HGC crowd is downright frightening!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How silly. I was a gifted kid in a school system with effectively no program. Yes, school was a little boring (up to and including my top college). Yes, I did a lot of independent reading. Which, incidentally, is great training for being a grown up. No one needs some personally-tailored super challenging middle school experience.

No one NEEDS it, but it might nonetheless be nice to have it.

The real problem is this: public elementary school doesn't provide an adequate foundation for success.

Private schools introduce foreign language in K.

Private schools teach vocabulary and grammar. (I was diagramming sentences in 4th grade.)

Private schools foster structure and discipline, and students are well equipped for HS and college thanks to the traditional approach to education.

I could go on and on.

I've been wondering about this lately, about what seems to be a lack of spelling and grammar being taught. When or at what point are things like subject/verb agreement, vocabulary, spelling, etc taught? Lots of math worksheets, but I've never seen a language arts worksheet.

They aren't actually taught.

While the teacher scrambles to rotate four groups during the reading block, kids rotate through other "centers" which is mcps speak for "working independently on a grammar worksheet that typically isn't graded.

You need to teach grammar at home.

Amazing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Are they 2.0 guinea pigs?

Didn't think so.

80% of sixth graders at our school made honor roll--with most earning straight As.

That's 2.0.

These guinea pigs are going to struggle in HS and college. Just watch.

Actually this was happening before Curriculum 2.0 too, but please don't let facts stand in your way.

[Anonymous]

You however don't have to be bright to get into most privates, you just need to be able to pay the $

[Anonymous]

Whatever, OP.

My kids went to magnet schools because our home schools seriously suck. I looked into private schools as well, and found them seriously lacking for the amount of money we were going to spend on them.

So, my kids go to magnet. The lack of more seats in the magnet programs can stress parents out. For me the stress comes from knowing that I have no clue how to home-school my children.

My kids do not feel the angst that I do. They could care less.

I did not stress for HGC, because out of all three magnets (HGC, magnet MS, and magnet HS) - HGC is easiest to get into, and the kids are relatively less aware about it in school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How silly. I was a gifted kid in a school system with effectively no program. Yes, school was a little boring (up to and including my top college). Yes, I did a lot of independent reading. Which, incidentally, is great training for being a grown up. No one needs some personally-tailored super challenging middle school experience.

No one NEEDS it, but it might nonetheless be nice to have it.

The real problem is this: public elementary school doesn't provide an adequate foundation for success.

Private schools introduce foreign language in K.

Private schools teach vocabulary and grammar. (I was diagramming sentences in 4th grade.)

Private schools foster structure and discipline, and students are well equipped for HS and college thanks to the traditional approach to education.

I could go on and on.

Well, that's cool that you were diagramming sentences in 4th grade. I was, too, in public school in the 1970s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How silly. I was a gifted kid in a school system with effectively no program. Yes, school was a little boring (up to and including my top college). Yes, I did a lot of independent reading. Which, incidentally, is great training for being a grown up. No one needs some personally-tailored super challenging middle school experience.

No one NEEDS it, but it might nonetheless be nice to have it.

The real problem is this: public elementary school doesn't provide an adequate foundation for success.

Private schools introduce foreign language in K.

Private schools teach vocabulary and grammar. (I was diagramming sentences in 4th grade.)

Private schools foster structure and discipline, and students are well equipped for HS and college thanks to the traditional approach to education.

I could go on and on.

Well, that's cool that you were diagramming sentences in 4th grade. I was, too, in public school in the 1970s.

Cool story, bro.

Private schools still teach vocabulary and grammar...today...and they even provide textbooks.

That hasn't happened in mcps in the last decade or two. But, whatever.

[Anonymous]

Hey, bro, diagramming sentences isn't something that was only the product of going to private school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hey, bro, diagramming sentences isn't something that was only the product of going to private school.

I'm talking about mcps today...now...understand? It's not happening now, is it? Nope.

[Anonymous]

I honestly can't remember if I diagrammed sentences or not. Graduated from HS in the mid-aughts. What's this like super important sentence diagramming skill used for? Being smart and having access to information is really all a driven kid needs. With a parent to help guide them a bit, they'll get on fine. And they'll also figure out the parts of speech one way or another.

[Anonymous]

I think a lot of you are missing something important. Its not just about being bored, its about having peers.

As the mother of a gifted and kind of nerdy girl, I want her to have a peer group where she can feel free to express herself which she DOES not in her home school.

She doesn't like being the one always raising her hand, or always finishing her worksheets first, or finding the reading assignment painfully easy. It's about feeling disconnected and like an outsider always and "hiding your light beneath a bushel."

Having said that, yes, kids are resilient and can survive this, but I just wanted to say it's not solely about being bored.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I honestly can't remember if I diagrammed sentences or not. Graduated from HS in the mid-aughts. What's this like super important sentence diagramming skill used for? Being smart and having access to information is really all a driven kid needs. With a parent to help guide them a bit, they'll get on fine. And they'll also figure out the parts of speech one way or another.

