What is the Johns Hopkins CTY program?
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Anonymous
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I see a lot of references on this site to the Johns Hopkins CTY program. Can someone explain the program to me? Is it after school - on weekends - in the summer? How does one qualify, and can you describe the "type" of child you think would enjoy the program? Do the kids have prescribed classes, or do they choose? Is this program used in lieu of G&T classes since in Montgomery County there is no GT except in specific centers - or are the kids mostly from the HGCs and they do this in addition? What ages does it serve? Any other things I should know?
I know I could find out most of this on the website, but I'd appreciate a brief summary from someone who is familiar with the program. Thanks! |
Anonymous
CTY stands for "center for talented youth". It is associated with Johns Hopkins University. Your child qualifies by testing. For most school age kids the test is the SCAT which measures how well they do on a test with materials that is at least 2-3 years above their grade level. The qualifying score depends on age and it is scored so the child may qualify for math/science or literature/humanities or both tracks. What this does is open the door for the child to take classes via CTY. The classes are wide ranging, some online some in person, located everywhere... there's so much available it is hard to describe. They offer overnights, trips, weekends, camps, campus programs at universities, etc. I have no idea what the public schools accept but DS private K-8 accepted his CTY math, science and writing courses for school credit. You can find out everything you need to know on their website: http://cty.jhu.edu/ If I recall correctly, DS started in grade 2. |
Anonymous
| OP, my son qualified based on testing, and the opportunities do indeed look wonderful..and we can't afford any of them. |
Anonymous
| DS also qualifies and plans to take the SATs this winter, but there's no way we would pay for the summer program. Not in our budget. |
Anonymous
| OP here. Thanks for this information. For whatever reason, there are still "big picture" elements to the program I still don't understand. For example, what prompted you all to have your children tested for the program? Did your child's teacher recommend you look into it because their needs were not being met in the classroom? We don't know anyone "IRL" who does this program, and we know lots of kids in the HGC's in Montgomery County. So I am curious what drew you to look into the program. Thanks again. |
Anonymous
| My brothers kids 8 to 9 years ago were involved in the program up in New York. Their kids enjoyed the online classes and some of the summer camps. CTY came highly recommended so when my children were in the the first grade we looked into it and discovered they too enjoyed some of the online programs. A son attended one of the local summer camps as a third grader. It's great for subject material not made available or accessible to students in the local schools ... computer programming, physics, creative writing, etc. |
Anonymous
Hi OP, this is 20:11 again. I posted responses to similar questions on a different thread a couple of weeks ago. My 13yo DS is a verified 173. It has ranged from 173-184 based over the years. He has been with Hopkins for years. His teacher's didn't recommend him. He had a great Preschool and K-8 Why did I get him tested? I'll cut and paste from a similar question I answered a couple of weeks ago, I hope the following helps: I don't want to 'out' him with being specific on the school, but here's what we did: DH and I were very committed to allowing DS to have a peer group with kids his own age and to have the chance to play team sports and do 'normal' kid stuff. We kept him in a private K-8 that was very willing to work with us. DS did CTY and EPGY work at school for subjects where he was rapidly advanced. There are areas where IQ matters a bit less, for example, handwriting in lower grades, where he was kept with his peers. In broad strokes, he stayed with his peer group for religion, handwriting, PE, Art, Music and to some degree English. He did either accelerated or CTY/EPGY work for math, science, history, reading. It was month to month and we had a good K-8 that was willing to work with us closely. This allowed him to make friends, play on the baseball team, play in the band, and learn how to work and play with others. The school never made him feel like the odd man out. He simply went to the resource room to do his work at the appropriate time. Other kids went to resource too for various reasons so he never felt singled out. He did skip K but we resisted the pressure to skip him further. With appropriate supplementation, this is a kid that will learn and master the academics, the bigger challenge was helping him become a mature, confident, happy and social person. For high school he really wanted Groton, he had exposure to them via CTY and they can provide what he needs so we