The g&t kids are usually separated from the rest of the school. I think there are good and bad things about that. But I do want Charlie and Olive to be in the g&t program, and will do what I can to help them be prepared!
Is that a priority for you?
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I have no idea if our school has this but I don't think it is a priority for me.
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If they are naturally advance then I would. I do everything I can to encourage my childen and expose them to learning opportunities, but I don't push them just so they can be in advanced programs at school.
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Nope. They're pretty rare around here. Schools can barely meet the needs of traditional students & special needs students, gifted children are often seriously neglected within the classroom. If I thought they really needed it, I'd see what was available, but I wouldn't go out of my way to try to put them on that track early on. There is so much learning that takes place when children of different abilities work together on things, they'd miss out on a lot of that. Unless is was absolutely apparent that they needed to be moved, I wouldn't do it.
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I think it will depend on what the program is like. I have seen some where it is a pull out for like 3 hours a week and they do special projects and get help fitting the class work to their level (choosing books at their level, making math more challenging, doing an extension to the history/science work etc). If that were the case and I thought my child would be a good fit then I would push.
On the other hand, I know of one school that had the kids in a separate room almost all of the time and the kids kind of got ostracized. So, unless I have a kid that is way at one end of the spectrum I would prefer they be main streamed unless it is a few hours a week deal. Like @Mrs. Bird I think that learning to work with people of varying strengths and weaknesses is really important and I don't want them to miss out on that.
There is a school nearby though that caters to just G&T kids and if my child were really not being challenged I would consider that route, but I see that as a kind of last resort.
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I wouldn't say it is a priority, but I will definitely be on the lookout for any signs that she might be bored/not challenged in class. Both DH and I were in gifted programs growing up, so I expect she might be the same. But I don't plan on forcing her if she is sufficiently challenged in the regular program.
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If they want to be and aren't challenged by their regular curriculum, I think it will be good for them. I don't want my kids to be bored by school. But i won't make them do it, either. My mom didn't me do it and I turned out plenty smart and successful
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Not an option since we're doing private school for them.
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This is a priority for me for them to be tested, and if my kids should qualify I would want them to participate. It is important to me for them to have curriculum that is challenging and to be with a peer group that is similar. If they didnt make it i would probably be A little disappointed having been in it myself (but would of course not let them know that).
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It's a priority for us. My husband was in the gifted program and he thinks it did wonders for him.
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If my LO shows interest, then I will defintely give him the resources and encouragement to excel. We are trying to enroll LO in charter school, but that is a few years down the road.
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I was in the gifted program in NYC public school, I'd love for LO to be in the program.
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I'll encourage her to do it, though my g&t program in school was just an excuse to get out of class. If her school has a decent program than I'm all for it. I spent many boring hours in school waiting for my classmates to catch up.
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I was a TAG (talented and gifted) kid starting in first grade. These classifications were automatic from your state testing scores and from 1st-6th grade I got pulled out for an hour a day to do fun classes like building a building out of straws, making a geographic map of a country out of playdough and measuring shower water usage with a cup. It was amazingly fun. In junior high (7th and 8th) we had TAG class instead of history. I really enjoyed the unique classroom work but look back and wish I'd gotten more history information. In high school there was no real program, but they said they'd work with us special if we wanted it.
End of story: I'd totally recommend it, but with some sort of balance with traditional coursework. I would certainly put my child in the same sorts of classes if he/she qualified and they were offered.
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Nope. I was in the gifted program and all we did was play trivial pursuit and do some extra reading. As a result, I think I missed out on social studies (that was the class I was pulled from). I guess, if I saw that my kid was suffering from lack of stimulation, I'd look into it, but I wouldn't try to push them to get into a gifted program. I want my kid to learn enjoy learning, not to spend all their time doing extra exercises just to please me.
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It would depend on the program, I think, but I was in a T&G in elementary school that I think set me up for academic success up through college! In middle school it was "levels" so a different class track for each level which fed into high school AP classes - which saved me $ in college. So, if it was anything like my experience and he was ready/eligible I'd definitely advocate for him to be included.
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It depends on what they do in the program, to be honest. I was in two, a gifted program and an artistically talented program. Neither was earth shattering, but again, that was more than 30 years ago and things have changed in the education world.
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if it were offered in the school my kids end up attending, i'd want them to try to get into it.
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It'd totally depend on my kid. I did it through elementary school, and it was great - I got to hang out with all my nerdy friends for a half hour a few times a week. We did special projects, read advanced books, etc. I was definetly bored in school (the one time I got sent to the principal's was for reading a novel when I was supossed to be working in a textbook), but if my child wasn't showing similar symptoms, I wouldn't pull them from regular instruction (which, potentially, they couldn't afford to miss).
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I don't know. My mom tried for my older brother who is so super smart and he didn't get in. Which makes me question it a bit..... he's one of those people who never had to study and always got an A.
