This week I was able to attend a meeting for Paradise Valley Supporters of the Gifted. The main topic was clustering (grouping all gifted kids at each grade level into the same classroom).
I also learned some interesting things. For one, there are no false positives for giftedness. When a child takes the test, there is no way to fake their way through it. The same applies to a standard IQ test.
Also, gifted children are considered as far from the norm as special education students. This is a tidbit that may be helpful to those of us who are criticized at times by other parents saying our kids do not need special services. They do. Aside from being bright, gifted children have different social and emotional needs than the average student.
In relation to that, gifted students typically do not make good leaders or role models in the classroom. This is opposite of what we may think, but it makes sense. According to the speaker at the meeting I attended, gifted children think in flashes, not linear steps. They have their own way of arriving at an answer, but are unable to explain to other kids how they got there. They also tend to be impatient in waiting for other students to "get it."
Everything I learned helped me to validate that I am doing the right thing for my son by having him in a great giftted program. Giftedness is real. It is important. It needs to be recognized.
Debbie Akers, a northeast Phoenix mom of three young sons, is a member of the Arizona Republic's Parent Advisory Panel.
Just curious, do the schools
Just curious, do the schools test for giftedness? And at what age level? I don't have school-age children, so I have no idea how these things are determined. I'd just like to be more aware of the process.
Yes, as far as I know all
Yes, as far as I know all school districts offer this testing. It has to be requested by a teacher or parent, though. Not all children are automatically tested, because the testing takes a long time and is fairly tedious.
Debbie Akers, a northeast Phoenix mom of three young sons, is a member of the Arizona Republic's Parent Advisory Panel.
I completely agree with the
I completely agree with the information you presented. I was considered a "gifted" kid when I was in school. The hardest thing in elementary, high school, and college was that people would find out you were "smart" and try to cheat from you or would seem like a friend for a while and then you'd realize they really just wanted to copy your homework or use you a s a private tutor. Also, there are a lot of kids out there that poke fun at the smart kids and it's very difficult to make friends when you're always on the defensive.
My husband was also "gifted". He had lots of good friends, including the popular kids. He believes that his participation in sports helped him to make true friends and the other kids respected him more.
This is my experience with
This is my experience with the testing: in kindergarten my daughter's teacher sent a note about the gifted test. Only select students got it and you had to go in for a scheduled test on a Saturday morning. She got in the 90 percentile for two of the sections, but not the third. I recall she had to be in the 95th percentile in at least one subject to be considered for the program. In second grade, I think all the students took the test in class recently. I haven't seen scores yet.
We've not pushed to see if we can get her in the gifted program, though we have worked with her teacher to give her challenge work at school. We do want her to have a childhood and sometimes there is so much pressure on gifted kids in those programs....or so I hear.
That's not to say we won't reconsider now, should her score rank high enough, but we'd need to look at the whole picture.
Arizona Moms Editor Yvette Armendariz shares stories about raising her kids and tips for busy parents in her Time-starved (goddess) Mom blog. She and her husband are raising two children, ages 8 and 11.
My son got tested for the
My son got tested for the gifted program after doing well on the standard Kindergarten test. Our district has a coordinator who keeps an eye on standard tests and then she called to see if parents want further testing.
So each district must be different.
Lovemy4 is a discussion leader for North Central Phoenix, tired mother of 4 great kids and wife to one great husband.
I recall teacher saying
I recall teacher saying anyone can ask for the test or call the district to find out when the next testing would be done.
Arizona Moms Editor Yvette Armendariz shares stories about raising her kids and tips for busy parents in her Time-starved (goddess) Mom blog. She and her husband are raising two children, ages 8 and 11.
Are you familiar with more
Are you familiar with more groups for parents of gifted children? We have a toddler who has been identified by his pediatrician and school as being gifted. They have encouraged us to have him tested but I'm not sure what to do with any information that we get from testing i.e. where to send him to school, what issues we may face, etc. . .
That's great your
That's great your pediatrician and school already recognized your son as being gifted. I am not sure about support groups for parents of younger children such as your son. I would try calling your school district main office to inquire.
Debbie Akers, a northeast Phoenix mom of three young sons, is a member of the Arizona Republic's Parent Advisory Panel.
Hi, I JUST moved here from
Hi, I JUST moved here from Florida with my 12 Yr old daughter. Because of the circumstances of our move I was not able to reseach scools and only had days to enroll her. The charter school she is in hasn't even looked at her IEP and has just labled her bright and put her in a 6/7 combined class where she is not doing well. They think that if she is having problems ajusting to their spoon fedding her informatoin they should give her a smaller spoon!!!!! This insults her and perplexes me. We don't know ANYONE in this state yet and don't know where to turn for answers. Sorry for the rant .......Robin
have a great day!