Start the Conversation Checklist

Prior to discussing the potential that your child may be gifted in one or more areas with his/her teacher, we suggest that you become educated about giftedness and best practices in gifted education.  Resources can be obtained from one of the District GATES Coordinators and/or from this webpage.  We suggest that you make yourself comfortable with the types of giftedness and what it means to be bright versus gifted.  In either case, the School District of Wisconsin Rapids embraces all learners, including high-level learners, and will provide support, instruction and interventions as needed in alignment with our District RtI plan to unmask the potential each individual learner has.

Questions to Start the Discussion

• How do you view my child's feelings about school and learning? 
• Is my child appearing to be curious and/or interested in new topics as they are presented? Any topic in particular?
• Does my child appear to be disengaged at all throughout the day? 
• How does my child appear to learn? 
• How much repetition is needed before s/he is mastering new topics?
• Does my child initiate projects?
• How is my student performing, in general, compared to the rest of the group?
• Who does my child prefer to be around?
• What seems to be my child's greatest motivator?

We also encourage you to try to answer these questions about your child before you make an appointment to speak with the teacher.  It is very helpful when communicating with teachers to have reflected on your views to these questions first, and then getting the teacher's perspective.  It allows for deeper discussions and opens the lines of communication between everyone. Please use the questions below as guidelines and starting points to open the conversation. Remember, there is no right or wrong way to answer these questions, each child is unique and giftedness can present itself in a multitude of ways.