let him go and give it a try. We are very blessed, he is not Asperger's and is actually Mr. Social Butterfly. A common question is "how did you know". He spoke his first word at 3 months, spoke 2 words together at 4 months, spoke in full sentences by 8 months, was fully articulate at his 12 month check up with a vocabulary of hundreds of words and could parrot back with perfect recall anything he heard on TV or the radio (yeah, that will drive you nuts quickly as he had an affinity for memorizing infomercials). He read simple books shortly after that, read chapter books at 2, could add/subtract at 2, memorized multiplication tables at 3. It was the 12 month check up where the pediatrician sat me down and said... this is not normal. Not bad, but not normal. She referred us to ed/psych testing which we did via Hopkins so we got tied into CTY very early on. Our path may not be the best for everyone, but it worked for us because DS was not SN outside of the high IQ. I don't know if the hybrid path would work for everyone. He's in a position to take college level work so his learning needs are being met, but he's also with kids much like him so his social and emotional needs are being met as well. |
Anonymous
| pp, you do NOT have to be 2-3 grade levels ahead...NOT. |
Anonymous
This is 20:11, no you don't have to be functioning 2-3 grade levels ahead. Several kids are but not all. Sorry if I gave that impression. What I was relaying was my "story" to OP. I did not mean to make a generalization of CTY activities, but to the SCAT. The SCAT does present material that is 2-3 grades ahead. You will receive a score showing where you child scored relative to peers and relative to kids in the higher grades. For example in 8th grade my son re-took the SCAT and his score was compared to other kids in 8th as well as kids in 12th. |
Anonymous
I don't know the criteria to qualify, but I think they offer some scholarships. |
Anonymous
| I see lots of people posting about the qualifications required to get admitted to the club, but not much about what the kids like about the program. Can someone please describe specifically what your child does with CTY, and how your child feels about it? |
Anonymous
There is a ton of stuff to do. My son has done the Intensive study summer programs for computer programming, engineering and math. When he was younger he did day programs, he did some residence programs starting around 5th grade. There are international trips (he did not do that). The "bread and butter" are the accelerated online courses of which DS has done many over the years. There's a video type of game called Descartes's Cove. My son loves CTY. He would tell you that he likes being around kids that understand him, that enjoy the same things and he LOVES the fast pace. He says he likes learning while seeing new things and new places. Over the summers he's met many kids that return year after year so they are friends. They Skype and plan which courses they want to take, which weekend programs they can attend together and such. Its more than just online classes, it gives my son a peer group and keeps his brain busy at the same time. They have wonderful faculty that really "get" these kids. They understand them and know how to work with them. The biggest drawback is that's it gets expensive. I asked him his favorite part (I limited it to academics, not his friends) and he said being able to cover as much material as he wants, as fast as he wants. One thing I've noted, the groups seem larger at the younger levels. At the high school level, there's some attrition so the groups tend to be smaller. This means these kids know each other and are pretty friendly with one another. |
Anonymous
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OP, the application process is costly and time-consuming IMO. Application fee is $37 and THEN you have to sign up with Prometric for $55 for the SCAT (my DC took it the summer between 2nd & 3rd grades). All of their programs are expensive, even the one-day family programs that are open to everyone. You must have deep pockets and a highly motivated child to do any of the online programs let alone the camps.
The reason we did it is because we thought it would provide a great opportunity for some additional enrichment. I should have checked the price tag! |
Anonymous
Thanks. We are really not hurting financially (meaning our needs are covered...pretty sure we really don't qualify), but honestly, we couldn't afford it without curtailing the basics (like food and bills). We do look as some local, one day things or overnights, and this would also be a budgetary stressor we'd be willing to pinch for since they all look great, but so far the timing hasn't lined up, either. |
Anonymous
It is expensive. Since we had DS in private - they were most able to work with us and be flexible - it felt like we were paying twice as the CTY really did add up. In all honesty, I don't think I would have done more than a class here or there or one camp offering per summer had the situation with DS been different. |