What will you freaks do in 10-11 years?

[Anonymous]

Everybody is different. The bottom line is that you do your best on what's best for your kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have been seeing all of this competitiveness and general freaking out over 6 and 7 year old's test scores. Jeezus-these are babies. You people have a seriously long road ahead of you if you are stroking out this soon. I hate to see you when it is college application time.

What bothers you so much about this? Does reading this thread make you insecure about your own kids? or about your own parenting? I am not a freak because I am invested in my child's education. Here is one profile a "competitive" crazy parent: My child taught herself how to read at 3 years of age, begged for piano lessons at age 5 (and is excelling), asked to be taught how to multiply when she was 4 and immediately grasped the concept, asks on a regular basis if she can please work on her "third grade math workbooks" simply because she enjoys it.....these are a few examples. DC did not attend a heavily academic preschool and none of the above examples were pushed and certainly NOT forced upon her by me. I've watched her go through PreK3, PreK4 and kindergarten not being challenged academically at all and I've been OK with that, because she's just a kid and had loads of fun anyway. Now that she is in the first grade, she is being offered whatever "pull-out" classes the school has the resources for, but I think she needs more. Just got the NNAT scores and DC did not make the 132 benchmark, not even 130. So.....I'm thinking - I know this kid needs a more challenging curriculum, but I can't stand in front of the screening committee and list all the ways my child is extraordinary, now can I? They will see a very limited profile of my DC and decide what is appropriate for her. Two test scores and one teacher's evaluation. So I start asking - what can I do? what should I do? what have other parents done? And posters like you jump all over it and call parents like me nuts. I don't get it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Nope. I'm 42. A product of Ffx county schools and supportive parents that stepped back and didnt prep me for first grade SOLs.

Fwiw, I graduated with a 3.95. I turned out more successful then my two friends that went to the GT middle school...one works at Starbucks--the other got an mrs. Degree.

Go to the 'off topic' forum, and talk about your life(and your friends' life) over there.

Both of you should be banned from any education forum until you learn proper grammar.
As for OP, I am curious what dog you have in this fight.

You had to go there. As soon as I see this, my dbag meter goes off. I am guessing OP can't stand the absolutely absurdity of parents pressuring 6 and 7 year olds to 'test well'. If you step back and take a look at these threads, you will recognize a lot of crazy f*ckers. This young- none of this stuff means cr*p. I was astounded. I feel for these children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been seeing all of this competitiveness and general freaking out over 6 and 7 year old's test scores. Jeezus-these are babies. You people have a seriously long road ahead of you if you are stroking out this soon. I hate to see you when it is college application time.

What bothers you so much about this? Does reading this thread make you insecure about your own kids? or about your own parenting? I am not a freak because I am invested in my child's education. Here is one profile a "competitive" crazy parent: My child taught herself how to read at 3 years of age, begged for piano lessons at age 5 (and is excelling), asked to be taught how to multiply when she was 4 and immediately grasped the concept, asks on a regular basis if she can please work on her "third grade math workbooks" simply because she enjoys it.....these are a few examples. DC did not attend a heavily academic preschool and none of the above examples were pushed and certainly NOT forced upon her by me. I've watched her go through PreK3, PreK4 and kindergarten not being challenged academically at all and I've been OK with that, because she's just a kid and had loads of fun anyway. Now that she is in the first grade, she is being offered whatever "pull-out" classes the school has the resources for, but I think she needs more. Just got the NNAT scores and DC did not make the 132 benchmark, not even 130. So.....I'm thinking - I know this kid needs a more challenging curriculum, but I can't stand in front of the screening committee and list all the ways my child is extraordinary, now can I? They will see a very limited profile of my DC and decide what is appropriate for her. Two test scores and one teacher's evaluation. So I start asking - what can I do? what should I do? what have other parents done? And posters like you jump all over it and call parents like me nuts. I don't get it.

Hmmm. To me- it appears you are trying to relive your life through your child's. You are looking for validation. Your crazy rant proves that you have gone off the rails. Check yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is where I thank GOD for my underachieving kids who just want to be normal.

What? My overachieving 4th grader wanting to be Kim Possible isn't normal?

Some of the kids in my daughter's class know where they are going to college already. Not even in the "My Mom and Dad went to VA Tech, my Grandpa went to VA Tech, my Great Grandpappy went to VA Tech, so of COURSE I am going to VA Tech" kind of way. More in the "Ivy League is the ONLY way to go because otherwise I will be disowned and never get a real job" kind of way.

My girl? It is Cheerleading and the Police Academy for her. Of course, when she tells them that she wants to be Kim Possible, I question if she'd pass the Psych exam.

My point? It IS possible to be in the AAP program and not be insanely obsessed with the future and being perfect, and it is also possible to be the parent of an AAP child and not be off the deep end. I think that you'd find that most AAP parents are normal, we just get the crazies here.

