Start prepping ... NOW

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The specific area of concern is test prepping. Where kids essentially learn how to take the single test. For example, give a kid the same test three times, and a smart kid will do better the third time.

Test prepping has become the norm among certain segments of our community.

[Anonymous]

I know individuals who prepped for their State driver's license exam by reading the materials more than once. Blasphemy indeed .l.. all this prep. My surgeon even admitted his team prepared assiduously for weeks before scheduling the delicate operation on my nephew. Blasphemy all this prep. It's not fair ... even drivers, pilots and surgeons are cheating bigtime. What an unethical practice--preparation. Louis Pasteur must have been a cheating Starbucks sipping simpleton for the statement: chance favors the prepped mind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
The specific area of concern is test prepping. Where kids essentially learn how to take the single test. For example, give a kid the same test three times, and a smart kid will do better the third time.

For example, are you suggesting that kids only take the admission entrance SAT once when they apply to College? How many times do you recommend? Will you ban 6th, 7th, and 8th graders around the country that take the ACT and SAT exams for CTY, NUMATS and DUKE TIP talent search and then again in 11th and 12th gerades when they apply to college? Some of these kids have taken the exam between 3 and 6 times before it counts for the IVY college sweepstakes. What's you view on this. Ban talent searches? Police the number of times a child takes the SAT or ACT between 4th and 12th grades?

No... I am just stating a fact.

What's your concern? Nothing wrong with high performing drivers, pilots, surgeons or students in my humble opinion. Prep on! Do you have a problem with preparation?

[Anonymous]

What's your concern? Nothing wrong with high performing drivers, pilots, surgeons or students in my humble opinion. Prep on! Do you have a problem with preparation?

Preparation is uplifting for all. It is not the student's fault that HYP or Big 3 use tests for admission or private payers use the surgeons clinical outcomes for reimbursement, or the pilot's flying record for licensure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The specific area of concern is test prepping. Where kids essentially learn how to take the single test. For example, give a kid the same test three times, and a smart kid will do better the third time.

For example, are you suggesting that kids only take the admission entrance SAT once when they apply to College? How many times do you recommend? Will you ban 6th, 7th, and 8th graders around the country that take the ACT and SAT exams for CTY, NUMATS and DUKE TIP talent search and then again in 11th and 12th gerades when they apply to college? Some of these kids have taken the exam between 3 and 6 times before it counts for the IVY college sweepstakes. What's you view on this. Ban talent searches? Police the number of times a child takes the SAT or ACT between 4th and 12th grades?

No... I am just stating a fact.

What's your concern? Nothing wrong with high performing drivers, pilots, surgeons or students in my humble opinion. Prep on! Do you have a problem with preparation?

The problem is multifaceted. First, we are talking about 5 and 6 year olds. Second, the tests are an attempt to measure raw intellect, not ability to study. If you want to measure ability to study, fine, but do not treat it like an intelligence test. The NNAT and CogAT are scored assuming no prep. What happens is the metric becomes meaningless.

[Anonymous]

I am not the fool trying to measure raw intelligence. What the hell is raw intelligence? How can you do this? Would our children be placed in a bubble (without any form of academic, intellectual or creative stimulation) for 5 to 6 years to get a raw baseline of "raw intelligence"? Sounds like no one here knows what they are talking about when it comes to designing a valid instrument for raw intelligence. Go ahead and prep and let fools be fools.

[Anonymous]

Prepping a child for a particular test will help the child to get a higher score on the test.
Prepping for a test will not change the child's underlying intelligence.

[Anonymous]

Not prepping for a test may result in your kid feeling nervous, feeling anxious, or exhibit other "bad test taker" traits, which can result in the child not being able to fully or accurately demonstrate the level of their intelligence.

[Anonymous]

I agree that explaining or preparing a child to be ready for the test is a good idea. I don't mean teaching them things that will be on the test, I mean preparing them. I practiced taking a test with my DC before the nnat. It wasn't on that material, just some workbook pages, but we talked about skipping a question, not getting stuck in one place and never leaving an answer blank. DC got a score on nnat which is just where i thought she would be.

