is your child gifted?

My DS tried to flush the dog down the toliet.

At this point, we are just hoping that he's not "ungifted."

:soapbox:
I'm an elementary school teacher and let me just say I HATE lables. Is the "gifted" label for the good of the child or for the parents' egos? I watch parents put so much pressure on teachers to have their children tested. Before that can happen, the teacher must provide so much documentation which comes from offering the child enrichment activities/assignments/centers to prove that the child is excelling in those areas and needs further enrichment beyond what the teacher can provide. At the school where I teach our focus is on differentiating instruction so that we can meet the needs of ALL of our students. It's certainly a challenge and far different from the way most of us were probably educated. Any good school should be offering their students such differentiated instruction.
I'm not saying there shouldn't be something additional to support those students who still need more enrichment than what can be provided within their own classrooms, but I wish it didn't come with such a label that forces parents to become competitive to the point of losing sight of what is best for their children.
And as I write this, I'm thinking of some of the parents I work with at my school...not anyone here.

[Rapunzel]

Well, I know that in my elementary school growing up it became a problem for the teachers when several of us would finish the work in three minutes flat - leaving us about 18 minutes to literally twiddle our thumbs.

The response was generally to give us busywork. Such an awful way to waste time and a child's, um, well, giftedness. :P

I have a friend who is an elementary school teacher out here. She is currently working on her masters and will do her doctorate from there to work in administration. Several days ago she was explaining to me the "new" old concept of keeping all of the levels of students (average, under-performing, and gifted) in the same room and requiring the teacher to prepare essentially three lesson plans to accomodate them all. It was really the way things were in elementary school when I was that age in the early 80's.

If you've ever worked with a truly gifted child you would know that there is a significant difference in how much they can handle. For instance, going back to my previous post - do you know how difficult it can be to find appropriate reading material for a seven year old who reads at the comprehension level of a high school student, finds pretty much all other books (including elementary level textbooks) ridiculously easy and mind-numbingly boring, and can breeze through Little Women in about three days?

I agree that there are probably tons of parents who want their children to be labeled "gifted" - even though those children really and truly are not. My friend and I came to the conclusion that a part of the reason elementary schools in this area are doing away with gifted programs is because it causes *parents* (the ones desperately wanting their children to be "gifted" but simply don't meet the criteria) grief. So sad for the few children who would truly benefit from a more advanced curriculum at such an early, pivotal age.

From my time in the public school system I also learned (as a student) that the majority of teachers I encountered would not be classified as "gifted" in the true sense of the word and, as such, honestly did not comprehend the needs of such children themselves.

Anyway, I know from personal experience the stagnation that occurs for a child who is just in another level entirely from his/her peers when that child is placed in a room with everyone else and not given what he/she needs. I remember well the busywork called "enrichment activities" that were given to me in class to occupy me during the hours I would sit and wait for everyone else to catch up. It was truly a joke. And, not truly what such a child needs or requires to meet their full potential.

[peggyfromwastate]

:soapbox:
I wish it didn't come with such a label that forces parents to become competitive to the point of losing sight of what is best for their children.
And as I write this, I'm thinking of some of the parents I work with at my school...not anyone here.

Some of the parents at the "gifted testing" for the "center for highly gifted" (the Magnet school Kate is going to) were so intense into it. It was crazy. The kids had to take entrance exams (like SATs, really) and some of those 5th graders were just exhausted, not happy to be there, etc., and their parents were grilling them on how they answered questions, etc. Then some parents, within earshot of their own children, were lamenting how their kids just didn't try hard enough and probably wouldn't get it because they "screwed up" their exams...

What happened to "I love you for trying your best?" or "I love you for being who you are?"

[Rapunzel]

:soapbox:
I wish it didn't come with such a label that forces parents to become competitive to the point of losing sight of what is best for their children.
And as I write this, I'm thinking of some of the parents I work with at my school...not anyone here.

Some of the parents at the "gifted testing" for the "center for highly gifted" (the Magnet school Kate is going to) were so intense into it. It was crazy. The kids had to take entrance exams (like SATs, really) and some of those 5th graders were just exhausted, not happy to be there, etc., and their parents were grilling them on how they answered questions, etc. Then some parents, within earshot of their own children, were lamenting how their kids just didn't try hard enough and probably wouldn't get it because they "screwed up" their exams...

What happened to "I love you for trying your best?" or "I love you for being who you are?"

That is SCREWED UP!

It sounds a great deal like "stage moms" who drive their children harder than they can reasonably take and do so for their own (the parent's) ego/satisfaction/pride. Poor kids....

