HGC and which kids should apply

[Anonymous]

I am reading all of the threads about HGC and have a question. I am a Kindergarten mom so I know I have a few years before this is even an option. But my question is, what made you decide to apply for HGC? Is it something that the school encourages certain students to apply for or do parents take it upon themselves to apply if it is interesting to them? Just wondering how you knew that HGC might be an appropriate avenue for your child. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I had my child take the test only because I thought it would be good to have another data point about his progress -to also know if I should be supplementing more outside of school. He's always been a very good student. I didn't have an intention of sending him since we like our home school. Well, he got in and now I'm completely confused...

[Anonymous]

Way too early to be thinking about this but at our school a huge number of kids apply and the teachers don't encourage or discourage anyone as far as I can tell. There are a lot of bright kids and it can be random who gets in. W cluster elementary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am reading all of the threads about HGC and have a question. I am a Kindergarten mom so I know I have a few years before this is even an option. But my question is, what made you decide to apply for HGC? Is it something that the school encourages certain students to apply for or do parents take it upon themselves to apply if it is interesting to them? Just wondering how you knew that HGC might be an appropriate avenue for your child. Thanks!

If your kid does not mind testing, apply. It doesn't hurt to get the test results.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am reading all of the threads about HGC and have a question. I am a Kindergarten mom so I know I have a few years before this is even an option. But my question is, what made you decide to apply for HGC? Is it something that the school encourages certain students to apply for or do parents take it upon themselves to apply if it is interesting to them? Just wondering how you knew that HGC might be an appropriate avenue for your child. Thanks!

1. Not really few years. If your kid is a K student now, then there is just first grade left and they are tested in the middle of the second grade
so you are technically more less 1 and a bit year away from the major assessment that will impact his eligibility.

2. You will know. If your kid will be constantly complaining that he she is bored with the material and the teacher constantly is giving him her
additional work to do because all other kids are still struggling with the first worksheet and your kid is on the tenth and asking for the next one
just to kill the time to the recess... Basically Highly Gifted children are above and beyond the grade level. It is like having a third grader
In the first grade pretty much. So watch for the signs. A child has wider, deeper thinking, analytical skills, all and more well beyond the grade level
those kids are in most cases the candidates for Gifted Centers.

The reasons you want to send your child to Gifted program is to provide him her appropriate instructions that are adequate to their capabilities
and needs. Look at that as if you have a third grader who will fit perfectly well with bunch of kids who are just like him in the Gifted Center
as opposed to getting to the third grade and being ridiculed by peers for being a geek, nerd etc. and starting dumbing down to "fit in".

I would not struggle with trying to stretch your kid to "fit in" into Gifted Program at all cost because just as the gifted kid struggles in non-gifted
class environment, the opposite is true to non gifted kids who by some chance end up in Gifted Center. They struggle in different way,
being that kid that does not fit in. You can do more damage to a kid to push him where he will be struggled and be the bottom of the class student
as opposed to keeping up with peers at regular school and being in the top of the class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am reading all of the threads about HGC and have a question. I am a Kindergarten mom so I know I have a few years before this is even an option. But my question is, what made you decide to apply for HGC? Is it something that the school encourages certain students to apply for or do parents take it upon themselves to apply if it is interesting to them? Just wondering how you knew that HGC might be an appropriate avenue for your child. Thanks!

If your kid does not mind testing, apply. It doesn't hurt to get the test results.

+1. Just apply. 6,000 some kids applied this year. Do you really believe they were all gifted?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am reading all of the threads about HGC and have a question. I am a Kindergarten mom so I know I have a few years before this is even an option. But my question is, what made you decide to apply for HGC? Is it something that the school encourages certain students to apply for or do parents take it upon themselves to apply if it is interesting to them? Just wondering how you knew that HGC might be an appropriate avenue for your child. Thanks!

1. Not really few years. If your kid is a K student now, then there is just first grade left and they are tested in the middle of the second grade
so you are technically more less 1 and a bit year away from the major assessment that will impact his eligibility.

