn...you should have her tested when the time is right, her age will make her 5 1/2 by that time so she should do well. Test her and give her the opportunity to get the best education she can but don't tell her what you are doing in case she does not get in, let her know it is just testing for all kids going into K and then if she goes elsewhere, like my son, he does not know he did not pass, he just knows this is where he is zoned. I would also recommend putting her in a 4 day a week program b/c it seems that really helps. My son was in 2 days a week and the more format they have and structure, the better. All of my friend's that their kids got in were in 4 or 5 day programs.

Good luck to you and your daughter! Good for you. W.