Any benefit to referring child for LIV early?

[Anonymous]

OP here. I contacted my AART with this question and she recommended submitting early. So I did. It's in and now she is working with the teacher to put together the rest.

[Anonymous]

I wish there were more examples of work samples. The ambiguity is causing me stress.

Also wish cogat was out before applications.

[Anonymous]

It’s really simple. Focus on two areas you want to present and do one page of each. Child wrote a page about a trip. Then a page of math that were above grade level, word problems and such.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s really simple. Focus on two areas you want to present and do one page of each. Child wrote a page about a trip. Then a page of math that were above grade level, word problems and such.

I think the point of the work samples is to show creativity and problem solving. A page of advanced math might be ok but presumably they will already know your child is advanced in math from I-ready and CogAT.

I am not sure if what we put together is good but I guess we'll find out if DC gets in. If not, we appeal and reconsider our work samples.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wish there were more examples of work samples. The ambiguity is causing me stress.

Also wish cogat was out before applications.

Did you attend the presentation AARTs give on the level IV process? They show some sample work samples in that one. If you search this forum there are a plethora more. I got all my best ideas here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wish there were more examples of work samples. The ambiguity is causing me stress.

Also wish cogat was out before applications.

We just collected a few things our kid did in their free time without any direction or intervention from us (panels from a comic, a math game they made). Figured those were the best items to get an accurate assessment from the committee.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s really simple. Focus on two areas you want to present and do one page of each. Child wrote a page about a trip. Then a page of math that were above grade level, word problems and such.

I think the point of the work samples is to show creativity and problem solving. A page of advanced math might be ok but presumably they will already know your child is advanced in math from I-ready and CogAT.


Ok. Well it worked twice for us. They spend minutes on those packets. We thought it was important to show our children could do the work. Also their other data spoke for itself. My children are not creative. Most important part of the application I feel is the part where we got to write about our children. Make that amazing. Tell them what’s missing from the regular program that your child needs from AAp. Prove that their needs can not be met and they will be in.

I am not sure if what we put together is good but I guess we'll find out if DC gets in. If not, we appeal and reconsider our work samples.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s really simple. Focus on two areas you want to present and do one page of each. Child wrote a page about a trip. Then a page of math that were above grade level, word problems and such.

Ok. Well it worked twice for us. They spend minutes on those packets. We thought it was important to show our children could do the work. Also their other data spoke for itself. My children are not creative. Most important part of the application I feel is the part where we got to write about our children. Make that amazing. Tell them what’s missing from the regular program that your child needs from AAp. Prove that their needs can not be met and they will be in.

Thanks. I'm curious about what you mean about proving that their needs cannot be met. Can you give an example of how you would communicate that in words in the narrative? And about what's missing from the reg program that child needs? I answered in terms of the prompt and avoided saying things like my child is bored, etc., because I was told to avoid that. But I might be overlooking something obvious.

I hear you re: creativity. I just mention it because our AART seemed to emphasize it...

[Anonymous]

It’s really based on Your school and your child. For us it was not having access to advanced math until 5th grade , having to teach his his peers.

[Anonymous]

OP again. Just wanted to add that my AART said it's fine to update materials after submitting the referral. She said I could update the forms until the deadline and work samples until mid Jan. Obviously I don't plan to keep contacting her with updates but it's good to know in case you somehow end up with some very good examples late in the game that you want to add.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s really simple. Focus on two areas you want to present and do one page of each. Child wrote a page about a trip. Then a page of math that were above grade level, word problems and such.

Ok. Well it worked twice for us. They spend minutes on those packets. We thought it was important to show our children could do the work. Also their other data spoke for itself. My children are not creative. Most important part of the application I feel is the part where we got to write about our children. Make that amazing. Tell them what’s missing from the regular program that your child needs from AAp. Prove that their needs can not be met and they will be in.

Thanks. I'm curious about what you mean about proving that their needs cannot be met. Can you give an example of how you would communicate that in words in the narrative? And about what's missing from the reg program that child needs? I answered in terms of the prompt and avoided saying things like my child is bored, etc., because I was told to avoid that. But I might be overlooking something obvious.

I hear you re: creativity. I just mention it because our AART seemed to emphasize it...

Not PP here, but to prove their needs cannot be met in a regular classroom you can:

- Show examples of advanced things your child has done or said at home on the parent questionnaire. Get specific. My AART always seemed to most value the answers I gave that showed deep thinking on my child's part (like coming up with a plausible - though ultimately wrong but that wasn't proven at the time - idea to prevent Covid infections in 2020 while a rising 1st grader). When you show critical thinking, you show a kid who will be bored with the level of scaffolding provided for content subjects in the general education curriculum and is ready to make more conceptual leaps on their own.

