My Son at School

hi C., One may not have anything to do with the other. My son was some what a loner, shy, and very negative, but he was in the gate program for his art skills.

are you saying how can a smart person need help? I dont understand your comment.

I would talk with the school until they have answered all your questions.

what do you mean by this? :)

I am sorry you need to provide alittle more information before we can really give you an opinion.

I think you are the same person who posted about retention. Not sure that you are giving enough information in either question for a real answer. What I do think is that you need to request another meeting with the teacher and principal and explain that you do not understand what is happening. They want you to know and they want to help your child. They are not trying to team up against you. Trust me.

If your child is in GATE but not performing to his ability, the school may request further testing to see if your son has a processing problem. Sometimes there is an auditory processing problem or visual processing problem that makes it really hard for a child to learn. A psychologist is the person who is qualified to do this testing.

It is interesting... if I am gathering all of your information correctly that the school would want to retain AND do further testing. Usually they do one or the other. Retention works for kids who have immaturity, late birthdays, and who are struggling in school. Retention is used only if everyone thinks "the gift of time" would be the solution. The children who get the testing done, are usually kids the schools don't feel like retention would be a good solution and that they feel there is some sort of gap in their IQ and their academics.

Hope this helps a bit.

Being a "GATE" student does not mean that you are exempt from having/encountering academic/social problems. I teach fifth grade GATE, and not all my "GATE" students are exceeding academically and some have social problems. A student is classified GATE after passing an exam, the exam doesn't test them in academics. It is the same test, in my district, for all grade levels.
If your son needs to be retained, you need to ask if he is going to be placed in a GATE class or "regular" class. Some kids who are tested GATE are not necesarilly academically ready for a GATE class. Also, if he is being recommended to be retained in fifth grade, he is most likely really behind. Teachers don't recommend students for retention unless we see no academic improvement during the school year and are concern how they are going to succeed in the coming school year.
Good luck,

i would assume so its to make sure hes not getting overloaded and stressed. some children and teens get pushed hard by their parents to be in this system. so i would think the psychiatrist is there for him to talk to and to see if hes over loaded.

What don't you get? Being in gate has nothing to do with seeing a psychiatrist. Being in gate means you are "Gifted and Talented", perhaps a very high IQ. I have three kids that are extremely bright, and these programs just challenge them a little more and keep them from getting bored. See a psychiatrist means there are mental or emotional or possibly medical issues that need to be addressed or possibly medicated for. My son is brilliant, but also has ADHD. A mental disease/issue doesn't diminish how smart you are. Perhaps you need a new psychiatrist that can guide you and educate you a little more so that you can help your son more. good luck and God Bless

What is GATE? In Oregon we have TAG which is Talented and Gifted. Is GATE similar?

Did you post a commment about your son being retained. They will do a full evaluation with a school psychologist, teacher, and principals before they make recommendations. That is all that it is about. I would question if you son is in gate, then why would they want to have him retained. I would check into that for sure. Make sure to ask all kinds of questions.

from what i understand, a very intelligent mind gets boring super fast, so the pschiciatrist migh be there too find out if his mind is ready for a higher learning.