I agree that a lot of the parents here will be freaking out over TJ sooner than 10 years. Thank goodness my AAP Daughter has expressed no interest in that. After all, Kim Possible doesn't need to go to TJ. That is what her sidekick is for.

Who the h*ll is Kim Possible?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Nope. I'm 42. A product of Ffx county schools and supportive parents that stepped back and didnt prep me for first grade SOLs.

Fwiw, I graduated with a 3.95. I turned out more successful then my two friends that went to the GT middle school...one works at Starbucks--the other got an mrs. Degree.

Go to the 'off topic' forum, and talk about your life(and your friends' life) over there.

Both of you should be banned from any education forum until you learn proper grammar.
As for OP, I am curious what dog you have in this fight.

You had to go there. As soon as I see this, my dbag meter goes off. I am guessing OP can't stand the absolutely absurdity of parents pressuring 6 and 7 year olds to 'test well'. If you step back and take a look at these threads, you will recognize a lot of crazy f*ckers. This young- none of this stuff means cr*p. I was astounded. I feel for these children.

What has your panties in a bunch? I was genuinely curious what OP's vantage point was. At 42, should could be looking ahead, looking behind or looking straight on with all the testing/AAP/TJ/college admissions, etc. etc. So I'm curious. Reset your dbag meter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So I start asking - what can I do? what should I do? what have other parents done?

We were in the same boat last year, and didn't worry too much about it.
However, we sign up the kid for a prep class over the summer. It was one of the many different "camps" that the kid had over the summer.
It was the only "academically oriented" one.

I looked over all the material, and there was nothing directly "coaching for the test" as others have contented.
Rather, mostly it was doing additional math exercises and reading stories... in a way, it was just like some more school. Although the level of work was higher than what was in normal elementary at that level. They did take "tests" in a standardized way, which I think does help them be comfortable with the format.
So, in the end, I basically signed my kid up for a couple extra weeks of "school" in the middle of other camps during the summer. It was no big deal, and the kid actually enjoyed it (that was actually my initial concern when signing up).

The kid did well on the Cogat and is in the pool (although I tend to doubt that was because of the class).
I think I will probably be doing the same this upcoming year, even though there is no test to study for. Basically, the summer vacation is a very long stretch to do no academics. A couple of weeks in the middle of a "fun school" will keep them sharp and have them not lose so much of what they have learned.

(feel free to whack away!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been seeing all of this competitiveness and general freaking out over 6 and 7 year old's test scores. Jeezus-these are babies. You people have a seriously long road ahead of you if you are stroking out this soon. I hate to see you when it is college application time.

What bothers you so much about this? Does reading this thread make you insecure about your own kids? or about your own parenting? I am not a freak because I am invested in my child's education. Here is one profile a "competitive" crazy parent: My child taught herself how to read at 3 years of age, begged for piano lessons at age 5 (and is excelling), asked to be taught how to multiply when she was 4 and immediately grasped the concept, asks on a regular basis if she can please work on her "third grade math workbooks" simply because she enjoys it.....these are a few examples. DC did not attend a heavily academic preschool and none of the above examples were pushed and certainly NOT forced upon her by me. I've watched her go through PreK3, PreK4 and kindergarten not being challenged academically at all and I've been OK with that, because she's just a kid and had loads of fun anyway. Now that she is in the first grade, she is being offered whatever "pull-out" classes the school has the resources for, but I think she needs more. Just got the NNAT scores and DC did not make the 132 benchmark, not even 130. So.....I'm thinking - I know this kid needs a more challenging curriculum, but I can't stand in front of the screening committee and list all the ways my child is extraordinary, now can I? They will see a very limited profile of my DC and decide what is appropriate for her. Two test scores and one teacher's evaluation. So I start asking - what can I do? what should I do? what have other parents done? And posters like you jump all over it and call parents like me nuts. I don't get it.

Hmmm. To me- it appears you are trying to relive your life through your child's. You are looking for validation. Your crazy rant proves that you have gone off the rails. Check yourself.

Wow. Ok, I give up. I don't think that looking for ways to help your child is crazy. I think people visiting forums and commenting on them with absolutely nothing useful, but just for sake of attacking other posters is "off the rails." Don't understand the motivation, but have just decided that well - I don't have to understand it. As other posters have suggested, I will ignore and carry on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So I start asking - what can I do? what should I do? what have other parents done?

We were in the same boat last year, and didn't worry too much about it.
However, we sign up the kid for a prep class over the summer. It was one of the many different "camps" that the kid had over the summer.
It was the only "academically oriented" one.