- Describe ways your child has already outpaced the general education curriculum in K-2 in your parent referral process. Also make sure to go through the old GBRS (https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/forms/AAPGiftedBehaviorRatingScale_0.pdf) and look at the traits listed. Use those. Most committee teachers were trained on those before they were trained on HOPE and will recognize them as gifted traits. Plus provide specific examples of HOPE traits. Is your child constantly cracking jokes that make adults laugh? That's considered a gifted trait - get specific. Does your child ask probing questions about intellectual topics? Give an example. Did your child hyperfixate on collecting rocks, learning geology terminology last summer? That's considered a gifted trait. Does your child create entire complex play scenarios and act them out with stuffed animals? Describe it. Basically ways of interacting that are beyond typical for the grade will show a child who is ready to be pushed academically.

- In the work samples, you can give specific examples of these things. For us we did math questions, but they were more puzzles that I grabbed online where the child had to explain how they came to the solution and why they took that path. We also did photos of a set-up for an entire society on a journey that connected to outside social studies reading my kid was doing, and she explained the set-up and storyline. And we did lyrics set to sheet music another kid did, showing advanced application of literature (not just a poem, right?) with an explanation of how that music connected to an art contest theme. These things show a child who, again, doesn't need a lot of scaffolding because they are already working past that point. Other than math the main difference between AAP and gen ed is the amount of scaffolding for each project, plus some extensions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s really simple. Focus on two areas you want to present and do one page of each. Child wrote a page about a trip. Then a page of math that were above grade level, word problems and such.

Ok. Well it worked twice for us. They spend minutes on those packets. We thought it was important to show our children could do the work. Also their other data spoke for itself. My children are not creative. Most important part of the application I feel is the part where we got to write about our children. Make that amazing. Tell them what’s missing from the regular program that your child needs from AAp. Prove that their needs can not be met and they will be in.

Thanks. I'm curious about what you mean about proving that their needs cannot be met. Can you give an example of how you would communicate that in words in the narrative? And about what's missing from the reg program that child needs? I answered in terms of the prompt and avoided saying things like my child is bored, etc., because I was told to avoid that. But I might be overlooking something obvious.

I hear you re: creativity. I just mention it because our AART seemed to emphasize it...

Not PP here, but to prove their needs cannot be met in a regular classroom you can:

- Show examples of advanced things your child has done or said at home on the parent questionnaire. Get specific. My AART always seemed to most value the answers I gave that showed deep thinking on my child's part (like coming up with a plausible - though ultimately wrong but that wasn't proven at the time - idea to prevent Covid infections in 2020 while a rising 1st grader). When you show critical thinking, you show a kid who will be bored with the level of scaffolding provided for content subjects in the general education curriculum and is ready to make more conceptual leaps on their own.

- Describe ways your child has already outpaced the general education curriculum in K-2 in your parent referral process. Also make sure to go through the old GBRS (https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/forms/AAPGiftedBehaviorRatingScale_0.pdf) and look at the traits listed. Use those. Most committee teachers were trained on those before they were trained on HOPE and will recognize them as gifted traits. Plus provide specific examples of HOPE traits. Is your child constantly cracking jokes that make adults laugh? That's considered a gifted trait - get specific. Does your child ask probing questions about intellectual topics? Give an example. Did your child hyperfixate on collecting rocks, learning geology terminology last summer? That's considered a gifted trait. Does your child create entire complex play scenarios and act them out with stuffed animals? Describe it. Basically ways of interacting that are beyond typical for the grade will show a child who is ready to be pushed academically.

- In the work samples, you can give specific examples of these things. For us we did math questions, but they were more puzzles that I grabbed online where the child had to explain how they came to the solution and why they took that path. We also did photos of a set-up for an entire society on a journey that connected to outside social studies reading my kid was doing, and she explained the set-up and storyline. And we did lyrics set to sheet music another kid did, showing advanced application of literature (not just a poem, right?) with an explanation of how that music connected to an art contest theme. These things show a child who, again, doesn't need a lot of scaffolding because they are already working past that point. Other than math the main difference between AAP and gen ed is the amount of scaffolding for each project, plus some extensions.

Thanks for this. I have to say, I don't have examples that remotely resemble what you describe. Does that mean my child does not belong in AAP? I don't think my child is gifted. But they have been reading fluently for years and are also advanced in math (competent in long multiplication, currently working on long division, enjoys thinking about powers, square roots, decimals, fractions). I wasn't going to submit examples of this work because I had some other examples that I thought were more creative, but was just going to describe in words. DC asks questions and is capable of intelligent dialogue, but they are also a kid and enjoy being very silly.

[Anonymous]

Also, I know the GBRS is not part of the packet anymore but I'm curious about whether it was developed for this age group and the specific purpose of evaluating children for full-time AAP at this age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also, I know the GBRS is not part of the packet anymore but I'm curious about whether it was developed for this age group and the specific purpose of evaluating children for full-time AAP at this age.