2. You will know. If your kid will be constantly complaining that he she is bored with the material and the teacher constantly is giving him her
additional work to do because all other kids are still struggling with the first worksheet and your kid is on the tenth and asking for the next one
just to kill the time to the recess... Basically Highly Gifted children are above and beyond the grade level. It is like having a third grader
In the first grade pretty much. So watch for the signs. A child has wider, deeper thinking, analytical skills, all and more well beyond the grade level
those kids are in most cases the candidates for Gifted Centers.

The reasons you want to send your child to Gifted program is to provide him her appropriate instructions that are adequate to their capabilities
and needs. Look at that as if you have a third grader who will fit perfectly well with bunch of kids who are just like him in the Gifted Center
as opposed to getting to the third grade and being ridiculed by peers for being a geek, nerd etc. and starting dumbing down to "fit in".

I would not struggle with trying to stretch your kid to "fit in" into Gifted Program at all cost because just as the gifted kid struggles in non-gifted
class environment, the opposite is true to non gifted kids who by some chance end up in Gifted Center. They struggle in different way,
being that kid that does not fit in. You can do more damage to a kid to push him where he will be struggled and be the bottom of the class student
as opposed to keeping up with peers at regular school and being in the top of the class.

How does one by some chance end up in the Gifted Center? I ask this with seriousness as I am questioning if my child was "chanced" into the center as well. His SAS was good but not in the 140's, his report card grades are all P's, his reading group is at level R (there must be a limit as it appears many of the kids in his reading group could easily go higher), and a very good MAP-R score. I am sure he had decent recommendation from his second grade teacher, but his 3rd grade teacher seems lukewarm towards his abilities.

[Anonymous]

1. Not really few years. If your kid is a K student now, then there is just first grade left and they are tested in the middle of the second grade
so you are technically more less 1 and a bit year away from the major assessment that will impact his eligibility.

..No the tests in second grade are not related to the HGC. Only the 3rd grade tests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am reading all of the threads about HGC and have a question. I am a Kindergarten mom so I know I have a few years before this is even an option. But my question is, what made you decide to apply for HGC? Is it something that the school encourages certain students to apply for or do parents take it upon themselves to apply if it is interesting to them? Just wondering how you knew that HGC might be an appropriate avenue for your child. Thanks!

1. Not really few years. If your kid is a K student now, then there is just first grade left and they are tested in the middle of the second grade
so you are technically more less 1 and a bit year away from the major assessment that will impact his eligibility.

2. You will know. If your kid will be constantly complaining that he she is bored with the material and the teacher constantly is giving him her
additional work to do because all other kids are still struggling with the first worksheet and your kid is on the tenth and asking for the next one
just to kill the time to the recess... Basically Highly Gifted children are above and beyond the grade level. It is like having a third grader
In the first grade pretty much. So watch for the signs. A child has wider, deeper thinking, analytical skills, all and more well beyond the grade level
those kids are in most cases the candidates for Gifted Centers.

The reasons you want to send your child to Gifted program is to provide him her appropriate instructions that are adequate to their capabilities
and needs. Look at that as if you have a third grader who will fit perfectly well with bunch of kids who are just like him in the Gifted Center
as opposed to getting to the third grade and being ridiculed by peers for being a geek, nerd etc. and starting dumbing down to "fit in".

I would not struggle with trying to stretch your kid to "fit in" into Gifted Program at all cost because just as the gifted kid struggles in non-gifted
class environment, the opposite is true to non gifted kids who by some chance end up in Gifted Center. They struggle in different way,
being that kid that does not fit in. You can do more damage to a kid to push him where he will be struggled and be the bottom of the class student
as opposed to keeping up with peers at regular school and being in the top of the class.

