options for an academically advanced elem kid in down county Montgomery
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Anonymous
| My DD is only 4, and we have another year of pre-K.. so I am only starting to think about this.. Thus my question is totally basic. We're in Silver Spring. My DD is truly showing signs of being fairly advanced.. she is already doing all the things (academically, not socially) that her kindergarten friends are doing. What should we be considering when it comes to her public options in Mont. Co? Specifically.. I know some kids that go to the magnet at Takoma Park ES which starts in first grade.. I also know of the HGC at Pinecrest ES (which starts at 3rd). What's the difference? Are there other options out there I should know about? Thanks! (and I do know you have to test into both these programs.) |
Anonymous
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I don't know if this is convenient to you or not, but I just got an e-mail from the Feynman School. My son, however, is not gifted as far as I can tell, so I have no interest in it. 8)
http://www.feynmanschool.org/ |
Anonymous
| There must be a down county French immersion program, too. I'm up county, so we have Maryvale ES. |
Anonymous
| OP, I don't mean to be cynical but they are ALL academically advanced in downcounty MoCo. Unless your child is demonstrating prodigy traits (reading at a college level or doing trigonometry) I would send your child to their zoned MCPS school if it is overall a good school. There is a ton of differentiation, and kids' skills change by leaps and bounds during this period in any case. My child wasn't advanced coming into K, but 2 years later is considered very advanced in reading (but not math; some of his classmates do a year ahead for math.) There are gifted centers, but I'm pretty sure they start at 3rd grade in any case. But really, you'll be surprised, or maybe you won't be, that MoCo is not the land of the average - everyone is performing above grade level. |
Anonymous
| The Highly Gifted Centers are for 4th and 5th graders only. Students test into those (highly competitive) centers in 3rd grade. There are language immersion programs in Spanish, French, and Chinese throughout the county that are available on a lottery basis. |
Anonymous
| DD has made a lot of social progress this year but very little academically in a DCC elementary. I 100% disagree with PP who said they are all academically advanced. Have even heard concerns lately about MS being less rigorous than HS. I would apply to language immersions (if you are able to make the commute) for K and if that doesn't work out, see how K goes at neighborhood school and then apply for TPES Primary Magnet if you're still concerned. |
Anonymous
| Takoma Park ES has an lower-elementary magnet program. If you are in Silver Spring it might be the best option for you. |
Anonymous
| I'm the cynical PP, and I'm in Bethesda, so maybe my perceptions are skewed - no one is ordinary here (just kidding, but sometimes the other parents sound a bit like that.) But my overall point is that unless your kid is truly way out of the norm (not just a 4yo who seems to be on par with 5yos) then you really need to be realistic. K is mainly about the social adjustment to school, and less about jumpstarting little Johnny into calculus. Kids come into K with vastly different abilities and my experience so far is that MCPS (or at least our school) does a great job of cultivating a wide range. And many of the K students who were light years ahead of my child two years ago are not any more. This is presumably why they don't start the gifted programs until a few years in - the early years see a lot of change. |
Anonymous
I'm the PPwhose daughter has made progress on social skills but not much else. I am not trying to be argumentative, I say that because online communication doesn't carry tone of voice or facial expression. I honestly wonder, and the answer could be yes, no, or maybe, if the reason the playing field is eventually leveled is because the kids who come in ahead do not have the same opportunities for growth. I don't have a solution when it's 2 out of 20. You can't individualize every child's education in our system at that age (well, a teacher might be able to but then they'd have no personal life because it would take an insane amount of time). Two scenarios ... 1) you have grade level benchmarks and kids who come in at the high end and reach them early just explore around in that area. Kids who come in at the Lowe end make a lot of progress. All end up in a similar place. 2) you have a progressive scale ... Regardless of where you come in, you are expected to make progress within a range each year. This would be instead of reading by level z by the end of grade y, you are expected to progress 3-5 (or whatever) number of reading levels each year, with a minimum level of z b the end of grade y. I wonder if the difference in performance at K would remain constant, but the gap would close for some, if the kids who come in at the high end had the same room to grow. Does that make sense? I don't know that it's necessarily the case. I'm not an expert, I'm just wondering aloud (and on DCUM, where that can sometimes get treacherous ; ) ) |
