Is my child gifted? In Arlington magazine this month

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eh, verbal ability is a huge component in intelligence. It's heavily weighted -- no wonder talkative kindergartners are more likely to be identified as gifted than quiet children.

Sounds like your kids didn't make the cut and you're bitter, OP. I get that, it can be a hard pill to swallow.

I read the article last week and some of the parents featured made me want to vomit.

My kid is in the gifted program at his school, so no bitterness here.

+1 We never advocated for our kid. Test scores warranted an evaluation. However, we had several teachers advise not subjecting our kid to the program.

They had several valid reasons on why the GT pull-out is not necessarily the best route to go and how we'd be much better off with at-home supplementation than going the formal route at school.

Top that off there were a lot of serious behavior issues in the pull-out group that would not have been conducive to a good learning environment. A lot of these kids have a grandiose amount of self-worth given to them from self-entitled parents like the 'butt-hurt' commenter in the prior posts. Discipline apparently isn't needed when your bad behavior is solely because you are bored 24/7.

However, I am sure the program varies greatly from school to school and whether it's worth it really depends on the individual child. Even if it's recommended, it's not always the best route for a particular child. At the more competitive schools, it's all about parental bragging rights which is ludicrous. Let's see how everyone is doing at 25 years old.

Us too. I just smile when the parents drone on and on about the amount of worthless homework doled out by the GT instructor. Yep--that's why we declined.

We also declined going farther and did not push or request a meeting. In fact, we had a fun time filling out the questionnaire. I can only imagine some of the answers people were writing for 5-year olds. Good lord.

For boys---the best thing you can do is keep the love of learning alive. The early years all of that busy work and hours after school glued to their desk is only going to have them tune out later.

It's a long-haul.

[Anonymous]

I find it funny that all the siblings in many of the families are all gifted--even though they have vastly different intelligence and personalities.

That should tell you something right there.

This is a school where all of the parents have advanced graduate and professional degrees--yet it's just the same families in the program.

Statistically, that isn't even possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I find it funny that all the siblings in many of the families are all gifted--even though they have vastly different intelligence and personalities.

That should tell you something right there.

This is a school where all of the parents have advanced graduate and professional degrees--yet it's just the same families in the program.

Statistically, that isn't even possible.

Are they all douchebags ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I find it funny that all the siblings in many of the families are all gifted--even though they have vastly different intelligence and personalities.

That should tell you something right there.

This is a school where all of the parents have advanced graduate and professional degrees--yet it's just the same families in the program.

Statistically, that isn't even possible.

There is a genetic component to bitterness. Having said that, I can't comment on how the program is administered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I find it funny that all the siblings in many of the families are all gifted--even though they have vastly different intelligence and personalities.

That should tell you something right there.

This is a school where all of the parents have advanced graduate and professional degrees--yet it's just the same families in the program.

Statistically, that isn't even possible.

That's crazy!!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a parent who had to fill out the Arlington form; the process was initiated by our K and 1st grade teachers. Honestly, I had no idea what to say. I think she's smart and other people are always saying how smart she is, but it was hard to put into concrete words.

I grew up in a time when gifted kids were teased and stigmatized, so I wasn't too thrilled with the label. So I had mixed feelings about my daughter following suit. That said, I liked the stuff we did in the program - we did a deeper dive into many subjects than in my regular or honors classes, which was worthwhile.

Same here, with both kids ID'd as gifted. DS I'd say is bright but I wouldn't say he's gifted. He is strong in math - the only area the school ID'd him as "gifted" -- so was pulled out into the highest math group throughout school. DD does seem to me more fitting the definition of "gifted' - she's ID by the school as gifted in all subjects they asked about and does seem to have a more unique and creative way of thinking. But, I don't see that her school's gifted teacher added much to her ES experience. She was challenged well via her classroom teachers' differentiation.

Well, yes, she's a girl.

The American school system befits the feminine gender.

They are pleasers and learn in a different manner. Their bodies generally don't need to be in constant movement.

[Anonymous]

Those kids are statistically prone to higher rates of depression and anxiety by HS. Read up on it.

The Atlantic did some good coverage on the problem when they try to live up to the parents' lobby.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Those kids are statistically prone to higher rates of depression and anxiety by HS. Read up on it.

The Atlantic did some good coverage on the problem when they try to live up to the parents' lobby.

^^^and, unfortunately, suicide.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The article was well-written. At an APS school not mentioned and our GT selection process is very different.

Some of the responses on here are cray-cray. I think I'd be glad my kids weren't in a class with kids that come from parents like that.

Well-written, except it misused the expression "humble brag." I see that a lot around here, too. People confuse outright bragging with "humble."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a parent who had to fill out the Arlington form; the process was initiated by our K and 1st grade teachers. Honestly, I had no idea what to say. I think she's smart and other people are always saying how smart she is, but it was hard to put into concrete words.

