Anyone else sick of gifted talk?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also in Ohio my initial feeling is the percentage of working moms is much lower and there is less diversity. I know it has it's problems and poorer areas, but most of the moms I know from Ohio who might post here lived in quaint well to do suburbs with few on subsidized lunch or in ESL. Here a lot of the budget goes to help these kids and teachers have to deal with large class sizes, so we are afraid our advanced kids will be left out, which they often are. Plus, more moms work or can't afford private school leaving them fewer resources and time to make up for what the school lacks. In addition, you have some of the smartest people in the US here who may have come from private schooling or from abroad, so naturally they want a high level of education. And many of the ESL moms are too busy to post on this forum so the discussion is skewed.

What alternative universe Ohio planet did you live on? Sorry to get a bit off topic, but I feel the need to set the record straight here. I grew up the daughter of a steelworker who was laid off in the 80's and whose family never really recovered. We lived in a blue collar, working class town (Lorain) and it was nothing like what you describe above. There are some very well-to-do Cleveland suburbs, but I think the majority of Ohio is not in that catagory. Virginia ranks #6 of all the states in median household income, whereas Ohio is #37. I'll agree with the less diversity in Ohio statement though (although Lorain was only about 67% white) - it's about 87% white vs. Virginia's 76% white (thank you Wikipedia!). If you think Virginia's public schools spend "a lot of the budget" on lower income families, I think you are mistaken.

But to address OP's question - yes, I'm sick to death of all the "gifted" talk. I try to block it out, but it's like trying to block out the sun

Don't forget, PP, that NOVA also has most of the richest counties in the US. Ohio? Mmmm, not so much.

[Anonymous]

Question for some of you, for those of us who have kids at both the base school or center school, how are we supposed to answer when neighbors ask where our older kids are?

Everyone I know just names the school, but if that is considered bragging, then what should our response be? If have tried just saying "he goes to another school" and they will ask for clarification. Please help, because there really aren't many other options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Question for some of you, for those of us who have kids at both the base school or center school, how are we supposed to answer when neighbors ask where our older kids are?

Everyone I know just names the school, but if that is considered bragging, then what should our response be? If have tried just saying "he goes to another school" and they will ask for clarification. Please help, because there really aren't many other options.

You should reply: "That's for me to know, and you to find out!" Just kidding. Maybe I'm not as extremely sensitive as others here, but I'll go ahead and say it's fine to answer questions honestly and not be concerned that this might be construed as bragging.

[Anonymous]

All the moms I know from Cleveland, Dayton, and Columbus suburbs, may not be overly wealthy, but say they and their neighbors are able to stay at home with their kids verses here where many families have to earn two incomes to get by. Many homeschool. That just may be who I know. I typically only meet the moms who have husbands in a professional career here. I don't travel there much. And they are very involved in school and into sports. I really don't see much difference. If anything they spend more time focussing on their kids then the other moms I meet. And the DC area is 55% white per Wikepedia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All the moms I know from Cleveland, Dayton, and Columbus suburbs, may not be overly wealthy, but say they and their neighbors are able to stay at home with their kids verses here where many families have to earn two incomes to get by. Many homeschool. That just may be who I know. I typically only meet the moms who have husbands in a professional career here. I don't travel there much. And they are very involved in school and into sports. I really don't see much difference. If anything they spend more time focussing on their kids then the other moms I meet. And the DC area is 55% white per Wikepedia.

This this the former Ohio mom who posted in response to you earlier. Wikipedia says 38% white in DC and 37% white in Cleveland - very similar if we're talking about inner-city. I live in Fairfax, VA and coming from the Cleveland area, I feel like I'm surrounded by rich folks! haha! Maybe you live in the district and things are different? Contrary to your experience, all the moms I know in Ohio have to work to scrape by (assuming they can find work with the economy sucking as much as it does there - thus, why we are here) and all the moms I know in Fairfax stay home with their kids (even though they are now school age).

Incidentally, in a ranking of top median household incomes for 2011 by counties across the US, the top three are in VA (Loudoun, Fairfax and Arlington) - counties in Cleveland, Dayton and Colubus don't even make the top 100:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-income_counties_in_the_United_States

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am sick of hearing about snowflakes are bored in school!

Amen. I mean seriously - what kid actually comes home and tells their parent they are bored in elementary school. I just can't imagine saying something like that when I was in early elem school.

[Anonymous]

There are only two kinds of kids in the DC area: gifted and special needs. Each is a special club. Figure out which one your kid is in. If you have a savant, you get to be in both!

[Anonymous]

I have a close friend who believes that her 3rd grade daughter is gifted and I am sick and tierd of listening to her thoughts on the subject. Yes, her child is bright, but no brighter than other children in her age group. She struggles with making friends and other social settings. I would be more concerned about this is I were her mother.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are only two kinds of kids in the DC area: gifted and special needs. Each is a special club. Figure out which one your kid is in. If you have a savant, you get to be in both!

Yeah, hilarious. I have two 2E kids and one NT kid -- trust me, it's no picnic. The right educational setting can make or break these kids. I really don't want my 2E kids ending up as burnouts hanging out in front of the 7-11.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am sick of hearing about snowflakes are bored in school!

Amen. I mean seriously - what kid actually comes home and tells their parent they are bored in elementary school. I just can't imagine saying something like that when I was in early elem school.

My kid. My 7 year old complains loudly and consistently that his 2nd grade teacher is teaching "baby math" and that it's boring. At home, he was exploring square roots and squares last week. I haven't had a math class in 25 years, and I was doing okay, until he asked me if negative numbers have a square root.

He's not "bright." He's gifted. This is typical for gifted kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All the moms I know from Cleveland, Dayton, and Columbus suburbs, may not be overly wealthy, but say they and their neighbors are able to stay at home with their kids verses here where many families have to earn two incomes to get by. Many homeschool. That just may be who I know. I typically only meet the moms who have husbands in a professional career here. I don't travel there much. And they are very involved in school and into sports. I really don't see much difference. If anything they spend more time focussing on their kids then the other moms I meet. And the DC area is 55% white per Wikepedia.

Everyone I know in Cleveland stays home because they can't find a job. MIL could not even sell her house so she just gave it to my BIL (who still can't find a job). His wife is about to be laid off.

[Anonymous]

I am tired of hearing the word gifted! and I guess I'll be the first parent to consider sending my kid to a private school even though we live in Haycock zone. Just like any other parent I do want the best education and I absolutely believe in challenging curriculum, but for some reason(may be cultural) I do NOT want that kind of pressure for my child at that early age.

[Anonymous]

For some of us a public gt program is the only way we can afford a challenging and interesting curriculum for our kids. Just because you can afford private and live in McLean doesn't mean all of us who can't are pressuring our children too muhch. Seriously other than Haycock, most parents don't think the public schools care two hoots about their bright kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For some of us a public gt program is the only way we can afford a challenging and interesting curriculum for our kids. Just because you can afford private and live in McLean doesn't mean all of us who can't are pressuring our children too muhch. Seriously other than Haycock, most parents don't think the public schools care two hoots about their bright kids.

This. My child's in public school in Prince Georges County. The TAG program's a Godsend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am sick of hearing about snowflakes are bored in school!

Amen. I mean seriously - what kid actually comes home and tells their parent they are bored in elementary school. I just can't imagine saying something like that when I was in early elem school.

You sound so ignorant. Do you also object when parents/schools try to get the necessary services for autistic students, aspergers kids, etc.? Can't say I'm surprised you are raising kids who aren't inquisitive or particularly bright. To each his own.