[PrincessFiona]

:soapbox:
I'm an elementary school teacher and let me just say I HATE lables. Is the "gifted" label for the good of the child or for the parents' egos? I watch parents put so much pressure on teachers to have their children tested.
And as I write this, I'm thinking of some of the parents I work with at my school...not anyone here.

I am....one of the parents that you don't like.

You are glad to be on summer break right now because of.....ME.

:>

That being said, I have never had my oldest child tested for *giftedness*, had his IQ tested (who cares) or ever once said the word gifted in the presence of school administrators or teachers. I, too, believe that the word is over-used.

That being said...(and I promised myself I wouldn't jump in here, but here I am doing it anyway) one of my five children is very advanced in certain skills. His Iowa testing each year that he has taken it has placed him in the 98th and 99th percentile for math and the 93rd-94th for language arts . That's just how he tests. Unfortunately though, my son is quite socially awkward and is not adept at hockey (a very, very important skill here). As a result of his social awkwardness and lack of good skills in sports, he isn't seen as that well-rounded kid that the school district feels is the ideal norm. Interestingly, my third child is not as talented as my firstborn in both math and reading...but he was offered all kinds of academic extensions opportunities...due in part to the fact that he is Mr. social, Mr. athletic, Mr. smiley face.

When I first started dealing with the schools in regards to my son, I treaded lightly. He started first grade able to add/subtract (with carrying over) multiply and divide...He was forced to do timed addition and subtraction tests for math through the third grade when they finally started on multiplication. By that time, he would write on his timed tests "who cares. This is stupid. I hate this stupid math." His teacher saw this as an indication that he was incapable. We finally had him tested through the Stanford University EPGY program to supplement him...and he did very well there...advancing through the math classes and really enjoying it.

The school district balked. They refused to hear about the epgy program, refused to allow us to use that program for his math, and then...they started basically...hating us.

To which, I now say...."Who cares!"

At the time though, I was really dismayed and upset.

Last year, Andrew was in 6th grade. All students are placed into the same math group for 6th grade and there are not 3 different lesson plans. So he was making patterns out of BEADS and making them into BRACELETS as a part of math class. He cried...he got mad...he said he was quitting school because he was not allowed to just skip into 7th grade. He hated me, he hated his teachers. It was a terrible year. The only thing that kept him afloat was....playing the saxophone in the band. His social studies assignments were things like "Using the 26 letters of the alphabet come up with a word (using each letter) to describe the state of MN and draw a picture.

Andrew is a terrible artist and he is always dinged for his drawing skills "obviously not your best artwork. Your artwork could be improved"...and he regularly loses an entire grade over artwork.

He started refusing to do assignments starting with that one.

This is the same child who, on a weekend, for no reason would put together an entire power point project about how the universe was formed and then with pride would show my husband and I.

I asked the teacher if maybe he could come up with a powerpoint for the 26 letters of the alphabet so he wouldn't have to color/draw.

No.

This kid barely got through 6th grade.

We applied to a private prep school here. It was silly, but we had to send in transcripts, get letters of recommendation, interview...Andrew had to write an essay



Then, he spent a day at the school going to class with another student so that he could be evaluated.

Seriously, I don't think I did that much to get into college.

The director of that school met with me one on one and her response? "If it is ok with you, we are planning on skipping Andrew in math. He will not take math with the 7th graders. He will go directly into 8th grade algebra unless further testing indicates that he could start with geometry (I don't think it will). He will be allowed to do assignments at his own pace and if he finishes the curriculum materials early, he can move on to the 8th grade work." (This was also a huge problem this year. They would read a book in language arts for weeks and were only *allowed* to read 17 pages a day. By the end of the unit, his attitude was "who cares".) He is being permitted to go into the advanced german and....they are considering letting him take both spanish AND german (his choice, not mine or anyone elses).

So....the public school looked at Andrew's test scores and literally said to me "look, he's not the best of the best" The prep school looked at his scores and said "he's one of the best".

Now...let me even this whole *gifted* thing out. My daughter tested one year in the 17th percentile for math....though she now regularly tests in the 65th percentile after a LOOOOOT of work. The public schools here never told me "don't worry, she's not the worst of the worstest"....we did special ed, tutoring...you name it to pull her up to the norm. My daughter does test in the 90th percentile for her reading/language arts skills....

So....the schools labeled my daughter with Title I needs for 3 years until she was able to improve significantly...and that's ok...it is what it was...and she will always struggle with math.

BUT...it's not OK to label a child who scores in the top 1-5% year after year as being on the high end of the spectrum? Is it not PC?

Quite honestly, I wish Andrew was more like my middle child....happy-go-lucky, all smiles, in the middle of the pack, lots of friends and few worries....