It sounds like your child had a bad experience being ridiculed because he or she is smart, and it sounds like you're at a lower-performing school. You are pretty condescending by the way.
There are a lot of kids way beyond grade level at our school and most of them are able to entertain themselves without a teacher handing them tons of extra worksheets and perfectly happy. I would say at least half of the kids would be considered super gifted in any regular school in America and would do fantastically at an HGC. At our school it's kind of dumb luck who makes it to the HGC. There may be 1 kid every few years who is profoundly gifted but highly gifted kids are a dime a dozen at our school.

[Anonymous]

EVERY child is bored at MCPS. That is not a giveaway on who should take the test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am reading all of the threads about HGC and have a question. I am a Kindergarten mom so I know I have a few years before this is even an option. But my question is, what made you decide to apply for HGC? Is it something that the school encourages certain students to apply for or do parents take it upon themselves to apply if it is interesting to them? Just wondering how you knew that HGC might be an appropriate avenue for your child. Thanks!

1. Not really few years. If your kid is a K student now, then there is just first grade left and they are tested in the middle of the second grade
so you are technically more less 1 and a bit year away from the major assessment that will impact his eligibility.

2. You will know. If your kid will be constantly complaining that he she is bored with the material and the teacher constantly is giving him her
additional work to do because all other kids are still struggling with the first worksheet and your kid is on the tenth and asking for the next one
just to kill the time to the recess... Basically Highly Gifted children are above and beyond the grade level. It is like having a third grader
In the first grade pretty much. So watch for the signs. A child has wider, deeper thinking, analytical skills, all and more well beyond the grade level
those kids are in most cases the candidates for Gifted Centers.

The reasons you want to send your child to Gifted program is to provide him her appropriate instructions that are adequate to their capabilities
and needs. Look at that as if you have a third grader who will fit perfectly well with bunch of kids who are just like him in the Gifted Center
as opposed to getting to the third grade and being ridiculed by peers for being a geek, nerd etc. and starting dumbing down to "fit in".

I would not struggle with trying to stretch your kid to "fit in" into Gifted Program at all cost because just as the gifted kid struggles in non-gifted
class environment, the opposite is true to non gifted kids who by some chance end up in Gifted Center. They struggle in different way,
being that kid that does not fit in. You can do more damage to a kid to push him where he will be struggled and be the bottom of the class student
as opposed to keeping up with peers at regular school and being in the top of the class.

How does one by some chance end up in the Gifted Center? I ask this with seriousness as I am questioning if my child was "chanced" into the center as well. His SAS was good but not in the 140's, his report card grades are all P's, his reading group is at level R (there must be a limit as it appears many of the kids in his reading group could easily go higher), and a very good MAP-R score. I am sure he had decent recommendation from his second grade teacher, but his 3rd grade teacher seems lukewarm towards his abilities.

No idea precisely how but to guess - perhaps the parents were test prepping them and they got super high test scores
that did not reflect their actual abilities but only test taking skills that are pretty much useless for success at the Center.
Other possibility is that if there is a give amount of spots in the gifted center and they run out of kids on top tier of the " exceptionally gifted and talented spectrum" (since there are many levels of giftedness)
then they take the next highest scoring kids from the list right below Exceptionally Gifted.. ? Just maybe? No idea..
Or, maybe some kids just dumb down while at the center because they do not want to go to the next level.
They just want to go back to their old school and be with their old friends. Some kids drop off right in the first
weeks of the fourth grade at GTC for that very reason. It can be the wrong fit academically or it can be just
the too much of a transition at this age. This is serious change for a child. Not every kid can handle this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:EVERY child is bored at MCPS. That is not a giveaway on who should take the test.

no no no.. not like that.
That is a given. Every self respected child is bored at any school around the world. That is a given.
I am just talking about "shredding" the work so much faster then the next kid and having
to do something just to kill the time. That kind of bored.

[Anonymous]

This is a good reading:
The "Bright Child" vs. the "Gifted Learner": What's the Difference?
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/gifted-ed-guru/201201/the-bright-child-vs-the-gifted-learner-whats-the-difference

[Anonymous]

Both my kids were highly recommended by their teachers for magnet programs.