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Absolutely! Both DH and I were in the G&T program throughout school, so we'll definitely encourage it for our kids.
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Yep! I feel that I greatly benefited from the programs myself, so I would love for C to do it also. My gifted teacher in elementary school is still one of my favorite teachers Ive ever had to this day.
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The reason I joined was because the Gifted kids automatically got enrolled in classes more on a college path when we started middle/junior high. For example, we took and completed Algebra I before entering high school so that we could make it through at least Calculus before graduating.
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If our school system has it, I would like our kid to give it a try. I was in g&t from 1st thru 6th grades...I don't think they offered it after that. Anyway we played a lot of games and did really creative projects like writing and illustrating a Martian newspaper. So I really enjoyed that and thought it was a worthwhile experience.
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I actually qualified for this, but my mom opted out. She didn't want me to be separated from my peers, and she felt like it would put too much pressure on me. However, my parents weren't really "pushers" academically. My brother just started high school and my mom discouraged him from taking an AP course because she thought it would be too challenging with all his other honors classes and Band.
I don't know what we will do with our kids. It's probably something that will be an individual child decision. We'll definitely want them to achieve to their highest potential and be challenged, but who knows what that will look like for them!
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If it was offered in our district I would definitely want them to try for it. But not a priority.
There's a high school that we're not in the district for that last year was top ten in the NATION. You have to test into it so I would be very interested if in the future they opened up enrollment for those that are not in the district. -
Lol, I think my husband would say absolutely! For me, it depend on the program itself. We always have this discussion, and while DH is supportive of anything that might push our kids a little bit, I'm really cautious about making sure they would be able to adjust socially as well as academically.
As it is, we hope to put the kids in private school, so this may not be an issue for us.
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Nope! As a university admissions officer, nothing drives me crazy more than hearing from kids in these programs (or were in them, and now in IB or AP programs) who did harder and more work and got a lower grade on a course for admission than "the regular kids" in the normal classes. There are times where it can definitely disadvantage them even though they are technically further ahead.
I really don't think there's any advantage to it in the end. If a student is gifted and wants to do the extra work, they will naturally find themselves doing that work, or seeking it out. If they don't want to seek it out, I am fine with them finding a better social/activity balance in other things! I won't even get started on IB and AP courses for advanced standing/transfer credit, seriously no value in it!
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if our school district had it, i'd let him try. but if they aren't, i wouldn't be upset. i went to a high school you had to test into(not the one you're think of @regberadaisy) and it was nice.
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It'll be important to me that our kids feel challenged with their schoolwork. When I was in first grade I was way ahead of other kids in some areas because I went to a great preschool/kindergarten where I learned to read and write. I was really bored and underwhelmed by school for a long time and it led to some really bad habits. I never had to study to get A's on tests and I just wouldn't bother doing homework.
As I got older my bad school ethic never went away. Even after the difficulty of work finally caught up to where I felt challenged, I was too used to not bothering. I had learned I could get A's on tests and fail the homework because I never did it and still end up with low B's.
So whether it's g & t, or some other route, I just want to make sure my kids are engaged and challenged by their school.
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I joined G&T in the fifth grade, but at our school, it never meant being in a separate class. My parents wouldn't let me in kindergarten when they wanted to put me in the program. We had IEP's (Individual Education Plans) that were used to supplement regular curriculum. I remember being allowed to choose which math I studied, but this was in a combo class anyways. Also, I was expected to do extra projects and particpate in "mental" extracurricular activities. In high school, it didn't make a difference, just meant that I had a spot in the AP classes or Honors courses. As long as LO is challenged and isn't ostrasized, G&T is something that we'll consider.
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I don't know.. BIL did it and the program was totally separate classes for "gifted" kids. He was shy, and being put in a new class he never really made friends and hated it. My DH then tested and was gifted as well, but my ILs chose not to put him into the program because BIL had so many troubles fitting in.
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I don't think it'll hurt. We'll just have to see if either one of my boys will test into it. If they do, great. If they don't, it's okay. Some of my neighbors' kids tested in and is going to a different elementary school than the one that's near us. It's not far but further.
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i said yes. but if one kid makes it and the other doesn't, then i don't want them in it - i'm sure i'd have to discuss this with my hubs.
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I don't think there's such a thing here in Sweden! The school system is so much more laid back here. It was definitely a concern of mine even before we were TTC. But I haven't done any real digging into it and changes are happening all the time so it might be completely different today vs just last year.
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I think the only thing we did in the Gifted and Talented program was take the PSAT, SSAT, and SAT each year from 6th grade and on. By the time it was time to take the SAT for real, I was such an expert test taker that I got an amazing score. I don't remember doing anything else in the program!
If they get into such a program I'd definitely encourage them to participate. But I wouldn't try to pressure them into getting in.
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