Best school for gifted kid? Looking for differentiation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In Virginia, the "gifted" schools are Nysmith and Basis. They are completely different environments than more traditional prep schools (of which I attended so I am not trying to be offensive). They may be a better environment for your child or if they are not conveniently located, you could contact them and ask. Or even ask your current school for their thoughts. If you don't think the current school is a good fit, it may be that they agree but don't want to push you out. If you open the dialogue with the current school, perhaps they can provide guidance. I truly believe that while there is sometimes competition among schools, the schools do appreciate the special niches that each school seems to fill. That is one of the wonderful things about DC. We have so many amazing private schools that fill so many different niches. A big 3 would not feel slighted if you decided your child would fit in better at a niche school. And from a purely monetary standpoint, those schools have long waiting lists ready to fill in your child's spot.

Who the hell cares if the school feels slighted? What a weird comment.

Are you sure your child's only issue is that he's way smarter than everybody else? Because I'd have to think that Big 3 schools have a lot of experience with gifted kids -- you basically have to be gifted to get in. It sounds like he might have emotional issues as well. Has he had a psychological evaluation?

No, you don’t have to be gifted to get into a Big 3 school. You don’t even have to be bright if you’re a sibling. You sound totally ignorant and wacko.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In Virginia, the "gifted" schools are Nysmith and Basis. They are completely different environments than more traditional prep schools (of which I attended so I am not trying to be offensive). They may be a better environment for your child or if they are not conveniently located, you could contact them and ask. Or even ask your current school for their thoughts. If you don't think the current school is a good fit, it may be that they agree but don't want to push you out. If you open the dialogue with the current school, perhaps they can provide guidance. I truly believe that while there is sometimes competition among schools, the schools do appreciate the special niches that each school seems to fill. That is one of the wonderful things about DC. We have so many amazing private schools that fill so many different niches. A big 3 would not feel slighted if you decided your child would fit in better at a niche school. And from a purely monetary standpoint, those schools have long waiting lists ready to fill in your child's spot.

Who the hell cares if the school feels slighted? What a weird comment.

Are you sure your child's only issue is that he's way smarter than everybody else? Because I'd have to think that Big 3 schools have a lot of experience with gifted kids -- you basically have to be gifted to get in. It sounds like he might have emotional issues as well. Has he had a psychological evaluation?

No, you don’t have to be gifted to get into a Big 3 school. You don’t even have to be bright if you’re a sibling. You sound totally ignorant and wacko.

Oh, I see. You just have to be rich then? I always thought the Big 3 had selective admissions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In Virginia, the "gifted" schools are Nysmith and Basis. They are completely different environments than more traditional prep schools (of which I attended so I am not trying to be offensive). They may be a better environment for your child or if they are not conveniently located, you could contact them and ask. Or even ask your current school for their thoughts. If you don't think the current school is a good fit, it may be that they agree but don't want to push you out. If you open the dialogue with the current school, perhaps they can provide guidance. I truly believe that while there is sometimes competition among schools, the schools do appreciate the special niches that each school seems to fill. That is one of the wonderful things about DC. We have so many amazing private schools that fill so many different niches. A big 3 would not feel slighted if you decided your child would fit in better at a niche school. And from a purely monetary standpoint, those schools have long waiting lists ready to fill in your child's spot.

Who the hell cares if the school feels slighted? What a weird comment.

Are you sure your child's only issue is that he's way smarter than everybody else? Because I'd have to think that Big 3 schools have a lot of experience with gifted kids -- you basically have to be gifted to get in. It sounds like he might have emotional issues as well. Has he had a psychological evaluation?

No, you don’t have to be gifted to get into a Big 3 school. You don’t even have to be bright if you’re a sibling. You sound totally ignorant and wacko.

Oh, I see. You just have to be rich then? I always thought the Big 3 had selective admissions.

They do. But it was never IQ>=130.

In MoCO, the only school I can think of that will allow for radical acceleration would be the Feynman school in Bethesda. The MoCo elementary GT program is for humanities. And he just missed testing this year if he is finishing up 3rd grade already. I don't think the AAP program will be advanced enough for him in math either.

[Anonymous]

OP - I have a college kid that is also insanely mathematically gifted. What worked for us was not worrying about the "boring" in LS and even MS. Indeed it taught him how to reach out and independently study. What is incredibly important are those social skills as he gets older. IMO work on that because that's tough. The reality is that no one makes real allowances for sensitivity as they age. He's fortunate that his natural academic talents provide the bandwidth to focus in on how to navigate the world around him. I think you said you're at a Big 3 - talk to the teachers there to see if they think he could use some extra help to manage his world. There are social interaction classes run by speech therapists that teach via modelling techniques in safe small group sessions.