Not specifically for this age group - it's a little-remembered fact that elementary schools (at least) do HOPE now and did GBRS then for every kid every year. They just do it at a different time for kids being referred for/in-pool for AAP. But GBRS was specifically designed by FCPS for evaluating kids for advanced academics at all levels.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s really simple. Focus on two areas you want to present and do one page of each. Child wrote a page about a trip. Then a page of math that were above grade level, word problems and such.

Ok. Well it worked twice for us. They spend minutes on those packets. We thought it was important to show our children could do the work. Also their other data spoke for itself. My children are not creative. Most important part of the application I feel is the part where we got to write about our children. Make that amazing. Tell them what’s missing from the regular program that your child needs from AAp. Prove that their needs can not be met and they will be in.

Thanks. I'm curious about what you mean about proving that their needs cannot be met. Can you give an example of how you would communicate that in words in the narrative? And about what's missing from the reg program that child needs? I answered in terms of the prompt and avoided saying things like my child is bored, etc., because I was told to avoid that. But I might be overlooking something obvious.

I hear you re: creativity. I just mention it because our AART seemed to emphasize it...

Not PP here, but to prove their needs cannot be met in a regular classroom you can:

- Show examples of advanced things your child has done or said at home on the parent questionnaire. Get specific. My AART always seemed to most value the answers I gave that showed deep thinking on my child's part (like coming up with a plausible - though ultimately wrong but that wasn't proven at the time - idea to prevent Covid infections in 2020 while a rising 1st grader). When you show critical thinking, you show a kid who will be bored with the level of scaffolding provided for content subjects in the general education curriculum and is ready to make more conceptual leaps on their own.

- Describe ways your child has already outpaced the general education curriculum in K-2 in your parent referral process. Also make sure to go through the old GBRS (https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/forms/AAPGiftedBehaviorRatingScale_0.pdf) and look at the traits listed. Use those. Most committee teachers were trained on those before they were trained on HOPE and will recognize them as gifted traits. Plus provide specific examples of HOPE traits. Is your child constantly cracking jokes that make adults laugh? That's considered a gifted trait - get specific. Does your child ask probing questions about intellectual topics? Give an example. Did your child hyperfixate on collecting rocks, learning geology terminology last summer? That's considered a gifted trait. Does your child create entire complex play scenarios and act them out with stuffed animals? Describe it. Basically ways of interacting that are beyond typical for the grade will show a child who is ready to be pushed academically.

- In the work samples, you can give specific examples of these things. For us we did math questions, but they were more puzzles that I grabbed online where the child had to explain how they came to the solution and why they took that path. We also did photos of a set-up for an entire society on a journey that connected to outside social studies reading my kid was doing, and she explained the set-up and storyline. And we did lyrics set to sheet music another kid did, showing advanced application of literature (not just a poem, right?) with an explanation of how that music connected to an art contest theme. These things show a child who, again, doesn't need a lot of scaffolding because they are already working past that point. Other than math the main difference between AAP and gen ed is the amount of scaffolding for each project, plus some extensions.

Thanks for this. I have to say, I don't have examples that remotely resemble what you describe. Does that mean my child does not belong in AAP? I don't think my child is gifted. But they have been reading fluently for years and are also advanced in math (competent in long multiplication, currently working on long division, enjoys thinking about powers, square roots, decimals, fractions). I wasn't going to submit examples of this work because I had some other examples that I thought were more creative, but was just going to describe in words. DC asks questions and is capable of intelligent dialogue, but they are also a kid and enjoy being very silly.

Spend a little time thinking and I bet you can turn what you do have into examples just like mine.

For example, have your child write out something about the way they think about multipliation, powers, square roots, and their relationship. My AAP kids weren't thinking about those until 4th grade . Or have your child draw up/write up something about the relationship between fractions, decimals, and division. Really encourage them to get into different ways they think about it.

Perhaps bake with them or have them half or double a recipe. Teach them the relationship between different measuring spoons (like a tablespoon is 3 teaspoons) and have them do conversions between types of measurement and explain why. Write it all up using the words they tell you. Take a picture or two of whatever you are baking and make it fun for your kid. Win-win: family time plus a really cool AAP sample that actually highlights a thing your kid enjoys - the relationships between complex arithmetic operations.

All it takes is some creativity on your part to turn your child's natural advanced interests into a compelling sample/parent write-up. I polled my family members for ideas for the parent questionnaire, for example. They helped me remember funny/interesting things my kids have said.

And before people criticize and say that a kid who "truly needs" AAP wouldn't need this level of work - my kids did well in the program and I slept better at night knowing I'd shown them in the best possible light during the application process.