I grew up in a time when gifted kids were teased and stigmatized, so I wasn't too thrilled with the label. So I had mixed feelings about my daughter following suit. That said, I liked the stuff we did in the program - we did a deeper dive into many subjects than in my regular or honors classes, which was worthwhile.

Same here, with both kids ID'd as gifted. DS I'd say is bright but I wouldn't say he's gifted. He is strong in math - the only area the school ID'd him as "gifted" -- so was pulled out into the highest math group throughout school. DD does seem to me more fitting the definition of "gifted' - she's ID by the school as gifted in all subjects they asked about and does seem to have a more unique and creative way of thinking. But, I don't see that her school's gifted teacher added much to her ES experience. She was challenged well via her classroom teachers' differentiation.

Well, yes, she's a girl.

The American school system befits the feminine gender.

They are pleasers and learn in a different manner. Their bodies generally don't need to be in constant movement.

What horse shit. Education is designed for boys and is rooted in efforts to school boys.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work in gifted program in another County.

I agree with OP.

A chatty Kathy is not a solid indicator of giftedness.

I can't believe it's a parent-led process at 5.

Are kids ever removed down the road --say at 9, 10, 11, etc. or does that dubious label made prior to a chronological time when this can be truly assessed remain with them through High School?

I am interested because our school system does not label them that young.

We were told our DS was gifted in 2 different subjects at ASFS and 1 in middle school. We laughed but agreed to one subject. He is not gifted but very smart, well behaved and hard working. He is now in his second year in college and I still get emails from the GT person at his high school as if he is still a student there. So, no, he has yet to be removed and he is way down the road.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a parent who had to fill out the Arlington form; the process was initiated by our K and 1st grade teachers. Honestly, I had no idea what to say. I think she's smart and other people are always saying how smart she is, but it was hard to put into concrete words.

I grew up in a time when gifted kids were teased and stigmatized, so I wasn't too thrilled with the label. So I had mixed feelings about my daughter following suit. That said, I liked the stuff we did in the program - we did a deeper dive into many subjects than in my regular or honors classes, which was worthwhile.

Same here, with both kids ID'd as gifted. DS I'd say is bright but I wouldn't say he's gifted. He is strong in math - the only area the school ID'd him as "gifted" -- so was pulled out into the highest math group throughout school. DD does seem to me more fitting the definition of "gifted' - she's ID by the school as gifted in all subjects they asked about and does seem to have a more unique and creative way of thinking. But, I don't see that her school's gifted teacher added much to her ES experience. She was challenged well via her classroom teachers' differentiation.

Well, yes, she's a girl.

The American school system befits the feminine gender.

They are pleasers and learn in a different manner. Their bodies generally don't need to be in constant movement.

What horse shit. Education is designed for boys and is rooted in efforts to school boys.

That's why girls outnumber boys in college? Both admissions and degrees.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a parent who had to fill out the Arlington form; the process was initiated by our K and 1st grade teachers. Honestly, I had no idea what to say. I think she's smart and other people are always saying how smart she is, but it was hard to put into concrete words.

I grew up in a time when gifted kids were teased and stigmatized, so I wasn't too thrilled with the label. So I had mixed feelings about my daughter following suit. That said, I liked the stuff we did in the program - we did a deeper dive into many subjects than in my regular or honors classes, which was worthwhile.

Same here, with both kids ID'd as gifted. DS I'd say is bright but I wouldn't say he's gifted. He is strong in math - the only area the school ID'd him as "gifted" -- so was pulled out into the highest math group throughout school. DD does seem to me more fitting the definition of "gifted' - she's ID by the school as gifted in all subjects they asked about and does seem to have a more unique and creative way of thinking. But, I don't see that her school's gifted teacher added much to her ES experience. She was challenged well via her classroom teachers' differentiation.

Well, yes, she's a girl.

The American school system befits the feminine gender.

They are pleasers and learn in a different manner. Their bodies generally don't need to be in constant movement.

What horse shit. Education is designed for boys and is rooted in efforts to school boys.

Yet we've been bolstering girls the last two decades when it was "bring your daughters to work day". Girls on the run. STEM for girls.

All the while graduation rates for boys have been declining. University enrollment if boys is a real problem. Girls outnumber boys 60-40% ...and colleges realize people shy away from their school if numbers aren't more 50-50.

Recess in schools has virtually disappeared. Kids sit longer in desks.

Bravo America!!

[Anonymous]

What an awful thread with some really nasty parents posting.

Signed,
Not an Arlington parent

[Anonymous]

I have two kids identified as gifted in APS and have no idea what any of these people are talking about. It's been good for both my kids (math pull out and honors band.) Another reason to avoid north Arlington, I guess.