[Anonymous]

Gifted children do not need to be prepped. I admire that so many parents are supporting the gifted children they probably do not have.

[Anonymous]

The thing about prepping, is prepping to take a test only helps for that test. I would rather have my child enriched, learning things that will help her grow intellectually. Sure, some of the things she learns, the thinking techniques, might help her on the test, but the problem solving techniques will help her thoughout life. How do I prep her? Get her to think about how thing s work, why things happen. Ask the right questions.

In contrast, there is the cramming type of prep. As an example, in 1984 I was taking an art appreciation class in college. I was not doing well in it, as it was mostly memorizing and I do better at problem solving. The night before the test, I memorized a lot of material in the text book, particularly that which the professor covered in class. I stayed up all night on it. Thanks to the effort, I passed the class (aced the test). But, by the next day, I had forgotten everything. There was no long term benefit from that. Was it worth it? well I passed, which was my goal, so yes.

If you have to prep, prep by enrichment.

[Anonymous]

Yes, you are so right about "prep[ing] by enrichment." Unfortunately, that is not what most parents mean when they inquire about where to find test prep materials. Enrichment will enhance any child's life no matter how smart s/he is. Prepping for a test will simply enable a child to do better on tests but will have no effect on that child's true level of intelligence.

[Anonymous]

If you have to prep, prep by enrichment.

Eureka. You finally got it. Prepping by enrichment ...reading , writing and problem solving is the sine qua non of prepping (This is bigtime test prepping -- year round). It prepares for all tests (e.g., WPSSI, AAP, SSAT, ERB, SAT, ACT). We all get it. It's the dcummies here who think their kids are smart and gifted and don't prep for tests. These idiots do not fully understand what prepping means. They do not understand what raw intelligence is? And they do not know how to measure it and what instrument to use? Of course, these after school tutoring and summer enrichment camp families prep their kids. They have been prepping their kids since birth. Then somehow, by deft of nuance, these liars claim they never prep their kids. Crap. Now, tell me how you measure raw intelligence ... if raw intelligence is not a manifestation of life long enrichment preparation (reading, writing and problem solving)? Do you tell families to stop prepping and enriching in order to level the playing field? Get over it, with all this prepping and enriching in NOVA, how on earth do you separate raw intelligence from achievement and learned behaviour? The SAT tried to claim their aptitude test was an "aptitude" test measuring raw intelligence in the 1970s. They have given up that claim as their money making machine was gamed by studious prepping and increasing their scores by hundreds of points. You must think the rest of us are stupid if prepping only means you have to take a registered Princeton Review course, or some other "certified" course for AAP. Use your heads and think critically.

Kids go on an prep. Prep for life. Prep continuously or just around test time. Some of your parents think there is a distinction and prepping around test time is cheating but prepping year round makes you smart and gifted. Of course, prepping year round is more enduring (as will be your scores).

Upwardly mobile NOVA parents continue to delude yourselves your kids do not prep for tests (...they just simply prep year round so they can't be cheating)?

[Anonymous]

Yes, you are so right about "prep[ing] by enrichment." Unfortunately, that is not what most parents mean when they inquire about where to find test prep materials. Enrichment will enhance any child's life no matter how smart s/he is. Prepping for a test will simply enable a child to do better on tests but will have no effect on that child's true level of intelligence.

I guess there is no such thing as raw intelligence since "level" of intelligence is a reflection of prepping for enrichment. Sounds like raw intelligence is an achievement test based on exposure, past experiences and what one has learned.

Raw intelligence is then the score you get on test day?

Kids go on and prep. You'll be better off. I'll take it anyway you can do it ...continuous or intermittent. Of course, like exercise continuous is better. But exercise or prep when you can. It's better than doing nothing in my opinion.

[Anonymous]

Gifted children do not need to be prepped. I admire that so many parents are supporting the gifted children they probably do not have.

Explains perfectly why most of the epidemic of gifted 5 and 6 year-olds around here are no longer gifted in high school and college.