[Anonymous]

US publics and privates are not like in Asia or EU. It will not be very academic, if anything 7th grade or 9th grade will hit an average kid like a ton of bricks the way the schools "suddenly" demand tons of work, high volume of content learning, and short/long term assignments. I have always hated that it is so back ended.

[Anonymous]

Many of us have what is considered a 'gifted' child.

Most schools are not great at targeting the 'gifted' child...rubber hits the road in middle school for those kids.

If you're lucky to live in an area with a school for gifted kids, go for it.

But do understand a school can only do so much---it's the parents who have to supplement learning.

Some parochial schools push kids to go at their own level--even if it's a few grades higher, as many 'gifted' kids are. So look into that.

Also, consider home schooling. Lots of people now do it and not for religious purposes.

[Anonymous]

Everyone thinks their kid is gifted. Just relax OP and let him be a little bored to learn patience and empathy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why must it be the latter only? I totally consider "a little more advanced work" to be differentiation, and at that age, going beyond that strikes me personally as unnecessary. But that's just my view. We have a gifted kid too, and are fine with not turning elementary school into an extremely academically-intense experience. There will be plenty of time for that in middle and high school.

I don’t think you understand what it’s like to have a child who is gifted, not just bright. Math is a joy for him, not “academically intense.” He wants to learn more, do more, explore everything that is possible. I can’t keep up with him and his dad who is mathematically gifted too can’t give him as much time as my son wants. We’re not pushing it. It’s what he wants because it’s fun.

My kid is years ahead in math and science too, thankyouverymuch, but you know what? Being gifted, bright, whatever-you-want-to-call-it in these subjects is only part of the overall school experience. It doesn't define who our child is, and we wouldn't want it to.

If your Big 3 is doing great at addressing everything but math, and in a way that's better than the potential alternatives, changing schools just to get a better math experience doesn't strike me as worth the trade-off. But again, that's just me.

[Anonymous]

Maret has math differentiation starting at least in 7th grade. By 7th, there are two math classes. By 9th, there are three -- regular, advanced, and accelerated. See page 26 of this curriculum guide. https://www.maret.org/uploaded/photos/4_Academics/2017-18/Mar_201718_Full_Curriculum_0824.pdf

I expect Sidwell, GDS, and Cathedral/STA, and some other privates, have similar differentiation.

[Anonymous]

The Big 3 may not require genius IQs, but surely they have a lot of experience with gifted kids. And I have to think that the OP's kid, while clearly very bright, can't be the brightest kid who ever roamed the halls at his school. So if the school is advising that the kid is immature and overreacting, etc., doesn't the OP have to think very hard about whether this may actually be the case?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems that schools like Sidwell, GDS, and STA don’t allow differentiation until 9th.

I have a hard time believing that this statement is 100 percent true.

I don't know about Sidwell or GDS, but STA does not offer any differentiation until 7th and that's just honors math and choosing your language. There is honors Spanish in 9th and honors chemistry in 10th. However, there are a lot of choices that junior and senior year.

[Anonymous]

I had one highly gifted kid and following worked well: regular
K-3
HHC
Sidwell 6-12

We also provided. Piano, violin sent him to Imagination Stage summer program and then their acting conservatory he also had a Chinese tutot starting at age 6 until he stared at Sidwell. Sidwell has a advanced math class in middle schoand allowed him to take a college math class after he finished their US math program. He was also a competitive swimmer. We made a conscious decision to invite friends oh his camping etc. He started K at 4 and had some social and control issues in primary school but he outgrew them.

[Anonymous]

Contact Loudoun School for the Gifted. They start later but have taken younger kids and could advise you.

[Anonymous]

I decided to homeschool until public magnet. Worked out very well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:By differentiation, I do not mean a little more advanced work. I mean a 4th grader be allowed to join in on an advanced algebra class.

Why must it be the latter only? I totally consider "a little more advanced work" to be differentiation, and at that age, going beyond that strikes me personally as unnecessary. But that's just my view. We have a gifted kid too, and are fine with not turning elementary school into an extremely academically-intense experience. There will be plenty of time for that in middle and high school.

+1

Algebra for my profoundly gifted 4th grader is just about the last thing I would do.