Anonymous
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I'm the PPwhose daughter has made progress on social skills but not much else. I am not trying to be argumentative, I say that because online communication doesn't carry tone of voice or facial expression. I honestly wonder, and the answer could be yes, no, or maybe, if the reason the playing field is eventually leveled is because the kids who come in ahead do not have the same opportunities for growth. I don't have a solution when it's 2 out of 20. You can't individualize every child's education in our system at that age (well, a teacher might be able to but then they'd have no personal life because it would take an insane amount of time). Two scenarios ... 1) you have grade level benchmarks and kids who come in at the high end and reach them early just explore around in that area. Kids who come in at the Lowe end make a lot of progress. All end up in a similar place. 2) you have a progressive scale ... Regardless of where you come in, you are expected to make progress within a range each year. This would be instead of reading by level z by the end of grade y, you are expected to progress 3-5 (or whatever) number of reading levels each year, with a minimum level of z b the end of grade y. I wonder if the difference in performance at K would remain constant, but the gap would close for some, if the kids who come in at the high end had the same room to grow. Does that make sense? I don't know that it's necessarily the case. I'm not an expert, I'm just wondering aloud (and on DCUM, where that can sometimes get treacherous ; ) ) I would love to know the answer to these questions. OP - as someone who as been there... Your child is probably not as advanced as you think. I have been there. My child came in way way ahead into K and now half way thru first grade things have pretty much leveled out. Can't help but wonder if that's because the was no challenge in K or because that's just how it goes. Believe me when I tell you that there are ALOT of other smart kids out there.... |
Anonymous
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sorry - my previous post got corrupted due to missing tag....
I would love to know the answer to these questions. OP - as someone who as been there... Your child is probably not as advanced as you think. I have been there. My child came in way way ahead into K and now half way thru first grade things have pretty much leveled out. Can't help but wonder if that's because the was no challenge in K or because that's just how it goes. Believe me when I tell you that there are ALOT of other smart kids out there... |
Anonymous
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"OP, I don't mean to be cynical but they are ALL academically advanced in downcounty MoCo. ...MoCo is not the land of the average - everyone is performing above grade level. "
That may be true for Bethesda. I live in SS (not downtown area either) and I don't believe it's true for all/most of the ESs around me givne the very high number of kids that come to them without even speaking english. The range of educational experiences that kids can have in the county is really huge - from a pretty uniform middle/upper class CC/Bethesda school to Wheaton areas with more ESOL children than not in a school. Expereiences simply cannot be the same in both situations. |
Anonymous
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OP: We were in similar situation. Some people opt for immersion. We chose home school and then applied for and got into Takoma Park primary magnet program. Home school grade K was a disaster. TPES has been a lifesaver in having a solid peer group.
Schools are really hit and miss in down county. If you're at a Title 1 school, GT kids can get what they need b/c school has more resources. At other schools, the GT kids simply don't get what they need. If we didn't get into TPES, we would have had to seriously consider either moving or going private. HGC is grades 4-5. Know lots of kids in there as well as kids who got in and chose to stay at home schools. It's all child-dependent and you can't predict how your child would feel about switching schools until you get there. I have a child who got in and refused to go and is quite happy at home school. |
Anonymous
| OP here, thank all! Lots of interesting thoughts, and I do appreciate the point that there are a lot of smart kids out there! Our home school has a good reputation, which I think is only even getting better, so the plan is just to see how K goes and go from there. I guess my basic question then is just -- should a smart, ahead of her class kid go for the TPES magnet at 1st grade and stay on that track, or wait to test into the HGC in 4th grade? Not saying either would be an option for us.. only time will tell, of course. I'm just curious as to what the difference is. |
Anonymous
| I don't know about TPES but I don't recommend immersion as a way to address HG issues. It's actually harder to access higher level curriculum, as the child is limited by the level of the new language, and the standard on-grade curriculum isn't any more challenging than regular, just in a different language. |