From HGC to non-magnet middle school - what's it been like for your child?

[Anonymous]

Not to mention, kids learn to write and analyze in the HGC in ways they do not at the home school. No comparison. These skills stay with them no matter where they go to MS and HS.

Agreed

[Anonymous]

Eastern also has a unique media class

[Anonymous]

holy cow - even if my child ends up back at home middle school I would not regret the choosing HGC one bit!!!

[Anonymous]

We look at our child's needs from year to year. Hgc was the right choice for 4th and 5th. No regrets.

[Anonymous]

Well I'll admit it gives me pause on sending my kid to the HGC. If MS is not challenging why work so hard in 4th and 5th. Why leave neighborhood friends and potentially make the MS social dynamic more awkward.

Thank you for all who have shared your experiences

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well I'll admit it gives me pause on sending my kid to the HGC. If MS is not challenging why work so hard in 4th and 5th. Why leave neighborhood friends and potentially make the MS social dynamic more awkward.

Thank you for all who have shared your experiences

So if they aren't going to be challenged in MS they should not be challenged in 4-5? Don't you want your child to improve his/her writing skills, critical thinking skills, etc.?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well I'll admit it gives me pause on sending my kid to the HGC. If MS is not challenging why work so hard in 4th and 5th. Why leave neighborhood friends and potentially make the MS social dynamic more awkward.

Thank you for all who have shared your experiences

Perhaps what's learned in HGC is what makes MS seem like a breeze. Still don't know why that's a bad thing. And in terms of social "awkwardness" -- my kid now knows twice as many kids going into MS. The home school friends and the HGC friends. I can't think of a single negative of going to HGC even if just for two years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are many kids out there that even the top W school is not academically rigorous enough. Some kids want to do more than coast. They want to stretch & grow. Hell, I wouldn't want to- but my kids did. They wanted to be with a peer group who were more serious about education. It's a commitment and one as parents we said was not easy for our family. I am no tiger parent and I live in a good school area, but still my kids wanted more.

+1.
We were fine with ds going to our home middle school which has a v.good rep. However, I am so happy he chose Eastern. The curriculum is at least a couple of years ahead of what he would be getting in an "Advanced" English class. In 7th grade, he has read books that are on MCPS high school English reading lists. The peer group is wonderful. These children are bright, love to learn, enjoy being challenged and are motivated to do well in school. They are also interesting, confident and support each other which means he is happy socially as well as academically. Are there children like this in other MCPS middle schools? Of course there are, but he is amidst a large peer group of 100. That makes a huge difference. In our home MS, there might have been a handful of similar kids in his advanced classes. I'm not sure what happens in other schools but in our highly regarded MS in the Western part of the county, nearly all the children take "Advanced" classes which means they end up not being advanced enough for the highest performing students. I am sure he would have received a good education if he had chosen to attend our home MS but he is now getting an excellent and most important, an education that is appropriate for his abilities and interests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well I'll admit it gives me pause on sending my kid to the HGC. If MS is not challenging why work so hard in 4th and 5th. Why leave neighborhood friends and potentially make the MS social dynamic more awkward.

Thank you for all who have shared your experiences

It seems that you have an instrumental vision of the HGC as somehow making things better for your kid in the future. Send him/her if it will make 4th and 5th grade better.

[Anonymous]

The other reason I decided to do HGC for my child (beyond the fact that my child desperately wanted to do HGC) is that from what I've heard it gives these exceptionally bright children time management and project management skills they don't get elsewhere. My kid is scattered. I was the same way. If I had been taught those skills early, I think it would have made a big difference for me later on. Also, my kid was already starting to coast at the beginning of 3rd grade and believe that he was all that and a bag of chips. He needs to be challenged by his peers and realize that he's going to have to work for it. I am hopeful that after 2 years he'll want to go to TPMS because I think that offers a better education and he will have peers that go there as well - and this is even though we go to a W HS, but it will be up to him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The other reason I decided to do HGC for my child (beyond the fact that my child desperately wanted to do HGC) is that from what I've heard it gives these exceptionally bright children time management and project management skills they don't get elsewhere. My kid is scattered. I was the same way. If I had been taught those skills early, I think it would have made a big difference for me later on. Also, my kid was already starting to coast at the beginning of 3rd grade and believe that he was all that and a bag of chips. He needs to be challenged by his peers and realize that he's going to have to work for it. I am hopeful that after 2 years he'll want to go to TPMS because I think that offers a better education and he will have peers that go there as well - and this is even though we go to a W HS, but it will be up to him.

In my experience this is 100% true. My son is the quintessential absent-minded professor, but he really pulled it together during his time in the HGC. It has served him well in middle school (TPMS).

[Anonymous]

I agree. The 2 years in HGC was transforming experience. Worth it to go through it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The other reason I decided to do HGC for my child (beyond the fact that my child desperately wanted to do HGC) is that from what I've heard it gives these exceptionally bright children time management and project management skills they don't get elsewhere. My kid is scattered. I was the same way. If I had been taught those skills early, I think it would have made a big difference for me later on. Also, my kid was already starting to coast at the beginning of 3rd grade and believe that he was all that and a bag of chips. He needs to be challenged by his peers and realize that he's going to have to work for it. I am hopeful that after 2 years he'll want to go to TPMS because I think that offers a better education and he will have peers that go there as well - and this is even though we go to a W HS, but it will be up to him.

In my experience this is 100% true. My son is the quintessential absent-minded professor, but he really pulled it together during his time in the HGC. It has served him well in middle school (TPMS).

Totally, totally true. Our kid made huge strides in this regard. Still more work to do, but two more years of coasting in the home ES would have spelled utter disaster for MS and HS. Like the PP above, I wish I'd had an opportunity like this to learn these key skills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The other reason I decided to do HGC for my child (beyond the fact that my child desperately wanted to do HGC) is that from what I've heard it gives these exceptionally bright children time management and project management skills they don't get elsewhere. My kid is scattered. I was the same way. If I had been taught those skills early, I think it would have made a big difference for me later on. Also, my kid was already starting to coast at the beginning of 3rd grade and believe that he was all that and a bag of chips. He needs to be challenged by his peers and realize that he's going to have to work for it. I am hopeful that after 2 years he'll want to go to TPMS because I think that offers a better education and he will have peers that go there as well - and this is even though we go to a W HS, but it will be up to him.

In my experience this is 100% true. My son is the quintessential absent-minded professor, but he really pulled it together during his time in the HGC. It has served him well in middle school (TPMS).

Totally, totally true. Our kid made huge strides in this regard. Still more work to do, but two more years of coasting in the home ES would have spelled utter disaster for MS and HS. Like the PP above, I wish I'd had an opportunity like this to learn these key skills.

My DC is going to HGC next fall. I am so looking forward to this aspect of it, if nothing else, but I know there are other advantages to HGC.

[Anonymous]

Same here. My son went from hating writing to whipping out all kinds of work without complaint. He went from putting little effort into school to actually saying "I want to do well on this." He knows what it means to plan ahead even if he's not so great at it yet. So grateful for the past year. He has learned so much. If he missed his friends he never mentioned it. We saw them socially after school and on weekends. It was a non-issue for my very social child.