CogAT this year for 2nd grade

[Anonymous]

I think we can all agree that it's not child abuse to encourage your child to exercise and challenge their mind for 30 minutes a day.

Likewise, it's not a bad idea to think outside the box when working with their children. There is more than ONE way to teach a child.

The jury is still out on whether or not it's a good idea to spend your child's summer studying to take the CoGat test in the fall. Think long and hard on what's best for your child, and listen to your child. My child trusted me enough to say that there was enough practice. I had to trust the kid to do well. Your call.

[Anonymous]

I'm all ears to learn how to think out of the box when you don't know your ABCs, multiplication tables, division and fractions and can't read for a 30 min sitting. One needs tools in your thinking tool kit before one can think within or outside the box!

Don't try to run before you can walk. The human body and mind does not work in that fashion

Example -- Richard Branson, written off as a child...but he seems to have done preeeetty darn well for himself

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think we can all agree that it's not child abuse to encourage your child to exercise and challenge their mind for 30 minutes a day.

Likewise, it's not a bad idea to think outside the box when working with their children. There is more than ONE way to teach a child.

The jury is still out on whether or not it's a good idea to spend your child's summer studying to take the CoGat test in the fall. Think long and hard on what's best for your child, and listen to your child. My child trusted me enough to say that there was enough practice. I had to trust the kid to do well. Your call.

speak for yourself. it's not. and the schools have clearly stated to not study. take the prep exam on fcps site all you want to cure stage fright/jitters, but to spend the summer STUDYING it? just shoot me.

[Anonymous]

Studying for any exam, or for fun, for 30/min a day rain or sunshine, summer or fall, in school or out of school is very appropriate for children in developed and literate societies. There are many children on our earth that don't take a whole "summer" or " 3 months" off from traditional school ("bricks and mortar"). These kids, families and societies are obviously sick, uncreative and the children -- Tiger cubs.

It would not surprise me, in future, that our kids (and some parents) will no longer get "3 months off" a year and you will not automatically receive retirement benefits after the age of 65 years. Stay tuned. By the way what's so darn special or unique about summer regarding literacy? Does the temperature prevent children from reading and writing?

In my opinion, any normal child or parent in America who claims that 30 minutes/day of writing, reading and math in the "summer" is inappropriate is simply bone lazy and tone deaf. If 30 min/day of television is appropriate for your child what makes televison more mighty than reading and writing for 30 minutes?

Don't drink too much AAP Koolaid.

[Anonymous]

speak for yourself. it's not. and the schools have clearly stated to not study. take the prep exam on fcps site all you want to cure stage fright/jitters, but to spend the summer STUDYING it? just shoot me.

...umh. petrified by exams. Kids who read and write, even in summer, don't develop this aversion/fear. Nothing special here since exams/evaluations (like taxes and death) are part of the life of children and adults.

[Anonymous]

speak for yourself. it's not. and the schools have clearly stated to not study. take the prep exam on fcps site all you want to cure stage fright/jitters, but to spend the summer STUDYING it? just shoot me.

Do you remember/recall when the College Board, for decades, clearly and emphatically stated that students not study for the SAT? Did you drink the Kool aid? I bet you didn't study for the SAT, got perfect marks, turned down your admission to Harvard because the State University had the best reputation in your major area of study?

What does the public school system -- or AAP--know about the biology and physiology of intelligence, IQ, test performance and the predictive value of "GoCAT"? Don't get intoxicated on the AAP Kool aid flavor de jour

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What does the public school system -- or AAP--know about the biology and physiology of intelligence, IQ, test performance and the predictive value of "GoCAT"? Don't get intoxicated on the AAP Kool aid flavor de jour

just send your kids to private then.

[Anonymous]

I think you should obsess about the COGAT every waking moment. And make sure your kid is too. And make sure the overworked public school teacher knows from the moment that your kid is assigned to his/her class how obsessive you are. Maybe you will all end up in a psych ward together some day.

[Anonymous]

You are the wing nut who claims 30 min/day of reading and writing for a 7-year-old is an obsession but it's ok for her own 7-year-old sportswoman and AAP seat winner to spend more than 30 min min/day watching television or strolling the grocery stores while you provide her real elite education off cereal boxes and balloons.

Exams are not barriers for children that can read and write. Some of us continue to read and write even when not in school. School attendance is not a prerequisite for work books, reading, writing, watching TV and going grocery shopping.

Private schools are no more immune from this idiocy than your beloved AAP.

The only real obseesion here is your worship of AAP because your child got that precious and rare seat very few kids can apparently come close to getting. This unique and rare accomplishment is the mark of real talent and accomplishment since your 7-year-old struck gold without any hard work or studying. That's why she is en route to being wildly successful in life while other chilren
that write and read in the summer for 30 min/day will ride the pine.

By the way no pine here. My children are not in Virginia public schools. Sorry to disappoint

[Anonymous]

She's an embarassment if she represents Virginians going to public schools and AAP.

[Anonymous]

I love this forum...I wonder if it would be as crazy if it was not anonymous....

Lets lay out some issues:

1) CogAT (and NNAT) are important primarily from an AAP admissions perspective

2) Prep for the CogAT may or may not improve the scores

3) The county does not really trust the scores relative to the GBRS, based on kids reading the appeals forums (140 CogATs, 9 GBRS, not admitted).

4) The county trusts WISC over group testing

5) prep for the CogAT takes time and money.

Conclusions:

The advantage of prep if just for the CogAT is probably not worth it -- Exercises to improve the kids overall problem solving ability, not specific to the test are another issue.

If the child has a strong (14+) GBRS, tests do not matter (however, you can not know this in advance).

If you want to spend real money (100's of dollars) to prep for the CogAT, money is better spent on a WISC.

[Anonymous]

I posted earlier that I was willing to give the least expensive test prep book a try.... well I got it. Can't say that I'm entirely impressed. There are mistakes in the grammar and I'm pretty certain that some of the questions are missing the correct answer or have two overly-similar answers (i.e. Ms. Wilson sees patients at her clinic which one is Ms. Wilson? Among the answers are a woman dressed as a nurse holding a syringe as well as a picture of a unisex doctor looking at a person sitting down with pain lines drawn at the sitting person's knee. --- Are we supposed to assume that only the nurse could be Ms. Wilson?)

I've just told my child that they are brain puzzles for fun and we are doing them together while I explain how they do the rotations of the picture or how certain things are similar. I'm glad I know a little more what the tests are like, but I also have to wonder how realistic these practice tests are in the verbal sections b/c my not-yet-5 yr-old can answer all of those. I'm not sure it this test book is that valuable, but fortunately, I didn't spend a lot of money and I am getting the opportunity to explain how to get to the correct answer. So, there is some value. Plus, DC thinks it's kind of a game (with the matrices especially).

[Anonymous]

To 8:33 No, this forum would not be nearly as crazy (or half as entertaining) if the posts were not anonymous. If you want to read some real crazy, go to the Fairfax GT appeals thread (not the ones appealing, but the ones who are mortally opposed to the appeals process, very weird).

[Anonymous]

09:20: 08:33 I read and participated in that forum. That was simply a troll that wanted to stir the pot.

[Anonymous]

Look at post 05:30 and 5:34
Looks like the trolls found this thread.