Qs about whether to apply for HGC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, in my very limited experience, "Center For Smart Kids Who Got Accepted" would be a better name than "Highly Gifted Center". There are a lot more kids who would benefit from the HGC curriculum than kids who got accepted to the HGC.

[Anonymous]

OP, my son sounds similar to yours. Originally I was not going to even apply since I don't think we would send my son even if he got in. Now I am thinking we will apply and leave it as an option for now.

[Anonymous]

My DC is at the center this year. I would encourage you to apply b/c that way you will keep your options open. At first, I was very ambivalent about sending DC (b/c there we a lot of smart children in her grade at her "home elementary school"). Now that we are a few weeks in, I am thrilled and it is so much more than I had expected. It is so creative and encouraging and positive. They do an amazing job and make school and learning so much fun!
I feel like, even after reading about the center and attending the open house, I still "didn't know what I didn't know." Now that she is there and experiencing this program, I realize that she is so lucky for this opportunity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for the helpful replies. Without knowing one child who has gone to an HGC (this is my oldest), I wanted to get a sense if there are children with similar profiles to my child who attend the HGCs. There are many very smart children in my child's class/grade each year, many seem "gifted" to me in one way or another. But obviously most will not attend an HGC. So I am weighing whether it is worth even considering it as a possibility for school next year, since in our case it requires a move to a different school, leaving friends and a lovely community. I guess the term "highly gifted" implies something more to me than just getting a 99% on the WISC or similar test, but maybe what I am envisioning at the HGCs is not the case.

I think they name it center for the HIGHLY Gifted so they can limit it to a small percentage of kids -- since MCPS defines about 30% of its students as "gifted," there would be lawsuits otherwise.

It's also a real term though, and refers to the top 3%, more or less, of kids measured by IQ. So if your child got a 99% percentile on the WISC, they fall into that group. And even though we live in Lake Woebegone , even in MoCo the distribution applies. Of course, we are talking about 99% percentile OVERALL, not on one particular subtest.

Also the test for the Centers isn't the WISC so your child could have a very high IQ and not do well on the particular test they use, or at least not as well as the WISC score could predict. And despite what they tell you, that test score is the most important thing for admission -- although other things are taken into account.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that, OP, if your child was in the 99th percentile on the WISC as an overall score, then yes, your child would be fine at an HGC.

ISsn't the HGC test similar to or the same as an I! test?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for the helpful replies. Without knowing one child who has gone to an HGC (this is my oldest), I wanted to get a sense if there are children with similar profiles to my child who attend the HGCs. There are many very smart children in my child's class/grade each year, many seem "gifted" to me in one way or another. But obviously most will not attend an HGC. So I am weighing whether it is worth even considering it as a possibility for school next year, since in our case it requires a move to a different school, leaving friends and a lovely community. I guess the term "highly gifted" implies something more to me than just getting a 99% on the WISC or similar test, but maybe what I am envisioning at the HGCs is not the case.

I have a 4th and 5th grader in the HGC. Yes, some of the kids are "off the charts smart" but many are just smart and hardworking. No, you do not need a "scary smart" kid to excel at the center. Most of the students in the higher groupings at the home school can handle the curriculum and do well at a HGC.

[Anonymous]

I actually don't know whether HGC will serve well a scary smart kid, assuming you mean the profoundly gifted ones. But 99% WISC is definitely gifted, probably just the population that HGC serves well.

[Anonymous]

I have a PG kid based on IQ definitions. He's been challenged and engaged at the HGC. One of the really beneficial things is that it's an age-appropriate group -- if you grade skip a lot (unlikely as that is in MoCo) or send them to early college, they are really at sea socially. But my DS had a very normal ES social experience in an HGC --a big benefit.