I looked over all the material, and there was nothing directly "coaching for the test" as others have contented.
Rather, mostly it was doing additional math exercises and reading stories... in a way, it was just like some more school. Although the level of work was higher than what was in normal elementary at that level. They did take "tests" in a standardized way, which I think does help them be comfortable with the format.
So, in the end, I basically signed my kid up for a couple extra weeks of "school" in the middle of other camps during the summer. It was no big deal, and the kid actually enjoyed it (that was actually my initial concern when signing up).

The kid did well on the Cogat and is in the pool (although I tend to doubt that was because of the class).
I think I will probably be doing the same this upcoming year, even though there is no test to study for. Basically, the summer vacation is a very long stretch to do no academics. A couple of weeks in the middle of a "fun school" will keep them sharp and have them not lose so much of what they have learned.

(feel free to whack away!)

We're starting to look into various summer camps now - would you mind sharing which one this was? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been seeing all of this competitiveness and general freaking out over 6 and 7 year old's test scores. Jeezus-these are babies. You people have a seriously long road ahead of you if you are stroking out this soon. I hate to see you when it is college application time.

What bothers you so much about this? Does reading this thread make you insecure about your own kids? or about your own parenting? I am not a freak because I am invested in my child's education. Here is one profile a "competitive" crazy parent: My child taught herself how to read at 3 years of age, begged for piano lessons at age 5 (and is excelling), asked to be taught how to multiply when she was 4 and immediately grasped the concept, asks on a regular basis if she can please work on her "third grade math workbooks" simply because she enjoys it.....these are a few examples. DC did not attend a heavily academic preschool and none of the above examples were pushed and certainly NOT forced upon her by me. I've watched her go through PreK3, PreK4 and kindergarten not being challenged academically at all and I've been OK with that, because she's just a kid and had loads of fun anyway. Now that she is in the first grade, she is being offered whatever "pull-out" classes the school has the resources for, but I think she needs more. Just got the NNAT scores and DC did not make the 132 benchmark, not even 130. So.....I'm thinking - I know this kid needs a more challenging curriculum, but I can't stand in front of the screening committee and list all the ways my child is extraordinary, now can I? They will see a very limited profile of my DC and decide what is appropriate for her. Two test scores and one teacher's evaluation. So I start asking - what can I do? what should I do? what have other parents done? And posters like you jump all over it and call parents like me nuts. I don't get it.

Hmmm. To me- it appears you are trying to relive your life through your child's. You are looking for validation. Your crazy rant proves that you have gone off the rails. Check yourself.

Wow. Ok, I give up. I don't think that looking for ways to help your child is crazy. I think people visiting forums and commenting on them with absolutely nothing useful, but just for sake of attacking other posters is "off the rails." Don't understand the motivation, but have just decided that well - I don't have to understand it. As other posters have suggested, I will ignore and carry on.

I mis-posted. You sound like a sane one. My advice to 'what can I do" would be to not get caught up in the craziness of your peers. My sibling refused to fight the AAP fioght and her child is graduating this year with a 4.0, track scholarship and pretty much guaranteed entry to a bevy of top schools. These people are going to be disappointed down the road. The kicker is the one out of three boys that was my sister's star elementary child is the one that was the most unmotivated and did not do as well in HS. It is too soon to get so crazy. I think some of these people are doing serious harm in the 'good' they think they are doing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're starting to look into various summer camps now - would you mind sharing which one this was? Thanks.

We went to http://sunshine-academy.org , but I'm sure there are plenty of others out there too.
Be forewarned that the majority of kids will be Asian (with some Indian kids)... but of course all the classes are in English, and they don't discriminate -- just the way it is.

Its a pretty good program with good materials. But they can sometimes try to scare/push parents into more classes (that their kids *need* to test well -- ha ha ha). But we didn't do those.

Maybe we should change the name of the thread to "what us freaks will do in the next few months"...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thread Closed.

Yep, let it die. 99% certain that a teenager was the OP.

Nope. I'm 42. A product of Ffx county schools and supportive parents that stepped back and didnt prep me for first grade SOLs.

Fwiw, I graduated with a 3.95. I turned out more successful then my two friends that went to the GT middle school...one works at Starbucks--the other got an mrs. Degree.

Um...congratulation??? Is that what you're hoping to hear?

[Anonymous]

I think so... that MRS degree is not as easy as it looks -- at least to catch a real winner...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think so... that MRS degree is not as easy as it looks -- at least to catch a real winner...

I did not have access to an AAP program, went out to get a Master's degree at a great school, only to end up a Mrs. and SAHM. Guess I am a looooooser. That's ok.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think so... that MRS degree is not as easy as it looks -- at least to catch a real winner...

I did not have access to an AAP program, went out to get a Master's degree at a great school, only to end up a Mrs. and SAHM. Guess I am a looooooser. That's ok.

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