I just realized that I haven't blogged in FOR EV ER....
My goal when I started this was to have a place to share some snip its into my crazy world as Jackson's mom. I haven't done a very good job lately so my goal this summer is to post once a week.
UPDATE on Little Man:
J just finished 2nd grade at Palmetto Elem. He had an outstanding year with a great teacher.
We have always know he was brilliant...with parents like us how could he not be :) He got Darron's natural "smartness" and curiosity and my drive to do more. Plus his mom is a teacher :)
All joking aside....we have know for a while that J's quirkiness and ability to memorize random things were not normal. He has always talked above other children his age and often had trouble making friends in pre-school and kindergarten. While most little boys were making dinosaurs "roar" and fight, J was explaining whether they were carnivores or herbivores, bi-pedals or quadrupeds, and from what prehistoric era they resided. He was gifted and we knew it.
So did his teachers and anyone who spent more than 5 minutes in a conversation with him. (I recall him entertaining a man and his 2 teenage sons at the College World Series in Omaha 3 years ago when he was 5 and could name the mascot for any team the boys asked him. Within minutes there were 20 people more interested in his knowledge than the baseball game)
Darron and I have been worried about where Jackson's current education path would lead him in the near future. He has attended the school I teach at since 3K and has had great teachers that have pushed him and nurtured him. But as parents we have know it wasn't always going to be enough.
In October, we learned about a part of the Greenville County School District know as the Charles Townes Center for Highly Gifted Students. A lady in a clothing store overheard Darron talking about Jackson to a friend and interrupted their conversation to mention this school.
After soon research we learned that testing for students not enrolled in public school in Greenville County was the following week. We had 2 days to get his application in. Talk about down to the wire.
CHARLES TOWNES CENTER INFO: CTC is the only public school program for the Highly Gifted in SC. It serves a maximum of 75 children in each grade....3rd -8th grades. It is a part of a the Sterling Elementary School----a school of choice/magnet school. They accept the top 1% of students in the county who score in the 98 or 99 percentile in several categories of standardized testing.
We learned in November that Jackson scored in the 96th percentile. Our thoughts were ok...this wasn't meant to be. In January I received an email letting me know that all the spots had not been filled and if J's scores from the same type of test that he took in his classroom at PES were in the 98-99 range they would use them. He scored in the 97th percentile. Once again...this wasn't meant to be. At this point my thoughts were "God is trying to tell me that this door is closed. Something else will come open but CTC is not where J should be for 3rd grade." I forgot about the whole thing.
The last week of school, Jackson's teacher was getting report cards and test scores together and noticed that he had 2 scores on the testing report: a 97 and a 98. Something told me to call the director and just ask. I knew they wouldn't have a spot...it was June. But I had to know if he qualified. She answered the phone on the first ring and confirmed that they could use either score. J HAD QUALIFIED AND THEY STILL HAD SPOTS OPEN. Darron was on a flight to New Hampshire and I had no way of talking to him for hours.
I am happy to say Jackson will be attending the Charles Townes Center for Highly Gifted Students this fall.
God once again taught me that His plans are perfect and in His Time. A door that I thought was closed and locked was opened when He was ready. Reminds of Jackson's birth...it was all in His time...not ours.
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