[Anonymous]

Given the new not- challenging 2.0 curriculum in MCPS, I would advise any parent with a smart child to apply to these programs. It is a way to get your child a top notch education in the MCPS system (harder to do these days even in the well- regarded elementary schools). For us, it was HGC or private school. This is like a great private without the tuition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Given the new not- challenging 2.0 curriculum in MCPS, I would advise any parent with a smart child to apply to these programs. It is a way to get your child a top notch education in the MCPS system (harder to do these days even in the well- regarded elementary schools). For us, it was HGC or private school. This is like a great private without the tuition.

Actually, I was just this very afternoon impressed that the math in the homework packet of kid #2, now in second grade, is considerably harder than the math was in the homework packet of kid #1, before 2.0.

I don't agree with this "not-challenging" business.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given the new not- challenging 2.0 curriculum in MCPS, I would advise any parent with a smart child to apply to these programs. It is a way to get your child a top notch education in the MCPS system (harder to do these days even in the well- regarded elementary schools). For us, it was HGC or private school. This is like a great private without the tuition.

Actually, I was just this very afternoon impressed that the math in the homework packet of kid #2, now in second grade, is considerably harder than the math was in the homework packet of kid #1, before 2.0.

I don't agree with this "not-challenging" business.

Good news for you. You are right where you belong. Nothing wrong with that. Others may be looking for something different. Good to know there are different options for different students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Given the new not- challenging 2.0 curriculum in MCPS, I would advise any parent with a smart child to apply to these programs. It is a way to get your child a top notch education in the MCPS system (harder to do these days even in the well- regarded elementary schools). For us, it was HGC or private school. This is like a great private without the tuition.

Actually, I was just this very afternoon impressed that the math in the homework packet of kid #2, now in second grade, is considerably harder than the math was in the homework packet of kid #1, before 2.0.

I don't agree with this "not-challenging" business.

Good news for you. You are right where you belong. Nothing wrong with that. Others may be looking for something different. Good to know there are different options for different students.

?

This doesn't make sense. You said that 2.0 is not-challenging. I said that I find it more challenging than the previous curriculum. What does that have to do with "different options for different students"?

And, actually, #1 kid is in an HGC.

[Anonymous]

It does make sense. If it is challenging to you (or, really, your child) then that is great. Other parents and children do not think it is challenging enough and they are looking for other (more challenging) options.
I'm not put-off if you think 2.0 is challenging enough for your kid (or if you perceive it as more challenging than the old curriculum). I chalk that up to different strokes for different folks. Sounds like you might view it differently.

[Anonymous]

Another HGC parent not convinced that 2.0 is less challenging. My older (HGC) child (who went through pre-2.0) was impressed at some of the concepts being taught in my younger child's 2.0 poetry unit in 1st grade--the pre-2.0 cohort hadn't addressed those terms until 2nd or 3rd grade. Small example, I know, and I reserve the right to complain about Curriculum 2.0 in the future. However, I'm not convinced that 2.0 is the disaster some parents think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It does make sense. If it is challenging to you (or, really, your child) then that is great. Other parents and children do not think it is challenging enough and they are looking for other (more challenging) options.
I'm not put-off if you think 2.0 is challenging enough for your kid (or if you perceive it as more challenging than the old curriculum). I chalk that up to different strokes for different folks. Sounds like you might view it differently.

If you say that 2.0 is "less challenging", than the question is, less challenging than what?

I assumed that you meant: less challenging than the previous curriculum. But my experience is that 2.0 is MORE challenging than the previous MCPS curriculum.

If, on the other hand, you meant: less challenging than your ideal curriculum -- well, ok. What is the ideal curriculum that you would like MCPS to adopt, and how does it compare to the previous MCPS curriculum and to 2.0?

Meanwhile, here is what is not relevant: whether the homework is challenging to my individual child.

[Anonymous]

Less challenging than the HGC program. Let's leave it at that. I'm happier with what my child is doing/will do at the center. If you disagree, fine. Your having a different opinion doesn't bother me at all. Different strokes. Not sure why this would require back and forth. If you ate happy on your end and my kid is happy on her's, where's the problem?