TJ Test

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The thing anout those who prep starting in young grades (not just the summer begore 8th grade) that is so unnerving to me is that their parents must be deciding that TJ is who they must be (as opposed to the kids themselves saying "I think I'd be interested in a challenging school like TJ."

It seems to dismiss the kid's individuality in the equation of his or her life. As my kids are in upper elem and ms, I am realing how much they are their own persons....not mini-me. Hot-housing kids treats kids as though they are simply vessels for the parents' goals. This makes me sad for those who are "successful" at the task of getting into TJ after years of prepping.

Some kids fare better with closer guidance while others do better with less. There is no reason to judge these parents that want the best for their kids. Life will fix whatever is not working.

[Anonymous]

I'm going to judge parents who are so fixated on getting their kids into TJ that they put them in prep schools from 3rd/4th grade. Yes. I am judging them for being single-mindedly fixated on molding their kids into admissions robots for TJ. There are many avenues of success. Not every kid is STEM-crazy and it doesn't matter how much you want your kid to be STEM-crazy. Years of prepping says "I am going to make you into a STEM-bot no matter what!" That is sad.

[Anonymous]

And saying TJ is the best for their child in third grade is just wrong. TJ is not the best for everyone. Imagine the message that poor kid is hearing. He needs to get into TJ. If he doesn’t, the school he goes to isn't good. Or even worse - he isn’t good. By prepping them for so long, you are saying only TJ is acceptable. Awful message for a kid to hear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And saying TJ is the best for their child in third grade is just wrong. TJ is not the best for everyone. Imagine the message that poor kid is hearing. He needs to get into TJ. If he doesn’t, the school he goes to isn't good. Or even worse - he isn’t good. By prepping them for so long, you are saying only TJ is acceptable. Awful message for a kid to hear.

And the message that if the kid doesn't get in, he (or she) has wasted all the parents' time/money spent on prep classes through the years. The kids who don't get in know that they failed to meet their parents' goals. TJ should be a kid's goal if they are going to apply. They can't possibly know that in 3rd grade.

[Anonymous]

I know of several 6 graders in DC's class that have private math tutors to teach them geometry and probability. They are already done with Algebra 1. DC is bright, but we do not supplement. Frankly DC looks so slow/bad in front of these kids. I don't think these kids are any smarter/brighter than DC, but because of their parents' decision to supplement their math, they made DC feel inferior.

[Anonymous]

Can this thread please not turn into general bashing of groups or prepping and be limited to the TJ test itself. There are unlimited other threads where these exact sentiments are already expressed.

[Anonymous]

Anyone know when the TJ make up test is for kids who were sick that day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone know when the TJ make up test is for kids who were sick that day.

l

“sick”?

It isn’t poste. In May take them a minute, because I know or a fact they give kids who were “sick” a different test. I have heard that they also mark it as a kid who missed initial testing, and discount very high scores, because cheating culture surrounding TJ. But that is just a rumor. The different test is nit n

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone know when the TJ make up test is for kids who were sick that day.

l

“sick”?

It isn’t poste. In May take them a minute, because I know or a fact they give kids who were “sick” a different test. I have heard that they also mark it as a kid who missed initial testing, and discount very high scores, because cheating culture surrounding TJ. But that is just a rumor. The different test is nit n

You must be the dung beetle that was eavesdropping at TJ when they discussed this topic and made this decision..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thing anout those who prep starting in young grades (not just the summer begore 8th grade) that is so unnerving to me is that their parents must be deciding that TJ is who they must be (as opposed to the kids themselves saying "I think I'd be interested in a challenging school like TJ."

It seems to dismiss the kid's individuality in the equation of his or her life. As my kids are in upper elem and ms, I am realing how much they are their own persons....not mini-me. Hot-housing kids treats kids as though they are simply vessels for the parents' goals. This makes me sad for those who are "successful" at the task of getting into TJ after years of prepping.

Some kids fare better with closer guidance while others do better with less. There is no reason to judge these parents that want the best for their kids. Life will fix whatever is not working.

I thought the same way too (i.e prepping is bad, let the kid decide, etc). My DC is at TJ but it appears that the kids who prepped have some advantages.. The prepping puts them ahead academically by about a semester. It also gives them good study habits and they are able to hit the ground running. Not so for my DC and a few friends. They are like someone from Little Rock, AK going to Harvard. Not liking the hard work.

[Anonymous]

My kid didn’t prep, has straight As, isn’t behind at all....but hates the kids who constantly badger him about grades. MYOB. Drives him nuts.

[Anonymous]

Friend's kid is in a prep class and as soon as the test was over all the parents received an email congratulating their kids on working hard and taking the test but also asking them to ask the kids to share what was on the test (perhaps not those direct words)...

[Anonymous]

DS said he did well, but math & science part has nothing to do with the prep class he took before, he didn't think the prep class helped him any, but, the competition math club did help him on math abilities.

He requested NO more prep class for his younger brothers, waste time and money

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Friend's kid is in a prep class and as soon as the test was over all the parents received an email congratulating their kids on working hard and taking the test but also asking them to ask the kids to share what was on the test (perhaps not those direct words)...

Is this true? If so, that is so wrong- and teaches the kids a very poor message about ethics.

My child at TJ has said that other kids there have told him that their tutoring centers ask them to memorize questions from regular TJ subject tests so the center can use them to prep kids for their regular classroom tests.

[Anonymous]

The kids should start charging the prep centers $50 per question memorized! At least they should get something back for being the prep centers' spies.