It's in direct response to a pp who asked about how mcps currently teaches grammar. And the answer is: they do not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of you are missing something important. Its not just about being bored, its about having peers.

As the mother of a gifted and kind of nerdy girl, I want her to have a peer group where she can feel free to express herself which she DOES not in her home school.

She doesn't like being the one always raising her hand, or always finishing her worksheets first, or finding the reading assignment painfully easy. It's about feeling disconnected and like an outsider always and "hiding your light beneath a bushel."

Having said that, yes, kids are resilient and can survive this, but I just wanted to say it's not solely about being bored.

What about the slow kids?

Or the kids with gender identity issues?

Or on the spectrum?

Or with brown skin in a predominantly white school or vice versa?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of you are missing something important. Its not just about being bored, its about having peers.

As the mother of a gifted and kind of nerdy girl, I want her to have a peer group where she can feel free to express herself which she DOES not in her home school.

She doesn't like being the one always raising her hand, or always finishing her worksheets first, or finding the reading assignment painfully easy. It's about feeling disconnected and like an outsider always and "hiding your light beneath a bushel."

Having said that, yes, kids are resilient and can survive this, but I just wanted to say it's not solely about being bored.

What about the slow kids?

Or the kids with gender identity issues?

Or on the spectrum?

Or with brown skin in a predominantly white school or vice versa?

Well, that's my point. We have empathy/programs/aides etc. for a lot of the kids you mentioned, but when it comes to gifted kids the attitude is they are just spoiled snowflakes who don't know how to entertain themselves.

I know my daughter would love to meet other girls as serious about learning as she is. She has lots of friends, but I know she feels isolated sometimes and out of it when she'd rather do logic games, or math problems than play.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of you are missing something important. Its not just about being bored, its about having peers.

As the mother of a gifted and kind of nerdy girl, I want her to have a peer group where she can feel free to express herself which she DOES not in her home school.

She doesn't like being the one always raising her hand, or always finishing her worksheets first, or finding the reading assignment painfully easy. It's about feeling disconnected and like an outsider always and "hiding your light beneath a bushel."

Having said that, yes, kids are resilient and can survive this, but I just wanted to say it's not solely about being bored.

What about the slow kids?

Or the kids with gender identity issues?

Or on the spectrum?

Or with brown skin in a predominantly white school or vice versa?

Well, that's my point. We have empathy/programs/aides etc. for a lot of the kids you mentioned, but when it comes to gifted kids the attitude is they are just spoiled snowflakes who don't know how to entertain themselves.

I know my daughter would love to meet other girls as serious about learning as she is. She has lots of friends, but I know she feels isolated sometimes and out of it when she'd rather do logic games, or math problems than play.

So, you're a navel gazer? We just need programs for the bright kids?

Sigh. Why not simply have schools that are equipped to meet the needs of all students? Kids should not be segregated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of you are missing something important. Its not just about being bored, its about having peers.

As the mother of a gifted and kind of nerdy girl, I want her to have a peer group where she can feel free to express herself which she DOES not in her home school.

She doesn't like being the one always raising her hand, or always finishing her worksheets first, or finding the reading assignment painfully easy. It's about feeling disconnected and like an outsider always and "hiding your light beneath a bushel."

Having said that, yes, kids are resilient and can survive this, but I just wanted to say it's not solely about being bored.

What about the slow kids?

Or the kids with gender identity issues?

Or on the spectrum?

Or with brown skin in a predominantly white school or vice versa?

Well, that's my point. We have empathy/programs/aides etc. for a lot of the kids you mentioned, but when it comes to gifted kids the attitude is they are just spoiled snowflakes who don't know how to entertain themselves.

I know my daughter would love to meet other girls as serious about learning as she is. She has lots of friends, but I know she feels isolated sometimes and out of it when she'd rather do logic games, or math problems than play.

So, you're a navel gazer? We just need programs for the bright kids?

Sigh. Why not simply have schools that are equipped to meet the needs of all students? Kids should not be segregated.

What? A navel gazer? How did you get that? Or are you purposely misunderstanding my point?

And how did you come up with we "just need programs for the bright kids?" That's a straw man.

I have tremendous empathy for all children who face challenges. As for being "segregated" -- by race and gender, hell no. By ability, why not? Why is it so offensive to you that the math whizzes are with the other math whizzes? Are you equally enraged when the best runners make varsity track and the best singers/actors are cast as the leads in show?

Why the anti-intellectualism? I have my theories, but I'd love to hear what you have to say.

As for the idea to "simply have schools that are equipped to meet the needs of all student" -- I say yes. When I was growing up we had gifted and talented classes in our elementary school. I'm not sure why that's not done here.